From surviving to thriving: a process–ecological model of psychological resilience in doctoral students

Doctoral students worldwide face considerable mental health challenges. Predominant research, often grounded in a pathological paradigm, has treated psychological resilience as a static trait, thereby overlooking its dynamic construction and ecological embeddedness within person–environment interactions. This study explores how doctoral students in high-pressure academic settings build psychological resilience through ongoing interaction with their ecosystems to transition from a state of survival to one of thriving. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 doctoral students from Chinese universities. Data were analyzed through a process of constant comparative method and iterative coding. The analysis yielded a process–ecological model of psychological resilience. This model identifies a four-stage, nonlinear developmental pathway: stress perception, cognitive restructuring, strategy integration, and value transcendence. This progression is powered by a dual-engine mechanism in which meaning-making provides direction and agency activation supplies motivation, all nested within and shaped by the dynamic interplay of individual, relational, and institutional ecosystems. The process-ecological model frames psychological resilience as a dynamic practice that co-evolves with academic identity formation. We advocate for a fundamental paradigm shift in the doctoral student support system—from individual-level remedial interventions toward the systematic cultivation of an enabling, ecological resilience system.

• Publication year

  2026

• Venue

  Frontiers in Psychology

• Publication date

  2026-03-05

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1767701PMCID PMC12999423
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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