From the time she began graduate school more than 40 years ago until her passing, Professor Suniya Luthar played an essential role in the growth and transformation of the study of resilience and our understanding of the well-being of children and youth. Professor Luthar’s work was inherently grounded in developmental theory but always undertaken and interpreted with a focus on the real world and real-world people. Her papers are among the most highly cited in the field and her ideas seminally impacted at least five foci of work. These foci included three specific groups, each of which was central during distinct phases in Professor Luthar’s career: youth living in poverty, affluent youth, and mothers, the last of whom Professor Luthar increasingly saw as the most essential contributor to children’s well-being. In addition, two other foci were consistent across all the stages of her work—conceptual papers that defined and shaped the field and the translation of her research to serve the communities with which she worked.  

Professor Luthar’s earliest work, originating largely with her award-winning dissertation, was focused on inner-city youth living in poverty. In contrast to prevailing notions of globally resilient children, Professor Luthar provided a nuanced perspective in which she highlighted that at-risk youth who display resilience in one or more domains typically struggle in others. Professor Luthar refocused her work when she was confronted with evidence that affluent youth often manifested particularly high rates of substance use as well as internalizing problems. In so doing, Professor Luthar identified and attempted to bring meaning to the distinct behavioral struggles of affluent youth and the unique challenges to their well-being. In the third and final stage of her work, Professor Luthar became increasingly convinced that mothers were the most important influence in their children’s developmental outcomes, leading her to focus her research and translational outreach on maternal health and well-being. Throughout these stages, Professor Luthar helped define the concept of resilience and provide visionary leadership to guide the future of resilience science and its translation to benefit relevant communities.

In order to honor Professor Luthar’s legacy and continue to advance the study of the resilience and well-being of diverse populations of children and youth, we invite empirical studies, quantitative reviews, high impact conceptual pieces, and policy-oriented papers with significant evidence-based foundations for a special issue of Development and Psychopathology entitled “The Construct of Resilience: Developmental Considerations Across Populations”.  We will consider manuscripts that are focused on any of the primary themes of Professor Luthar’s scholarship, but also, in keeping with her passion for and commitment to helping all children, those that extend the science of resilience and its applications to policy and practice to other populations.

Some research groups have been invited to contribute to this Special Section given the focus of their work and its proximity to the themes explored in Professor Luthar’s work. Others interested in submitting to the special issue are asked to submit a 300 word abstract for consideration detailing the overview of the paper, how it is linked to Professor Luthar’s work, and its impact on the future of the field by September 1, 2025. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Special Section Co-Editors (Jacob A. Burack, Ann S. Masten, and Glenn I. Roisman), and those authors whose submissions will be considered further for inclusion in the Special Issue will be notified by October 1, 2025. Full manuscripts will be due by April 1, 2026. Our expectation is that this Special Issue will be published in Development and Psychopathology in late 2026 or early 2027.    

Please direct any questions about the Special Issue to Jake Burack (jake.burack@mcgill.ca) and Glenn I. Roisman (roism001@umn.edu).