Adolescence is a sensitive time characterized by marked cognitive, hormonal and neurodevelopmental changes as well as a rapid rise in the prevalence of mental health disorders. Mental health disorders that first occur in adolescence are more severe and more likely to recur in later life. Importantly, approximately 30% of all mental health problems are attributable to childhood adversity such as parental psychopathology, peer victimization, financial difficulties, or abuse and neglect. Up to 50% of children and adolescents growing up worldwide experiences such traumatic and stressful events in early life. Therefore, childhood trauma was recently suggested to be ‘Psychiatry’s greatest public health challenge’. Fortunately, not all adolescents who have experienced childhood adversity develop psychopathology. These ‘resilient’ adolescents may have the resources and skills to cope with, or recover from the effects of early life adversity. In this talk I will discuss the social, cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms that may aid resilient functioning in adolescents with a history of CA.