Navigating Challenges with Trust and Creativity: Adolescents’ Experiences of COVID-19 in Iceland

In this study, we explore the relational dimensions of resilience among adolescents in Iceland during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the frameworks of social-ecological resilience and the embodied, social, and public child, we examine how resilience manifests through interactions with family, peers, and community. Participants employed tactical trust and creative strategies to navigate restrictions, transforming digital and physical spaces into sources of social connection. Their critical engagement with public health policies highlighted vulnerability as integral to resilience. Our findings reveal resilience as an active, context-dependent process shaped by relational and systemic factors, offering insights for inclusive, child-centered public health strategies.