["Developmental Science, Volume 29, Issue 3, May 2026. ", "\nABSTRACT\n\nCOVID‐19 has profoundly affected children's well‐being. Resilience was often found to be negatively correlated with COVID‐19 impacts. However, the role of resilience in directly shaping COVID‐19 impacts on children remains unclear, as studies report conflicting evidence regarding the potential causal direction between COVID‐19 impacts and resilience. Higher resilience could reduce COVID‐19 impacts, while COVID‐19 impacts may also disrupt or enhance resilience. Or it could be the case that the two are simply correlated due to shared underlying common factors. This preregistered study uses a twin‐based Direction of Causation modeling approach with data from 1166 twins (age: M = 12.59; 50.78% male; 85.08% White) to explore the causal direction between COVID‐19 impacts and resilience. Resilience was assessed using the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM)—Child Version, a child self‐report questionnaire assessing resources available for children's resilience. Findings revealed a causal effect such that resilience resources explained 32% variance in overall COVID‐19 impacts, consistently buffering negative outcomes across multiple domains (e.g., social connections, general stress, and COVID‐related stress). A reciprocal causal effect was found for economic impacts, with resilience mitigating economic impacts and economic challenges enhancing resilience.\n\n\nSymmary\n\nResilience has been found to be negatively associated with negative impacts of COVID‐19.\nUsing a national twin sample, we adopted a twin‐based Direction‐Of‐Causation Modeling approach to examine how COVID‐19 impacts and resources for resilience influence each other.\nWe found that resilience resources causally reduce COVID‐19 impacts, explaining 32% of the variance in how children experienced the pandemic.\nFindings in this study inform clinical and educational practice, highlighting the value of resilience‐building efforts to support children during and after crises.\n\n\n"]