Association between individual resilience and depression or anxiety among general adult population during COVID-19: a systematic review

Abstract

Background The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated depression and anxiety worldwide. Resilience is important to maintain mental health during uncertain times, but limited study has systematically reviewed its association with depression or anxiety with an emphasis on the general population. Methods We searched PubMed and Embase for quantitative or mixed-methods studies on the general adult population published between 1 January 2020 and 31 April 2022 (PROSPERO ID: CRD 42022340935). National Institute of the Health quality assessment tools was used to assess the risk of bias. We qualitatively synthesized findings by outcome and study design. Results A total of 2945 studies were screened and 35 studies were included in the narrative analysis (5 on depression, 9 on anxiety, and 21 on both). Overall, 21 studies identified statistically significant inverse associations between resilience and depression, while 24 studies found statistically significant inverse associations between resilience and anxiety. Eight studies reported no statistically significant relationships between resilience with depression or anxiety. Conclusions Resilience was found to be inversely associated with depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings highlight the importance of resilience-enhancing intervention in migrating the global mental health burden from outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Resilience and Mental-Health Symptoms in ICU Healthcare Professionals Facing Repeated COVID-19 Waves

“…Variables such as sex, COVID-19 exposure, fear, and isolation were also associated with resilience. Similarly, in a 2023 systematic review of 35 studies that assessed resilience and anxiety/depression simultaneously, 8 studies demonstrated no significant associations linking resilience to anxiety and depression ( 50 , 51 ). We acknowledge that the significant statistical associations reported in our study raise hypotheses but do not constitute evidence of causal links between resilience and mental-health symptoms.…”

Diet Quality and Resilience through Adulthood: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the WELL for Life Study

“…Based on self-reported data from 2021 SAMHSA reports, women had a higher prevalence of major depressive episodes (10.3%) than men (6.2%), and young adults aged 18 to 25 had the highest prevalence (18.6%) [ 59 ]. Resilience has been shown to be protective against daily and chronic stressors and to reduce the risk of depression—a risk factor for poor diet quality and related CVD outcomes [ 14 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 ]. Our findings and those of others suggest that resilience is significantly and positively associated with diet quality, even after adjusting for socioeconomic status and depression [ 46 , 70 ].…”