Psychological Resilience and Adverse Mental Health Issues in the Thai Population during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Abstract

In light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the enormous amount of uncertainty caused by it, mental health issues have become a great concern. Evidence regarding the effects of psychological resilience on the Thai population is scarce. We evaluated psychological resilience during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with the risk of mental health outcomes, such as depression, anxiety, stress, and health-related well-being. This cross-sectional study was a part of the HOME-COVID-19 project, which conducted an online survey of 4004 members of the general population in Thailand using the Brief Resilience Coping Scale. Logistic regression was performed to identify the association between psychological resilience and mental health issues and well-being. Groups with prevalence rates of 43.9%, 39.2%, and 16.9% were classified as low, moderate, and high resilient copers, respectively. Using high resilient copers as a reference group, the low resilient copers had a higher chance of having mental health adversities. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) was 1.89 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.39–2.56; p < 0.001) for depression, 2.13 (95% CI, 1.45–3.14; p < 0.001) for anxiety, 4.61 (95% CI, 3.30–6.45; p < 0.001) for perceived stress, and 3.18 (95% CI, 2.31–4.38; p < 0.001) for low well-being. For the medium resilient copers, only low well-being was found to be statistically significant (OR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.16–2.20; p = 0.004). It is important that resilience be considered in the development of strategies for managing the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent or reduce adverse mental health outcomes.

Mental health and resilience quotient of patients in primary care units during the widespread COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand: a cross-sectional study

“…Moreover, it can be explained by the successful attempt of the hospital in developing holistic clinical practice guidelines for the care of our patients. Most of the participants in this study had a normal or high RQ level, which is inconsistent with a previous study in Thailand during 2020 that found 43.9% of the participants had a low resilience quotient level, with a mean score on the Brief Resilient Coping Score (BRCS) of 13.9 (SD 4-20) [22]. This difference could be from the timing of the collection the data that suggested the RQ was changeable and adapted along with time.…”

Psychological Resilience among Orang Asli Youths in Selangor during COVID-19 and Its Associated Factors

“…However, the outcomes were consistent with a global general population survey which found that over 25% of persons lacked psychological resilience, with younger people having lower psychological resilience ( 37 ). Similar findings were found in another study on the general population of Thailand, where more than 80% of participants had psychological resilience scores ranging from low to medium during the COVID-19 epidemic ( 38 ).…”

Emotion regulation, resilience, and mental health: A mediation study with university students in the pandemic context

“…Previous COVID‐19 related studies highlighted the importance of developing interventions that enhance resilience to reduce negative mental effects during pandemics (Skalski et al, 2022; Verdolini et al, 2021), with the main focus on individuals' confidence in their judgements, their self‐efficacy and realistic expectations (self‐perception) (Hjemdal et al, 2011; Pereira et al, 2013). Some authors state the need to prioritize psychological resilience as a primary public health issue during stressful situations like pandemics (Ruengorn et al, 2022).…”