Resilience Predicts Social Functioning in Clinically Stable Patients With Bipolar Disorder

Abstract

The current study focused on the association between resilience and social functioning in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). Forty clinically stable patients with BD type I and BD type II, as well as 40 healthy controls, matched for age, sex, and educational background were enrolled. Clinical status was assessed by the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale and the Young Mania Rating Scale. Functioning was evaluated by the Mini International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health rating of activities and participation in mental illnesses, and the Social and Occupational Functioning Scale. Resilience was measured by the Connor-Davidson Resilience scale. Patients demonstrated significantly lower resilience levels compared with healthy individuals. A stepwise regression analysis indicated that only resilience contributed significantly to social functioning's outcome. Because resilience may constitute a social functioning moderator in clinically stable patients with BD, a paradigm shift toward protective factors could lead to implementation of resilience-oriented interventions designed specifically for patients with BD.

Resilience Moderates the Associations between Bipolar Disorder Mood Episodes and Mental Health

“…Resilience was not directly associated with QoL or with work and psychosocial functioning impairment, in contrast to previous findings (Bozikas et al, 2018;Hofer et al, 2017). It should be noted that the present study used a BD-specific resilience measure that allowed us to analyze the differential effects of separate resilience components in syndromic patients, thereby advancing knowledge of protective factors during bipolar episodes, unlike previous research analyzing generic resilience in subsyndromal bipolar patients (Bozikas et al, 2018;Hofer et al, 2017).…”

“…). Previous studies have evidenced that individuals with BD and high levels of resilience reported better outcomes in recovery, QoL (Echezarraga et al, 2018;Lee et al, 2017), and psychosocial functioning (Bozikas et al, 2018;Echezarraga et al, 2018) compared to individuals with high BD and low levels of resilience. Specific resilience factors, such as self-care, self-confidence, and interpersonal support, have been reported by individuals who no longer present symptoms of BD as essential ingredients for their recovery .…”

“…Nonetheless, concerning previous health-related outcomes (e.g., QoL, functioning), research on BD has mainly focused on euthymic or clinically stable individuals (e.g., Özer et al, 2002) or, when including those in manic, hypomanic, or depressed episodes, clinicianreported assessments have been employed and/or has focused on bipolar episodes as predictors of clinical recovery outcomes such as the polarity of relapse (e.g., Calabrese et al, 2004) but not on selfreport measures or other mental health outcomes, such as personal recovery, QoL, or psychosocial functioning. Resilience has been proven a potential moderator of health-related outcomes, such as social functioning, in patients with BD (Bozikas et al, 2018). Nevertheless, to date, there has been no research focusing on the mechanisms or processes through which resilience might modify the damaging effects of bipolar mood episodes.…”

Psychological resilience and mood disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Bozi ka s et a l ., 2018, Greece 19 To exa mi ne the a s sociation between res ilience a nd social functi oni ng i n pa ti ents wi th BD. 40 cl i nically s table pa ti ents wi th BD type I a nd BD type II were i ncl uded.…”