What Builds Resilience? Sociodemographic and Social Correlates in the Population-Based LIFE-Adult-Study

Abstract

Resilience is closely related to mental health and well-being. Identifying risk groups with lower resilience and the variables associated with resilience informs preventive approaches. Previous research on resilience patterns in the general population is heterogeneous, and comprehensive large-scale studies are needed. The aim of our study is to examine sociodemographic and social correlates of resilience in a large population-based sample. We examined 4795 participants from the LIFE-Adult-Study. Assessments included resilience (RS-11), social support (ESSI), and social network (LSNS), as well as the sociodemographic variables age, gender, marital status, education, and occupation. The association of resilience with sociodemographic and social correlates was examined using linear regression analyses. Higher resilience was associated with female gender, married marital status, high education, and full-time occupation. Social support and social network were positively associated with resilience. Our results implicate that resilience is related to various sociodemographic variables. Social variables seem to be particularly important for resilience. We identified risk groups with lower resilience, which should be given special attention by public health policies, especially in times of crisis. Reducing loneliness and promoting social connectedness may be promising ways to build resilience in the general population.

Psychometric evaluation of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale among Iranian population

“…In this study, married people had higher resilience than single people. This result is in line with results of some others studies [30,32,35], and may be because married people have better support networks than single people. On the other hand, researchers show that people with higher education had higher resilience scores [29,30,35,36], the results of this confirmed this finding, too.…”

“…In term of the relationship between gender and resilience, researchers reported different results. Some studies reported higher levels of resilience score in women [29,30] and others found higher resilience in men [31][32][33][34].…”

The Association of Resilience with Mental Health in a Large Population-Based Sample (LIFE-Adult-Study)

“…In this context, another interesting question for future studies is whether the link between resilience and mental health is the same for all groups or whether it is moderated by other factors. Previous studies suggest that resilience tends to be stable across age [ 13 , 14 , 15 ], whereas younger participants were more burdened by mental health symptoms in our study. This could point out a lower relevance of resilience at younger age, which should be investigated in future studies.…”

“…High resilience among the elderly was discussed as an underlying factor for relatively stable well-being in the old age population [ 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Previous studies indicate that resilience tends to be stable or increases over the life course, which could be attributed to life experience and crises successfully overcome [ 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”

“…Since the relevance of resilience is context-dependent [ 34 ], the findings on resilience among people in deep crises cannot be generalized. Scarce studies indicate a positive relation of resilience with mental health symptoms in the general population [ 13 , 35 ], but large-scale, population-based studies including comprehensive sociodemographic, clinical, and social control variables are needed. Knowing more about the relevance of resilience for important mental health symptoms in the general population would provide a starting point in the prevention of mental disorders.…”