Recover from the adversity: functional connectivity basis of psychological resilience

Neural activation during processing of emotional faces as a function of resilience in adolescents

Neuroimaging studies suggest that resilience to adversity is linked to reduced emotional reactivity or enhanced emotion regulation. However, such studies are scarce and mainly use adult samples and categorical definitions of resilience. Using a novel, data-driven approach to define resilience dimensionally, based on cumulative adversity exposure across childhood and psychopathology, we investigated associations between resilience and brain activation during facial emotion processing in youth. We also tested for sex differences in the relationship between resilience and brain activation. fMRI data were acquired from 208 youths (aged 9-18 years; Mean age = 13.28), while viewing angry, fearful, and neutral faces. Whole-brain analyses were performed, followed by region-of-interest analyses focusing on the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Resilience was positively correlated with bilateral inferior frontal gyrus responses to fearful (versus neutral) faces, and negatively correlated with right superior temporal gyrus, left hippocampal, and right inferior frontal gyrus responses to neutral faces (versus fixation). Sex-by-resilience interactions were observed in the medial prefrontal cortex: males showed positive, while females showed negative, associations between resilience and brain activation, though these results did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. These findings provide further evidence that resilience in youth is associated with enhanced emotion regulation at a neural level.

Gender differences in the mediating effects of social participation and number of children on psychological resilience and cognitive function in older adults

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between the number of children of older adults in China and their cognitive function. A total of 15862 older adults were included in the 2017-2018 China Health and Longevity Longitudinal Survey(CLHLS), and were explored using Structural Equation Modeling(SEM) and restricted cubic splines(RCS). Research has found that social participation and psychological resilience have a moderating effect on the impact of child numbers on cognitive function, with a greater impact observed in female participants. RCS shows a U-shaped relationship between the number of children and poorer cognitive outcomes, but low fertility rates are only associated with poorer cognitive function in women. Cognitive function decreases with decreasing social participation and psychological resilience. To combat cognitive decline in older adults with multiple children, it is imperative to take into account the societal and psychological impacts and to integrate a suite of complementary intervention strategies.

The Impact of the Ukraine Conflict on the Quality of Life of the Young Population in Romania from a Societal Security Perspective

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

This study examines the perception of young Romanians (aged 18-35) regarding the Ukraine conflict's impact on Romania's national security and quality of life. It focuses on societal security dimensions, analyzing the conflict's regional and international implications, alongside sentiments toward global support for Ukraine.

METHODS

Data were collected via structured questionnaires administered to 848 participants in 2024 and 747 in 2022. Respondents' perceptions of the Ukraine conflict, its influence on national security, and the direct consequences for quality of life were evaluated using the WHOQOL-BREF instrument. Statistical analyses (descriptive, bivariate, multivariate) were employed to explore variations across socio-demographic factors.

RESULTS

The findings indicate that young Romanians appreciate international solidarity with Ukraine but remain cautious about military escalation. While the conflict heightened perceptions of personal and national insecurity, WHOQOL-BREF assessments revealed significant declines in psychological, social, and environmental quality of life indicators from 2022 to 2024. Variations were observed based on age, gender, education level, and residence, with young rural women and those with lower educational attainment experiencing the most pronounced impacts.

CONCLUSIONS

The study underscores the dual challenges of maintaining regional stability and addressing the socio-psychological fallout of conflicts. Despite resilience mechanisms tempering subjective perceptions, objective measures indicate deteriorations in the quality of life among Romania's young population. These findings emphasize the need for targeted policies to support vulnerable groups through mental health initiatives, social support systems, and equitable access to resources.

Preadolescents' executive functions and resilience development: A cascade model of resilience resources and resilient functioning

INTRODUCTION

Executive functions (EF), encompassing inhibition, updating, and shifting, are widely acknowledged as cognitive factors that promote resilience. However, prior research examining the association between EF and resilience has been hampered by inconsistent conceptualizations of resilience and an overreliance on cross-sectional designs. We embraced a process-oriented conceptualization of resilience and employed a longitudinal approach to investigate how EF components interplay with the dynamic processes of resilience resources and resilient functioning.

METHODS

A total of 144 Chinese preadolescents (aged 10-12, 53.5% male) completed computer-based EF assessments at baseline and self-reported their resilience at three intervals during 2019-2020. The resilience evaluations encompassed resilience resources at individual, familial, and social levels, as measured by the Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents, and resilient functioning, operationalized as the residuals of socioemotional difficulties after accounting for stressful life events.

RESULTS

The findings emphasized the dynamic nature of resilience, unveiling a developmental cascade from resilience resources to resilient functioning and back to resilience resources. Furthermore, distinct effects of EF components on resilience development were found. Specifically, inhibition was associated with both concurrent and long-term resilience resources and functioning, while updating predicted long-term resilience resources, and shifting predicted long-term resilient functioning.

CONCLUSION

These results underscored the pivotal role of EF as a cognitive foundation in comprehending the dynamic resilience processes during preadolescence.

The extraordinary "ordinary magic" of resilience

In this essay, I will briefly sample different instances of the utilization of the concept of resilience, attempting to complement a comprehensive representation of the field in the special issue of Development and Psychopathology inspired by the 42nd Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology, hosted by the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota and held in October of 2022. Having established the general context of the field, I will zoom in on some of its features, which I consider "low-hanging fruit" and which can be harvested in a systematic way to advance the study of resilience in the context of the future of developmental psychopathology.

The relationship between physical activity and school adjustment in high school students: the chain mediating role of psychological resilience and self-control

BACKGROUND

Adaptive elements such as learning and interpersonal interactions of high school students need to be developed in the school environment. Thus, school adjustment is an essential developmental task in the academic growth of adolescent students. Based on the developmental task theory, combined with the conservation of resources theory and the strength model of self-control, this study aims to investigate the chain-mediated roles of psychological resilience and self-control in the physical activity and school adaptation of high school students, in terms of the internal development of the individual mentality.

METHODS

The study utilized whole population sampling and selected 2054 first- and second-year students from eight high schools in four regions of Jiangsu Province (M = 16.45 years, SD = 0.72 years). The questionnaires included the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-S), Adolescent Psychological Resilience Scale, Self-Control Scale, and School Adjustment Scale for High School Students. Descriptive and correlation analyses were conducted for each variable, and a chain mediation model was constructed after controlling for the gender and region of the participants. Data were analyzed using SPSS and Process 4.0 macros.

RESULTS

The direct and indirect associations of physical activity on high school students' school adjustment were significant, and the indirect associations included three pathways: first, the separate mediating association of psychological resilience; second, the separate mediating association of self-control; and third, the chain mediating association of psychological resilience and self-control.

CONCLUSION

The study's results revealed the relationship and mechanism of action of physical activity on high school students' school adjustment, which provides essential theoretical and reference value for improving their school adjustment.

Neural Mechanisms Underlying the Impact of Psychological Resilience on Psychosocial Stress Responses

Background: High psychological resilience (HR) could protect individuals from psychosocial stress and thereby make individuals less vulnerable to depression and anxiety; however, the underlying neural mechanism remains to be investigated. Methods: The Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST) was administered to participants of 59 healthy individuals with HR and 56 individuals with low psychological resilience (LR) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. Cortisol concentrations and subjective stress levels were collected across the MIST. Repeated measures analyses of variance were conducted to measure the group differences in subjective and cortisol stress responses. Two-sample t-tests were conducted to detect the group differences in stress-related brain activation and functional connectivity (FC). Results: The LR group exhibited an increase in cortisol concentration after the MIST, whereas the HR group exhibited a decrease in cortisol concentration after the MIST. The LR group exhibited higher activation in the left anterior insula and lower FC between the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the right temporal pole (TP) (all p FWE  < 0.05). Mediation analyses revealed that the left anterior insula mediates the relationship between psychological resilience and depression and the left OFC-right TP FC mediates the relationship between psychological resilience and anxiety. Conclusions: Findings highlight that the anterior insula and OFC-TP FC could be the critical neural mechanism underlying the interaction between psychological resilience and psychosocial stress. Moreover, higher anterior insula activation and lower OFC-TP FC could be the crucial neural mechanism of individuals with low psychological resilience developing into depression/anxiety when experiencing daily psychosocial stressors.

The role of psychological resilience and aggression in injury prevention among martial arts athletes

Introduction

For martial artists, the ability to manage reactions in the face of adversity and bounce back after a stressful event can have major impact on performance. The scope of the research is to investigate martial artists' level of resilience and aggression (Go-ahead, Foul play, and Assertiveness factors), what is specific to athletes and who have suffered from moderate and/or severe injuries (in terms of resilience and three factors of aggression examined), and test the possibility that a psychological variable under investigation can predict athletes' injury severity.

Materials and methods

A total sample of 154 athletes from striking combat sports-SC (karate, taekwondo, kickboxing, and boxing), grappling combat sports-GC (judo and BJJ), and mixed martial artists (MMA) participated in the research. For assessing resilience, the Romanian adaptation of the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) was used, and for aggression, the Romanian adaptation of Makarowski's Sports Aggression Questionnaire was used. An injury report form was also created and applied to athletes.

Results

The post-hoc tests (after running a single-factor multivariate analysis of variance) revealed significant differences for resilience and Foul (violent) play between the sports disciplines analyzed. A significant positive correlation was found between athletes' injury severity and assertiveness in SC and between injury severity and resilience in GC. Through the t-test for independent samples, it was highlighted that the average value for Foul (violent) play is significantly higher in athletes who have suffered mild, moderate, and/or severe injuries compared with martial arts athletes who have suffered from only mild/minor injuries. A binomial logistic regression was also performed to verify to what extent Foul play predicts athletes' injury severity.

Conclusion

A low level of Foul (violent) play is linked with a decreased likelihood of moderate and/or severe injuries in martial arts athletes. The study findings suggest that resilience, foul play, and assertiveness have an important role in injury prevention among martial artists.

Insula-cortico-subcortical networks predict interoceptive awareness and stress resilience

BACKGROUND

Interoception, the neural sensing of visceral signals, and interoceptive awareness (IA), the conscious perception of interoception, are crucial for life survival functions and mental health. Resilience, the capacity to overcome adversity, has been associated with reduced interoceptive disturbances. Here, we sought evidence for our Insula Modular Active Control (IMAC) model that suggest that the insula, a brain region specialized in the processing of interoceptive information, realizes IA and contributes to resilience and mental health via cortico-subcortical connections.

METHODS

64 healthy participants (32 females; ages 18-34 years) answered questionnaires that assess IA and resilience. Mental health was evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory II that assesses depressive mood. Participants also underwent a 15 minute resting-state functional resonance imaging session. Pearson correlations and mediation analyses were used to investigate the relationship between IA and resilience and their contributions to depressive mood. We then performed insula seed-based functional connectivity analyzes to identify insula networks involved in IA, resilience and depressive mood.

RESULTS

We first demonstrated that resilience mediates the relationship between IA and depressive mood. Second, shared and distinct intra-insula, insula-cortical and insula-subcortical networks were associated with IA, resilience and also predicted the degree of experienced depressive mood. Third, while resilience was associated with stronger insula-precuneus, insula-cerebellum and insula-prefrontal networks, IA was linked with stronger intra-insula, insula-striatum and insula-motor networks.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings help understand the roles of insula-cortico-subcortical networks in IA and resilience. These results also highlight the potential use of insula networks as biomarkers for depression prediction.

Multimodal neural correlates of dispositional resilience among healthy individuals

Resilient individuals are less likely to develop psychiatric disorders despite extreme psychological distress. This study investigated the multimodal structural neural correlates of dispositional resilience among healthy individuals. Participants included 92 healthy individuals. The Korean version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and other psychological measures were used. Gray matter volumes (GMVs), cortical thickness, local gyrification index (LGI), and white matter (WM) microstructures were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry, FreeSurfer, and tract-based spatial statistics, respectively. Higher resilient individuals showed significantly higher GMVs in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), increased LGI in the insula, and lower fractional anisotropy values in the superior longitudinal fasciculus II (SLF II). These resilience's neural correlates were associated with good quality of life in physical functioning or general health and low levels of depression. Therefore, the GMVs in the IFG, LGI in the insula, and WM microstructures in the SLF II can be associated with resilience that contributes to emotional regulation, empathy, and social cognition.

Problem-oriented coping and resilience among Fibromyalgia patients who live under security threats and have undergone a Fibrotherapy intervention program

Our study examined the association between problem-focused coping and resilience among fibromyalgia (FM) patients who live under constant security threats. Resilience is a coping resource and detrimentally affects FM female patients (FMPs) to get up and cope with life. A cohort of 96 FMPs ages 19-75 was subjected to a Fibrotherapy intervention program in the Rehabilitation Help Center in Sderot (Ezra Le'Marpeh), Israel. We examined levels of problem-oriented coping and levels of resilience among the sample. In addition, we assessed whether there is a correlation between their resilience level and their medical metrics. The research included medical metrics and physical metrics. A cohort of 16 FMPs who participated in the quantitative phase composed the qualitative sample. Data from the t-test showed improved mental resilience among all the sample, with a significantly higher level among problem-oriented FMPs. We conclude that resilience is acquired through problem-oriented coping strategies. Furthermore, the association between resilience and problem-oriented coping helped to improve health indicators since coping with the disease included entering a regime of physicals activity and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation enhanced emotional inhibitory control via increasing intrinsic prefrontal couplings

Background

Inhibitory control represents a core executive function that critically facilitates adaptive behavior and survival in an ever-changing environment. Non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) has been hypothesized to improve behavioral inhibition performance, however the neurocomputational mechanism of taVNS-induced neuroenhancement remains elusive.

Method

In the current study, we investigated the efficacy of taVNS in a sham-controlled between-subject functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) experiment with an emotional face Go/No-Go paradigm in ninety healthy young adults.

Results

After a data quality check, eighty-two subjects were included in the final data analysis. Behaviorally, the taVNS improved No-Go response accuracy, together with computational modeling using Hierarchical Bayesian estimation of the Drift Diffusion Model (HDDM) indicating that it specifically reduced the information accumulation rate for Go responses, and this was negatively associated with increased accuracy of No-Go responses. On the neural level, taVNS enhanced engagement of the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) during inhibition of angry expression faces and modulated functional couplings (FCs) within the prefrontal inhibitory control network. Mediation models revealed that taVNS-induced facilitation of inhibitory control was critically mediated by a decreased information accumulation for Go responses and concomitantly enhanced neurofunctional coupling between the inferior and orbital frontal cortex.

Discussion

Our findings demonstrate a potential for taVNS to improve emotional inhibitory control via reducing pre-potent responses and enhancing FCs within prefrontal inhibitory control networks, suggesting a promising therapeutic role in treating specific disorders characterized by inhibitory control deficits.

Psychological resilience-related functional connectomes predict creative personality

Both psychological resilience and creativity are complex concepts that have positive effects on individual adaptation. Previous studies have shown overlaps between the key brain regions or brain functional networks related to psychological resilience and creativity. However, no direct experimental evidence has been provided to support the assumption that psychological resilience and creativity share a common brain basis. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between psychological resilience and creativity using neural imaging method with a machine learning approach. At the behavioral level, we found that psychological resilience was positively related to creative personality. Predictive analysis based on static functional connectivity (FC) and dynamic FC demonstrated that FCs related to psychological resilience could effectively predict an individual's creative personality score. Both the static FC and dynamic FC were mainly located in the default mode network. These results prove that psychological resilience and creativity share a common brain functional basis. These findings also provide insights into the possibility of promoting individual positive adaptation from negative events or situations in a creative way.

Orbital frontal cortex functional connectivity during gain anticipation linking the rumination and non-suicidal self-injury in late adolescence

OBJECTIVE

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is prevalent and especially among the adolescence population. It has been argued that abnormal brain activations in reward processing could be regarded as objective biomarkers in NSSI, but the evidence is mixed. This study aims to explore the reward processing mechanism of NSSI from the perspective of functional brain circuitry and investigate the role of a cognitive factor (rumination).

METHOD

Seventy-one 17-21 years old participants performed a monetary incentive delay (MID) task during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis was used to test the inner-group differences of brain functional connectivity. In addition, a mediation model was established with the mediation effect of rumination on the relationship between functional brain circuitry and NSSI.

RESULTS

PPI analysis suggested that functional connectivity of the orbital frontal cortex (OFC) (with precuneus, SMA) was significantly enhanced in NSSI in the gain > loss contrast, but not in the loss > gain contrast. Mediation analysis revealed that rumination mediated the relationship between NSSI and the OFC- precuneus functional connectivity in the gain > loss contrast.

CONCLUSION

Our research revealed that the abnormal OFC functional connectivity in gain (not loss) anticipation can be served as the sensitive biomarkers of NSSI. And there was a chain path for NSSI, that was from functional brain circuitry to negative cognition and then to problem behavior.

Association of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index with resilience and prosociality of the offspring aged 6-7 years old: a population-based cohort study in Japan

The association between maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and child behavior problems has been widely researched, leaving a gap in understanding the positive aspects of children's mental health. The present study aimed to investigate the association between maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and resilience and prosociality among 6-7 year-old children in Japan. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from the Adachi Child Health Impact of Living Difficulty (A-CHILD) study, a population-based study in 2017 and 2019 including all first-grade students in public schools in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan (n = 7328, response rate = 84.7%). Resilience and prosociality were measured by the Children's Resilient Coping Scale and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, respectively. Maternal pre-pregnancy weight and height were reported based on the Mother and Child Health Handbook, and BMI was categorized as underweight (BMI < 18.5), normal weight (BMI 18.5-24.9), overweight (BMI 25.0-29.9), and obesity (BMI ≥ 30). Linear regression models were employed to control for covariates. Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity was found to be negatively associated with child resilience (coefficient: - 3.29; 95% CI - 6.42--0.15), while maternal underweight was negatively associated with child prosociality (coefficient: - 0.12; 95% CI - 0.24--0.005) compared to mothers of pre-pregnancy normal BMI. Perinatal factors, such as gestational weight gain, gestational age, and birth weight, did not mediate the association. Our findings suggest that maternal pre-pregnancy obesity is linked to decreased resilience and maternal underweight is linked to decreased prosociality in children aged 6-7 years. Maintaining an appropriate BMI range before pregnancy may be crucial for enhancing resilience and prosociality of offspring.

Brain imaging studies of emotional well-being: a scoping review

This scoping review provides an overview of previous empirical studies that used brain imaging techniques to investigate the neural correlates of emotional well-being (EWB). We compiled evidence on this topic into one accessible and usable document as a foundation for future research into the relationship between EWB and the brain. PRISMA 2020 guidelines were followed. We located relevant articles by searching five electronic databases with 95 studies meeting our inclusion criteria. We explored EWB measures, brain imaging modalities, research designs, populations studied, and approaches that are currently in use to characterize and understand EWB across the literature. Of the key concepts related to EWB, the vast majority of studies investigated positive affect and life satisfaction, followed by sense of meaning, goal pursuit, and quality of life. The majority of studies used functional MRI, followed by EEG and event-related potential-based EEG to study the neural basis of EWB (predominantly experienced affect, affective perception, reward, and emotion regulation). It is notable that positive affect and life satisfaction have been studied significantly more often than the other three aspects of EWB (i.e., sense of meaning, goal pursuit, and quality of life). Our findings suggest that future studies should investigate EWB in more diverse samples, especially in children, individuals with clinical disorders, and individuals from various geographic locations. Future directions and theoretical implications are discussed, including the need for more longitudinal studies with ecologically valid measures that incorporate multi-level approaches allowing researchers to better investigate and evaluate the relationships among behavioral, environmental, and neural factors.

Systematic review registration

https://osf.io/t9cf6/.

Electroconvulsive therapy enhances degree centrality in the orbitofrontal cortex in depressive rumination

Depressive rumination has been implicated in the onset, duration, and treatment response of refractory depression. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is remarkably effective in treatment of refractory depression by modulating the functional coordination between brain hubs. However, the mechanisms by which ECT regulates depressive rumination remain unsolved. We investigated degree centrality (DC) in 32 pre- and post-ECT depression patients as well as 38 matched healthy controls. An identified brain region was defined as the seed to calculate functional connectivity (FC) in whole brains. Rumination was measured by the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS) and its relationships with identified DC and FC alterations were examined. We found a significant negative correlation between DC of the right orbitofrontal cortex (rOFC) before ECT and brooding level before and after treatment. Moreover, rOFC DC increased after ECT. DC of the left superior temporal gyrus (lSTG) was positively correlated with reflective level before intervention, while lSTG DC decreased after ECT. Patients showed elevated FC in the rOFC with default mode network. No significant association was found between decreased RRS scores and changes in DC and FC. Our findings suggest that functional changes in rOFC and lSTG may be associated with the beneficial effects of ECT on depressive rumination.

Neurobiological correlates of resilience during childhood and adolescence - A systematic review

Research examining the neurobiological mechanisms of resilience has grown rapidly over the past decade. However, there is vast heterogeneity in research study design, methods, and in how resilience is operationalized, making it difficult to gauge what we currently know about resilience biomarkers. This preregistered systematic review aimed to review and synthesize the extant literature to identify neurobiological correlates of resilience to adversity during childhood and adolescence. Literature searches on MEDLINE and PsycINFO yielded 3834 studies and a total of 49 studies were included in the final review. Findings were synthesized based on how resilience was conceptualized (e.g., absence of psychopathology, trait resilience), and where relevant, the type of outcome examined (e.g., internalizing symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder). Our synthesis showed that findings were generally mixed. Nevertheless, some consistent findings suggest that resilience neural mechanisms may involve prefrontal and subcortical regions structure/activity, as well as connectivity between these regions. Given substantial heterogeneity in the definition and operationalization of resilience, more methodological consistency across studies is required for advancing knowledge in this field.

Inhibitory control and mood in relation to psychological resilience: an ecological momentary assessment study

Psychological resilience, the ability to adapt to adversity, is theorized to rely on intact inhibitory control (IC) mechanisms, which underlie one's ability to maintain goal-directed behavior by inhibiting prepotent responses. However, no study to date has explored daily fluctuations of IC performance in relation to resilience. Here, we examined the association between IC and mood measured daily in relation to psychological resilience in young adults in a stressful situation. Baseline resilience was obtained from 144 female and male soldiers during their basic combat training. Then, participants completed an ecological momentary assessment protocol, in which they reported their momentary mood and completed a short IC assessment twice/day for 2 weeks. A hierarchical linear modeling analysis revealed that psychological resilience moderated the relationship between momentary IC and momentary mood, such that better IC was associated with better mood only for those with higher, but not lower, self-reported psychological resilience at baseline. These results show that psychological resilience is manifested in the everyday association between IC and mood. Furthermore, they lend important support to cognitive models of resilience and may have significant contribution to our understanding of resilient behavior in real life.Trial Registration: MOH_2018-0-13_002451.

Conceptualizing psychological resilience through resting-state functional MRI in a mentally healthy population: a systematic review

Conceptualizations and operational definitions of psychological resilience vary across resilience neuroimaging studies. Data on the neural features of resilience among healthy individuals has been scarce. Furthermore, findings from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies were inconsistent across studies. This systematic review summarized resting-state fMRI findings in different modalities from various operationally defined resilience in a mentally healthy population. The PubMed and MEDLINE databases were searched. Articles that focused on resting-state fMRI in relation to resilience, and published before 2022, were targeted. Orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, insula and amygdala, were reported the most from the 19 included studies. Regions in emotional network was reported the most from the included studies. The involvement of regions like amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex indicated the relationships between emotional processing and resilience. No common brain regions or neural pathways were identified across studies. The emotional network appears to be studied the most in association with resilience. Matching fMRI modalities and operational definitions of resilience across studies are essential for meta-analysis.

Association of social participation and psychological resilience with adverse cognitive outcomes among older Chinese adults: A national longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Limited epidemiological evidence exists regarding the association of social participation and psychological resilience with cognitive health. This study aimed to comprehensively investigate the effects of social participation and psychological resilience on adverse cognitive outcomes among older adults in China.

METHODS

We used two waves (2011 and 2014) of data from the Chinese Longitudinal Survey of Health and Longevity (CLHLS), and 9765 respondents were eligible for the subsequent screening for the present prospective analysis. The Cox proportional hazards model was utilized to examine the association of social participation and psychological resilience with cognitive impairment, cognitive decline and greater cognitive decline. The restricted cubic spline plots were applied to clarify the dose-response relationships between them.

RESULTS

Compared to those with low social participation, participants with high social participation had a lower hazard ratio (HR) of 0.72 (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.59-0.89) for cognitive impairment, 0.85 (95 % CI: 0.76-0.94) for cognitive decline and 0.78 (95 % CI: 0.67-0.90) for greater cognitive decline. Participants with high psychological resilience had an HR of 0.77 (95 % CI: 0.63-0.95) for cognitive impairment 0.85 (95 % CI: 0.76-0.94) for cognitive decline and 0.85 (95 % CI: 0.73-0.98) for greater cognitive decline compared with those with low psychological resilience. Similar effects were observed for social participation score and psychological resilience score. The dose-response analysis also showed that the risk of adverse cognitive outcomes decreased gradually with increasing social participation scores and psychological resilience scores. Additionally, the multiplicative interaction between social participation and psychological resilience was not significant.

LIMITATION

All information was collected by self-report, which may lead to biases in the process of information collection.

CONCLUSION

In this study, social participation and psychological resilience were independently associated with a lower risk of adverse cognitive outcomes, and therefore both need to be considered as broader measures to preserve cognitive health among older Chinese adults.

Resilience to COVID-19 challenges: Lessons for school psychologists serving school-attending black South African youth aged 10 to 19 years old

Several studies have highlighted the mental health challenges of children and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period, especially, in relation to an escalation of depression, anxiety, and stress. Whilst this may be the reality, it is unfortunate that most of the studies adopt a psychopathological point of departure often portraying doom and gloom. Adopting a social ecological resilience perspective the author focuses on the resilience of school-attending black South African youth during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The Child and Youth Resilience Measurement (CYRM-28) was completed by 4165 respondents in grades 4 to 12 (females = 2431, 58.4%; males = 1734, 41.6%) from the Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North-West provinces in South Africa. The findings indicate that school psychologists must consider gender, age and school levels when they design school-based resilience programmes for black South African children. Particular emphasis should be placed on contextual resilience highlighting spiritual, religious, cultural and educational factors. A major lesson for school psychologists is to ensure that school-based resiliency programmes adopt a whole school approach that includes children, their families and local communities for the successful promotion of resilience during adverse situations as postulated by the social ecological resilience model.

An Examination of the Relationships between Psychological Resilience, Organizational Ostracism, and Burnout in K-12 Teachers through Structural Equation Modelling

Psychological resilience, burnout, and ostracism are significant variables that may affect teachers' performance and well-being. While psychological resilience is the ability of individuals to cope with the challenges of life/work and could support teachers in performing their profession, burnout (i.e., high levels of emotional exhaustion and desensitization) and ostracism (i.e., being ignored by others in the workplace) could lead to serious negative outcomes for both teachers and the educational system. Despite their significance, studies addressing the relationships between these variables are rare. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationships between teachers' psychological resilience, burnout, and organizational ostracism. The study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the hypothetical relationships between these variables. The participants were selected using a simple random sampling method among K-12 teachers working in Elazig, Turkey. The data were collected using Psychological Resilience Scale-Short Form, Organizational Ostracism Scale, and Burnout Syndrome Inventory-Short Form. Data obtained from 309 K-12 teachers were analyzed using path analysis. The findings showed that teachers' psychological resilience was quite low, whilst they experienced high levels of burnout and organizational ostracism. The results also showed a negative relationship between their psychological resilience and organizational ostracism and burnout while determining a positive relationship between ostracism and burnout. Psychological resilience was determined to have a moderating role in the relationship between organizational ostracism and burnout. Implications were suggested for both research and practice.

Verbal fluency functional magnetic resonance imaging detects anti-seizure effects and affective side effects of perampanel in people with focal epilepsy

Perampanel, a noncompetitive antagonist of the postsynaptic a-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic (AMPA) receptor, is effective for controlling focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures but is also known to increase feelings of anger. Using statistical parametric mapping-derived measures of activation and task-modulated functional connectivity (psychophysiologic interaction), we investigated 14 people with focal epilepsy who had verbal fluency functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) twice, before and after the add-on treatment of perampanel. For comparison, we included 28 people with epilepsy, propensity-matched for clinical characteristics, who had two scans but no change in anti-seizure medication (ASM) regimen in-between. After commencing perampanel, individuals had higher task-related activations in left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), fewer task-related activations in the subcortical regions including the left thalamus and left caudate, and lower task-related thalamocaudate and caudate-subtantial nigra connectivity. Decreased task-related connectivity is observed between the left OFC and precuneus and left medial frontal lobe. Our results highlight the brain regions associated with the beneficiary therapeutic effects on focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures (thalamus and caudate) but also the undesired affective side effects of perampanel with increased anger and aggression (OFC).

A systematic review of the neural correlates of well-being reveals no consistent associations

Findings from behavioral and genetic studies indicate a potential role for the involvement of brain structures and brain functioning in well-being. We performed a systematic review on the association between brain structures or brain functioning and well-being, including 56 studies. The 11 electroencephalography (EEG) studies suggest a larger alpha asymmetry (more left than right brain activation) to be related to higher well-being. The 18 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies, 26 resting-state functional MRI studies and two functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) studies identified a wide range of brain regions involved in well-being, but replication across studies was scarce, both in direction and strength of the associations. The inconsistency could result from small sample sizes of most studies and a possible wide-spread network of brain regions with small effects involved in well-being. Future directions include well-powered brain-wide association studies and innovative methods to more reliably measure brain activity in daily life.

The relationship between resilience, anxiety, and depression in Chinese collegiate athletes

Anxiety disorder is becoming increasingly prevalent across college campuses, particularly among collegiate athletes who face different stressors and challenges than their non-athlete peers. Anxiety and depression are well documented comorbidities. Furthermore, the number of Chinese collegiate athletes suffering from anxiety and depression is increasing. Psychologists have recently begun to take a more prophylactic approach to defend against these disorders through resilience education. Resilience education focuses on developing greater capacity to cope when mental and emotional challenges arise. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between resilience, depression, and anxiety in Chinese collegiate athletes. This study provides additional evidence of the value of incorporating an effective resilience educational module amongst collegiate athletes.

Research design

The study employed a survey research design to explore the complex relationship between depression, anxiety, and resilience for collegiate student athletes.

Data analysis strategy

Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to account for any measurement error between the observed items (responses on the instruments) and the latent variables (anxiety, depression, and resilience). The theoretical hypothesized relationship for this study is an inverse relationship between anxiety and depression, on the one hand, and resilience on the other hand. The SEM statistical analysis from this study supported this theoretical model.

Effective sample size

599 collegiate athletes from six different universities in the province of Guangdong, China P.R. participated in this study.

Covid-19 fear, happiness and stress in adults: the mediating role of psychological resilience and coping with stress

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of coping with stress and psychological resilience in the relationship between happiness and perceived stress of COVID-19 fear in Turkish adults.

METHODS

827 individuals (516 females, 311 males) above 18 years of age and living in Turkey participated in this research. The data of the research was collected through the COVID-19 Fear Scale, Depression-Happiness Scale Short Form, Perceived Stress Scale and Psychological Resilience Scale Short Form.

RESULTS

The results show that fear of COVID-19 negatively predicts happiness and positively predicts perceived stress. According to the results, psychological resilience and coping with perceived stress mediate the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and happiness and stress. Moreover, psychological resilience and coping with perceived stress mitigate the impact of COVID-19 fear on happiness and stress.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings provide evidence as to how to reduce the negative impact of COVID-19 on mental health. In addition, the results provide information to improve mental health during the pandemic period.KEY POINTSPsychological resilience reduces the effect of COVID-19 on stress and increases happiness levels.Coping with stress reduces the impact of COVID-19 on stress and increases happiness levels.

The Influence of Sense of Place on Elementary School Students' Creativity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating and Buffering Effects of Psychological Resilience

Purpose

To understand the relationship between sense of place and creativity and the mechanisms that affect this relationship, the researchers constructed a mediation model to examine the effect of sense of place on creativity and the mediating role of psychological resilience in elementary school students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A total of 1,711 students in an elementary school in Beijing, China, were surveyed using Chinese-language versions of the Sense of Place Scale, the Psychological Resilience Scale-Short Version, and the Innovative Behavior Inventory. SPSS (version 23) and PROCESS plug-in (version 3.3) were used for correlation and mediation analyses.

Results

(1) Correlation analysis revealed that sense of place was positively related to psychological resilience (r = 0.445, p < 0.01) and creativity (r = 0.590, p < 0.01). (2) Psychological resilience was also positively correlated with creativity (r = 0.625, p < 0.01). (3) Further, after controlling for gender and grade level, it was found that sense of place directly predicted creativity and that sense of place also indirectly predicted creativity through psychological resilience. The direct effect (0.45) and the mediating effect (0.23) accounted for 65.95 and 34.05% of the total effect, respectively.

Conclusion

The results demonstrate that sense of place is a positive predictor of creativity and can play a facilitating role to some extent. Moreover, psychological resilience is a mediating factor, acting as a buffer between sense of place and creativity. These results contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms influencing creativity.

Integrative Review of the Recent Literature on Human Resilience: From Concepts, Theories, and Discussions Towards a Complex Understanding

Resilience may be viewed as the capacity of an individual, or perhaps of a dynamic system, to adjust and adapt positively to adversities and disruptions that impact one's functioning and development. Yet a common statement in the literature is that there are still today numerous ways of defining and conceiving resilience. This multiplicity of approaches calls for clarification and generates a need of common theoretical ground. Therefore, this review aims to examine, to clarify and to synthesize how "human" resilience is conceptualized within the recent human sciences literature to help answer the question: 'What are the key approaches, concepts, and definitions of resilience?". Following Whittemore and Knafl (2005, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03621.x) methods, an integrative review of the recent resilience literature (2013-2019) was undertaken. Four databases were used for the search: PsycINFO, PubMed, ERIC, Google Scholar. A reference and citation tracking was then performed on the papers identified. Sixty-nine papers passed all the stages (identification, screening, eligibility, inclusion) and formed the sample. Results show that resilience definitions are nowadays either about "adapting and bouncing back to previous levels of health" or about "thriving and rising above the adversity towards increased levels of health." Results also show that resilience features-antecedents, mechanisms, consequences-are mainly conceptualized in a vertical sequence where an antecedent influences another or influences a mechanism leading to consequences. This paper concludes that modern conceptions can fit within a transactional and constructivist approach that goes beyond the former approaches by providing a more nuanced and realistic picture of the resilience process and by viewing it as a dynamic and person-situation-defined process.

High Thought Control Ability, High Resilience: The Effect of Temporal Cortex and Insula Connectivity

Psychological resilience is always portrayed as the ability to rebound from adversity, which is essential for human mental health. Whereas thought control ability (TCA) is a reliable indicator of perceptual cognitive control and has a predictive effect on psychopathology. Whether and how resilience correlates with thought control are still unclear. The current study explored the whole-brain functional connectivity underlying resilience and its role in the association between resilience and TCA using resting-state fMRI. Results reveled a significant positive correlation between resilience and the functional connectivity of temporal cortex-insula, suggesting that individuals with high resilient ability exhibit flexible interaction between these two regions to facilitate emotional information processing. More importantly, a significant positive correlation between TCA and resilience was observed, and the functional connectivity of temporal cortex-insula has a significant mediation effect on the association between TCA and psychological resilience, revealing that individuals with high TCA show high levels of resilience ability through robust cognitive control on unwanted thoughts. In short, these results extended previous findings by shedding novel insights into the close relationship between resilience and TCA and the underlying neural mechanism.

Mental Health, Coping, and Social Support Among People Living with HIV in the Americas: A Comparative Study Between Argentina and the USA During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a risk to mental health and may disproportionately affect people living with HIV (PLWH). This study examined the interaction of social support and resilient coping in predicting depressive symptoms among PLWH. PLWH residing in Buenos Aires, Argentina and in Miami, Florida (US) were asked to complete an anonymous survey on the impact of COVID-19. Statistical analysis included ordinary least squares regression. A total of 1,554 participants were included. Mean age was 47.30 years; 63.70% were men. A test of three-way interaction of social support × resilient coping × study site indicated differences by site (b = −0.63, p = 0.04, 95%CI [−1.24, −0.02]). In Argentina, higher levels of social support and resilient coping were associated with lower depressive symptoms. Lower levels of social support and resilient coping were associated with higher depressive symptoms. The impact of COVID-19 on mental health illustrates the need for developing innovative strategies to support resilience and to enhance coping with stress and adversity among PLWH.

Resilience and occupational health of health care workers: a moderator analysis of organizational resilience and sociodemographic attributes

Objectives

Although previous studies have proposed a positive influence of resilience on the mental and physical health of health care workers, empirical evidence on its relationship with occupational health remains scarce. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between individual resilience and several occupational health indicators, as well as exploring the moderating role of organizational resilience and sociodemographic attributes on this relationship.

Methods

A cross-sectional design was used with a questionnaire applied to a sample of 325 workers from the Spanish health care sector.

Results

Individual resilience was significantly associated with the indicators of occupational health. A direct effect of individual resilience on job satisfaction was found. The influence of resilience on the perception of fatigue and suffering from an illness was reverse. Age moderated the impact of resilience on the perception of stress and medical leave. Besides, organizational resilience proved to be an important adjustment variable in job satisfaction and perception of stress.

Conclusions

The findings show the relevance to take both individual and organizational resilience into account when applying intervention programs to improve the occupational health of health care workers.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00420-021-01725-8.

Long-term effects of intermittent early life stress on primate prefrontal-subcortical functional connectivity

Correlational studies of humans suggest that exposure to early life stress has long-term effects on neural circuits involved in vulnerability and resilience to mental health disorders. Stress-related mental health disorders are more prevalent in women than in men. Here, female squirrel monkeys are randomized to intermittently stressful (IS) social separations or a non-separated (NS) control condition conducted from 17 to 27 weeks of age. Nine years later in mid-life adulthood, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was employed to parcellate prefrontal cortex (PFC). Resulting subdivisions were then used to characterize functional connectivity within PFC, and between PFC subdivisions and subcortical regions that are known to be altered by stress. Extensive hyper-connectivity of medial and orbitofrontal PFC with amygdala, hippocampus, and striatum was observed in IS compared to NS monkeys. Functional hyper-connectivity in IS monkeys was associated with previously reported indications of diminished anxiety-like behavior induced by prepubertal stress. Hyper-connectivity of PFC with amygdala and with hippocampus was also associated with increased ventral striatal dopamine D2 and/or D3 receptor (DRD2/3) availability assessed with positron emission tomography (PET) of [¹¹C]raclopride binding in adulthood. Ventral striatal DRD2/3 availability has been linked to cognitive control, which plays a key role in stress coping as an aspect of emotion regulation. These findings provide causal support for enduring neurobiological effects of early life stress and suggest novel targets for new treatments of stress-related mental health disorders.

Depression and Creativity During COVID-19: Psychological Resilience as a Mediator and Deliberate Rumination as a Moderator

Purpose: The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has had a significant impact on people’s lives, has apparently increased the incidence of depression. Although the topic of how depression affects creativity is contested, previous research has revealed a significant relationship between the two. The purpose of this study is to further investigate the relationship and the mechanisms that operate between depression and creativity.

Methods: A total of 881 students at an independent college in China completed a questionnaire consisting of the Self-Reported Depression Scale, Runco Ideational Behavior Scale, Psychological Resilience Scale, Deliberate Rumination Scale and demographic information. Among the respondents, 317 (36.0%) were male and 564 (64.0%) were female, all of whom were from the same grade. Correlation analyses were conducted, and then the researchers carried out mediation analysis and developed a moderated mediation model.

Results: The results indicated that (a) depression was positively related to creativity (r = 0.085, p < 0.05); (b) psychological resilience mediated the relationship between depression and creativity; specifically, psychological resilience was negatively related to depression (r = −0.462, p < 0.01), which in turn was positively related to creativity (r = 0.198, p < 0.01); and (c) deliberate rumination moderated the relationship between depression and psychological resilience, showing a significant negative correlation with depression (r = 0.138, p < 0.01), psychological resilience (r = 0.078, p < 0.05), and creativity (r = 0.288, p < 0.05); specifically, higher levels of deliberate rumination strengthened the negative correlation between psychological resilience and depression.

Conclusion: The results suggest that depression is a positive predictor of creativity and may promote creativity to some extent. Further, individuals with greater psychological resilience are more creative than those with less psychological resilience, as it is a question of whether they can and to what extent they can effectively use depression as an emotional resource. Last, an individual’s level of deliberate rumination moderates the mediating process, especially at the stage where depression is associated with psychological resilience. These findings advance understanding of the mechanisms that operate between depression and creativity.

Associations of cognitive reserve and psychological resilience with cognitive functioning in subjects with cerebral white matter hyperintensities

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Cerebral small vessel disease is characterized by progressive white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and cognitive decline. However, variability exists in how individuals maintain cognitive capabilities despite significant neuropathology. The relationships between individual cognitive reserve, psychological resilience and cognitive functioning were examined in subjects with varying degrees of WMH.

METHODS

In the Helsinki Small Vessel Disease Study, 152 subjects (aged 65-75 years) underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment, evaluation of subjective cognitive complaints and brain magnetic resonance imaging with volumetric WMH evaluation. Cognitive reserve was determined by education (years) and the modified Cognitive Reserve Scale (mCRS). Psychological resilience was evaluated with the Resilience Scale 14.

RESULTS

The mCRS total score correlated significantly with years of education (r = 0.23, p < 0.01), but it was not related to age, sex or WMH volume. Together, mCRS score and education were associated with performance in a wide range of cognitive domains including processing speed, executive functions, working memory, verbal memory, visuospatial perception and verbal reasoning. Independently of education, the mCRS score had incremental predictive value on delayed verbal recall and subjective cognitive complaints. Psychological resilience was not significantly related to age, education, sex, WMH severity or cognitive test scores, but it was associated with subjective cognitive complaints.

CONCLUSIONS

Cognitive reserve has strong and consistent associations with cognitive functioning in subjects with WMH. Education is widely associated with objective cognitive functioning, whereas lifetime engagement in cognitively stimulating leisure activities (mCRS) has independent predictive value on memory performance and subjective cognitive complaints. Psychological resilience is strongly associated with subjective, but not objective, cognitive functioning.

Domains of Health-Related Quality of Life Are Associated With Specific Deficits and Lesion Locations in Chronic Aphasia

BACKGROUND

Health-related quality of life (HRQL) in stroke survivors is related to numerous factors, but more research is needed to delineate factors related to HRQL in people with aphasia.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the relationship between HRQL and demographic factors, impairment-based measures, and lesion characteristics in chronic aphasia.

METHODS

A total of 41 left-hemisphere stroke survivors with aphasia underwent cognitive testing and magnetic resonance imaging. To address relationships with demographic and impairment-based measures, test scores were entered into a principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple linear regression was performed for overall and domain (physical, communication, psychosocial) scores of the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale (SAQOL-39g). Independent variables included factor scores from the PCA, motricity, lesion volume, depressed mood, and demographic variables. To address relationships with lesion location, multivariate support vector regression lesion-symptom mapping (SVR-LSM) was used to localize lesions associated with SAQOL-39g scores.

RESULTS

The PCA yielded 3 factors, which were labeled Language Production, Nonlinguistic Cognition, and Language Comprehension. Multiple linear regression revealed that depression symptoms predicted lower SAQOL-39g average and domain scores. Lower motricity scores predicted lower SAQOL-39g average and physical scores, and lower Language Production factor scores predicted lower communication scores. SVR-LSM demonstrated that basal ganglia lesions were associated with lower physical scores, and inferior frontal lesions were associated with lower psychosocial scores.

CONCLUSIONS

HRQL in chronic left-hemisphere stroke survivors with aphasia relates to lesion location, depression symptoms, and impairment-based measures. This information may help identify individuals at risk for specific aspects of low HRQL and facilitate targeted interventions to improve well-being.

The Effect of Abusive Supervision on Employees' Work Procrastination Behavior

Work procrastination is a retreat behavior associated with negative cognitive experience and it results in great losses to individual as well as organizational development. Understanding the antecedents of employees’ work procrastination behavior contributes to lower frequency of its occurrence. This research builds a dual-moderated mediation model from the perspective of cognitive appraisal theory and explored work procrastination behavior of employees subjected to abusive supervision. With 378 valid returned questionnaires, data collected from 32 companies in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing supports our hypotheses. This result has enriched the understanding of work procrastination behavior and provided practical implications to avoide its negative effects.

Sex-linked neurofunctional basis of psychological resilience in late adolescence: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Psychological resilience refers to the ability to adapt effectively in the face of adversity, which is closely related to an individual's psychological and physical health and well-being. Although previous behavioural studies have shown sex differences in psychological resilience, little is known about the neural basis of sex differences in psychological resilience. Here, we measured amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) via resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the sex-linked neurofunctional basis of psychological resilience in 231 healthy adolescents. At the behavioural level, we replicated previous findings indicating that males are more resilient than females. At the neural level, we found sex differences in the relationship between psychological resilience and ALFF in the right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Specifically, males showed a positive correlation between psychological resilience and ALFF in the right OFC, while females showed a negative correlation in this region. The sex-specific association between psychological resilience and spontaneous brain activity might be dependent on differences in hormonal systems and brain development between male and female adolescents. Taken together, the results of our study might provide the first evidence of sex-specific neurofunctional substrates of psychological resilience in adolescents, emphasizing the vital role of sex effects in future psychological resilience-related studies.

Study on the Impact of Residential Outdoor Environments on Mood in the Elderly in Guangzhou, China

Understanding the relationship between mood and the environment among the elderly is important for the healthy aging agenda. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between residential outdoor environments of different qualities and mood in the elderly. Nine residential neighborhoods across three different quality levels of the outdoor environment in Guangzhou, China, were surveyed. Measures included demographic characteristics, assessment of the residential outdoor environment, and mood status of the elderly. We constructed a group of multiple regression models to investigate influencing environmental factors of participants’ mood. Results revealed that the environmental factors influencing mood in the elderly are different across the three types of residential outdoor environments: function and cleanliness of the site showed a significant correlation with mood in high-quality residences, while pavement was significantly correlated with mood in medium-quality residences. In contrast, transparency, enclosure, greenness, temperature, and humidity were significantly correlated with mood in poor-quality residences. To promote mental health in the elderly, we recommend that different qualities of residential outdoor environments should be considered individually rather than aggregated as simply “outdoor space.” The findings of this study are expected to contribute to create age-friendly communities for an aging society.

Psychological Resilience, Mental Health, and Inhibitory Control Among Youth and Young Adults Under Stress

Psychological resilience allows one to cope successfully with adversities occurring during stressful periods, which may otherwise trigger mental illness. Recent models suggest that inhibitory control (IC), the executive control function which supports our goal-directed behavior and regulates our emotional response, may underlie resilience. However, the ways in which this is manifested during stressful situations in real life is still unclear. Here, we examined the relationship between IC, psychological resilience, psychological distress, and anxiety among 138 female and male participants in a stressful situation: during their initial combat training in the military. Using a mobile app, we assessed IC using emotional and non-emotional variations of the Go/No-Go task. Psychological resilience, psychological distress, and anxiety were assessed using mobile versions of self-report questionnaires. We found that psychological resilience is significantly correlated with non-emotional IC (r = 0.24, p < 0.005), but not with emotional IC; whereas, psychological distress and anxiety are correlated with emotional IC (r = -0.253, p < 0.005 and r = -0.224, p < 0.01, for psychological distress and anxiety, respectively), but not with non-emotional IC. A regression model predicting emotional IC confirmed non-emotional IC and distress as unique contributors to the variance, but not psychological distress. In addition, associations between psychological distress and emotional IC were found only for female participants. Collectively, the results clarify the link between IC, resilience, and mental health in real-life stressful situations, showing separate mechanisms of IC involved in resilience on the one hand, and mental health on the other hand. These results have implications for building mobile resilience interventions for youth and young adults facing stressful situations.

Dietary Diversity Was Positively Associated with Psychological Resilience among Elders: A Population-Based Study

The association between dietary diversity (DD) and psychological resilience among older people is an underdeveloped area of research. This cross-sectional study explored the associations of DD with psychological resilience among 8571 community-based elderly individuals. The intake frequencies of food groups were collected, and dietary diversity was assessed based on the mean DD score. Psychological resilience was assessed using a simplified resilience score (SRS). Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression and logistic regression models. Poor DD was significantly associated with psychological resilience, with a β (95% CI) of -0.94 (-1.07, -0.81) for the SRS (p < 0.01) and an odds ratio (95% CI) of 1.83 (1.66, 2.01) for low SRS status. The interaction effects of age with DD were observed for the SRS (p < 0.001) and low SRS status (p < 0.001). Based on separate analyses by age group, the association of a low SRS with poor DD was more prominent in the younger elderly than the oldest old, with OR (95% CI) 2.32 (1.96, 2.74) and 1.61 (1.43, 1.82), respectively. Compared with younger participants with good DD, the risk of a low SRS was greater for younger participants with poor DD, the oldest old with good DD, and the oldest old with poor DD, with OR (95% CI) 2.39 (2.02, 2.81), 1.28 (1.09, 1.51), and 2.03 (1.72, 2.39), respectively. The greatest contribution to DD was from a high consumption of vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Our study suggested that poor DD was associated with a low psychological resilience among the Chinese elderly, especially the younger elderly. These findings suggest that augmentation of DD might promote psychological resilience.