Reflections on psychological resilience: a comparison of three conceptually different operationalizations in predicting mental health

Daily resilience: A systematic review of measures and associations with well-being and mental health in experience sampling studies

Resilience is the dynamic process of adapting to or recovering from stressors, maintaining positive mental health. While most studies have investigated resilience after major life events, less is known about resilience in everyday life. To understand how individuals recover from everyday stressors, and associations with other psychosocial variables, well-being and mental health, we conducted a systematic review of studies to daily resilience, i.e., recovery from daily stressors, using the experience sampling method (ESM). Out of 36 included studies, 11 studies investigated daily resilience in youth (10.9-24.7 years) and 25 in adult samples. Daily resilience was operationalized either with self-report items adapted from trait measures (17 studies) or in terms of affective recovery from daily stressors (20 studies). The self-reported ability to recover from daily stressors reflects subjective experiences of coping with stressors, whereas daily resilience as recovery from daily stressors captures the dynamic process, but is understudied in youth. Daily resilience was associated with psychosocial variables, including better sleep quality and greater optimism. Furthermore, individuals with mental health problems consistently showed longer recovery times after daily stressors. Overall, ESM studies highlight that daily resilience could help to identify individuals at-risk for mental health problems. The findings may facilitate timely interventions.

The moderating role of catastrophizing in day-to-day dynamic stress and depressive symptoms

The way individuals handle daily stressors can significantly influence their mental health. Those who struggle with emotion regulation are especially vulnerable to the negative effects of stress. This study explored the role of catastrophizing, a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy, in shaping the relationships between daily stress responses and depressive symptoms. A total of 75 healthy college students participated in the study. We adopted an Ecological Momentary Assessment protocol over 14 consecutive days to capture the day-to-day dynamics of stress reactivity and recovery. Our findings indicate that individuals with higher levels of catastrophizing exhibited increased daily stress reactivity and delayed daily stress recovery, consequently raising their likelihood of experiencing amplified depressive symptoms. In contrast, those with lower levels of catastrophizing did not experience the same negative effects of increased daily stress reactivity on their mental health. These results enhance understanding of how real-life stressors contribute to the development of mental health issues and underscore the importance of adaptive emotion regulation for improved overall health and well-being.

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.