Psychological resilience in young and older adults

Abstract

Background:The goal of the current study was to investigate psychological resilience in the older adults (>64 years) compared with that of the young ones (<26 years).Methods: Questionnaire measures of depression, hopelessness, general health and resilience were administered to the participants. The resilience measure comprised three sub-scales of social support, emotional regulation and problem solving.Results: The older adults were the more resilient group especially with respect to emotional regulation ability and problem solving. The young ones had more resilience related to social support. Poor perceptions of general health and low energy levels predicted low levels of resilience regardless of age. Low hopelessness scores also predicted greater resilience in both groups. Experiencing higher levels of mental illness and physical dysfunction predicted high resilience scores especially for the social support resilience scale in the older adults. The negative effects of depression on resilience related to emotional regulation were countered by low hopelessness but only in the young adults.Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of maintaining resilience-related coping skills in both young and older adults but indicate that different psychological processes underlie resilience across the lifespan.

Resilience in Igbo Rural Community Adolescents and Young Adults

“…As far as age is concerned, we hypothesised that young adults will report higher resilience than adolescents. This hypothesis was supported by our finding, which replicates previous findings in other samples (Sun and Stewart, 2007;Gooding et al, 2011;Wagnild, 2011). It contradicts the findings of researchers (Condly, 2006;Schoon, 2006;Riches et al, 2009).…”

“…Some studies have shown a positive relationship between age and resilience (Bolognini et al, 1996;St. Jean et al, 2001;Frost and McKelvie, 2004;Sun and Stewart, 2007;Salazar-Pousada et al, 2010;Torma, 2010;Wagnild, 2011;Gooding et al, 2011) while others reported that resilience decreases with age (Condly, 2006;Schoon, 2006;Riches et al, 2009). Evidently, most of the existing studies have investigated age effects on resilience within the same cohort of adolescents or between children and adolescents while others were among young adults and older adults.…”

RETRACTED: Functional Perpetual Resilience in Japanese Adults with Type 1 Diabetes: A Grounded Theory Study

“…Regarding the structure of "functional perpetual resilience", previous qualitative research has shown that resilience is not a stable characteristic; rather, it is a constantly changing and developing construct (EarvolinoRamirez, 2007;Gooding, Hurst, Johnson, & Tarrier, 2012), as reflected in the ten concepts extracted in the present study, which describe how adverse experiences stimulate and forge resilience.…”

The Contribution of Healthy Behaviors on Physical and Mental Health

“…Our understanding of this result is that younger individuals are more likely to participate in physical activities and to use a variety of activity resources compared to older adults. However, according to Gooding, Hurst, Johnson, and Tarrier (2012), older adults had better problem-solving skills and the ability to regulate their emotions, which contributed to resilience as opposed to younger generation. Our results suggest that older adults may have greater ability to manage negative life stressors and life challenges than young adults, thus contributing to better mental health.…”