Resilience Moderates Negative Outcome from Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Moderated-Mediation Approach

Abstract

Resilience refers to an individual’s healthy coping abilities when encountering adverse life events. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a situation with a high amount of stress exposure, which in turn may be associated with negative emotional outcome like depressive symptoms. The current study investigated if resilience moderated the effect of stress on symptoms of depression and if anxiety symptoms mediated this association. An adult sample of community controls completed the Perceived stress scale 14 (PSS-14), the Resilience scale for adults (RSA), the Patient health questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized anxiety disorder 7 (GAD-7). Independent samples t-test, correlation analyses and moderated mediation analyses were conducted. The results showed that resilience moderated the relations between stress and anxiety symptoms (β = −0.131, p < 0.001) as well as between stress and depressive symptoms (β = −0.068, p < 0.05). In support of a moderated mediation model, resilience moderated the indirect effect of stress on depressive symptom, as confirmed by the index of moderated mediation (IMM = −0.036, p < 0.001; [95% BCa: −0.055, −0.020]). The high resilience subgroup was less affected than the low resilience subgroup by the effect of stress exposure symptoms of depression, mediated by anxiety. The study shows that stress exposure is associated with symptoms of depression, and anxiety mediates this association. Level of resilience differentiates the direct and indirect effect of stress on depression. Knowledge about the effect of stress in response to a pandemic is important for developing treatment and prevention strategies for stress, depression and health-related anxiety.

Psychological Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Hungarian Adults

“…Resilience could be a factor that shaped psychological reactions of the examined Hungarian adults. Havnen et al [ 51 ] found that Norvegian adults in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic high on resilience reported lower levels of perceived stress, depression, and anxiety. Resilience can be described as a healthy adaptation despite adversity, and it involves of a group of factors which contribute to healthy coping and health promotion [ 51 ].…”

“…Havnen et al [ 51 ] found that Norvegian adults in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic high on resilience reported lower levels of perceived stress, depression, and anxiety. Resilience can be described as a healthy adaptation despite adversity, and it involves of a group of factors which contribute to healthy coping and health promotion [ 51 ]. Havnen et al [ 51 ] emphasized that people high on resilience were less affected by negative emotional reactions (such as increased worry and anxiety) due to the experience of stress during the coronavirus pandemic.…”

Listening to Forests: Comparing the Perceived Restorative Characteristics of Natural Soundscapes before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…A study during a previous viral outbreak found that among patients who survived the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, natural soundscapes may have differentiated restorative effects depending on the level of stress [34]. The outbreak of COVID-19 has created relatively new forms of stressors for mental health [35]. Recent research proved that stress raised during the COVID-19 pandemic could recovery from simpler virtual exposure to forest environments with combined audio and visual stimuli.…”

Psychometric Properties of the Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READ) and Measurement Invariance Across Two Different German-Speaking Samples

“…These adolescents are at risk of suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, disruptive behaviors, and substance abuse ( McLaughlin and Lambert, 1970 ). Especially in times of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) there is high prevalence of psychological distress in adolescents (e.g., Havnen et al, 2020 ; Prime et al, 2020 ; Ran et al, 2020 ).…”