Psychometric and neurobiological assessment of resilience in a non-clinical sample of adults

• Published in: Psychoneuroendocrinology 2013-10, Vol.38 (10), p.2099-2108
• Main Authors: Petros, Natalia, Opacka-Juffry, Jolanta, Huber, Jörg H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cortisol; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dehydroepiandrosterone; Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate - analysis; Depression; DHEA; DHEA-S; Early life stress; Endocrinology & Metabolism; Enzyme-linked immunoassay; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health; Hormones and behavior; Humans; Hydrocortisone - analysis; Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis; Male; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Mood disorders; Neuropsychological Tests; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychometrics; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Resilience; Resilience, Psychological; Saliva - chemistry; Social support; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0306-4530; 1873-3360
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.03.022

Summary Background Resilient individuals are capable of adjusting and coping successfully in the face of adversity. Efforts to assess resilience and its biomarkers have focused on individuals with a history of trauma and related disorders. Objective To psychologically assess resilience in a non-clinical community population through questionnaires, and analyse the associations between the psychological parameters and salivary cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S) as putative biomarkers of resilience. Method An opportunistic sample ( n = 196) completed a cross-sectional survey assessing resilience, self-reported depressive symptoms and anxiety, and possible correlates. A sub-sample ( n = 32) selected in order to maximise variation of mental health, provided saliva samples for enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) detection of cortisol and DHEA-S. Results Resilience correlated negatively with depressive symptoms, trait anxiety and early life stress, and positively with self-efficacy, optimism, social support and wellbeing (all r > 0.40; all p -values ≤0.001 except for early life stress: r = −0.20; p ≤ 0.05). Resilience and DHEA-S concentrations correlated significantly ( r = 0.35; p ≤ 0.05); this relationship remained stable after adjustment for demographics. Gender differences were observed for DHEA-S and cortisol ( p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion Resilience is associated with positive aspects of psychological health and salivary DHEA-S, suggesting the latter can be treated as a biomarker of resilience in a non-clinical sample of adults.