Psycho-social factors associated with mental resilience in the Corona lockdown
Authors: Veer Ilya M , Riepenhausen Antje , Zerban Matthias , Wackerhagen Carolin , Puhlmann Lara , Engen Haakon , Köber Göran , Bögemann Sophie , Weermeijer Jeroen Dennis, Merlijn , Uściƚko Aleksandra , Mor Netali , Marciniak Marta Anna , Askelund Adrian Dahl , Al-Kamel Abbas , Ayash Sarah , Barsuola Giulia , Bartkute-Norkuniene Vaida , Battaglia Simone , Bobko Yaryna , Bölte Sven , Cardone Paolo , Chvojka Edita , Damnjanović Kaja , de Calheiros Velozo Joana , Dimitrov Annika , Deza-Araujo Yacila Isabela , de Thurah Lena , Farkas Kinga , Feller Clémence Mathilde , Gazea Mary , Gilan Donya , Gnjidić Vedrana , Hajdúk Michal , Ilen Laura , Kasanova Zuzana , Khanpour Mohsen , Lau Bobo H. P. , Lenferink Dionne B. , Lindhardt Thomas Beck , Magas Dávid Á. , Mituniewicz Julian , Moreno-Lopez Laura , Muzychka Sofiia , Ntafouli Maria , O'Leary Aet , Paparella Ilenia , Põldver Nele , Rintala Aki , Robak Natalia , Rosická Anna M. , Røysamb Espen , Sadeghi Siavash , Schneider Maude , Siugzdaite Roma , Stantic Mirta , Todorovic Ana , Teixeira Ana , Wan Wendy W.N. , van Dick Rolf , Lieb Klaus , Kleim Birgit , Hermans Erno , Kobylinska Dorota , Hendler Talma , Binder Harald , Myin-Germeys Inez , van Leeuwen Judith , Tüscher Oliver , Yuen Kenneth S.L. , Walter Henrik , Kalisch Raffael 
Published: April 2020

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is not only a threat to physical health but is also having severe impacts on mental health. While increases in stress-related symptomatology and other adverse psycho-social outcomes as well as their most important risk factors have been described, hardly anything is known about potential protective factors. Resilience refers to the maintenance of mental health despite adversity. In order to gain mechanistic insights about the relationship between described psycho-social resilience factors and resilience specifically in the current crisis, we assessed resilience factors, exposure to Corona crisis-specific and general stressors, as well as internalizing symptoms in a cross-sectional online survey conducted in 24 languages during the most intense phase of the lockdown in Europe (March 22nd to April 19th) in a convenience sample of N=15,970 adults. Resilience, as an outcome, was conceptualized as good mental health despite stressor exposure and measured as the inverse residual between actual and predicted symptom total score. Preregistered hypotheses (osf.io/r6btn) were tested with multiple regression models and mediation analyses. Results confirmed our primary hypothesis that positive appraisal style (PAS) is positively associated with resilience (p&lt;0.0001). The resilience factor PAS also partly mediated the positive association between perceived social support and resilience, and its association with resilience was in turn partly mediated by the ability to easily recover from stress (both p&lt;0.0001). In comparison with other resilience factors, good stress response recovery and positive appraisal specifically of the consequences of the Corona crisis were the strongest factors. Preregistered exploratory subgroup analyses (osf.io/thka9) showed that all tested resilience factors generalize across major socio-demographic categories. This research identifies modifiable protective factors that can be targeted by public mental health efforts in this and in future pandemics.