Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) as an Independent Diagnosis: Differences in Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being between CPTSD and PTSD

Although many studies have differentiated complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), few studies have explored the differences in positive adaptation between the two. The present study aimed to determine whether there are distinctions between PTSD and CPTSD in hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. The present study used a Chinese young adult sample with childhood adversity experiences (n = 1451), including 508 males and 943 females, with an average age of 20.07 years (SD = 1.39). PTSD and CPTSD symptoms were measured by the International Trauma Questionnaire. Eudaimonic well-being was measured by the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and hedonic well-being, including life satisfaction and happiness, was assessed by the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the face scale. Analysis of variance showed that the CPTSD group had lower hedonic and eudaimonic well-being than the PTSD group. Moreover, hierarchical regression analysis showed that disturbances in self-organization (DSO) symptoms in CPTSD were negatively associated with hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, while PTSD was positively associated with eudaimonic well-being. These findings indicate that the core symptoms of CPTSD might hinder individuals from living fulfilling lives. The positive association between eudaimonic well-being and PTSD symptoms may be a manifestation of posttraumatic growth. Based on the perspective of positive adaptation, these results provide new evidence of the importance of considering CPTSD as an independent diagnosis and suggest that future well-being interventions should be implemented in people with DSO symptoms.

Coping with COVID-19 at the community level: Testing the predictors and outcomes of communal coping

The COVID-19 pandemic is a socially shared health issue that has had profound impacts on all aspects of community life and requires collaborative coping responses. Drawn from the extended theoretical model of communal coping, we examined (a) factors that promote community members' communal coping and (b) the influence of communal coping on perceived stress and positive adaptation in the context of COVID-19. An empirical test based on the survey of participants (N = 257) living in the state of New York showed that strong community identity, but not the length of residency in the same community and integrated connectedness to communication resources of the community, was positively associated with communal coping orientation. Having a higher communal coping orientation was not related to perceived stress, but it was positively related to engagement in COVID-19 preventive behaviors. The implications of these findings for understanding communal coping at the community level and future directions are discussed.

Genetic Variants Associated With Resilience in Human and Animal Studies

Resilience is broadly defined as the ability to maintain or regain functioning in the face of adversity and is influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. The identification of specific genetic factors and their biological pathways underpinning resilient functioning can help in the identification of common key factors, but heterogeneities in the operationalisation of resilience have hampered advances. We conducted a systematic review of genetic variants associated with resilience to enable the identification of general resilience mechanisms. We adopted broad inclusion criteria for the definition of resilience to capture both human and animal model studies, which use a wide range of resilience definitions and measure very different outcomes. Analyzing 158 studies, we found 71 candidate genes associated with resilience. OPRM1 (Opioid receptor mu 1), NPY (neuropeptide Y), CACNA1C (calcium voltage-gated channel subunit alpha1 C), DCC (deleted in colorectal carcinoma), and FKBP5 (FKBP prolyl isomerase 5) had both animal and human variants associated with resilience, supporting the idea of shared biological pathways. Further, for OPRM1, OXTR (oxytocin receptor), CRHR1 (corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1), COMT (catechol-O-methyltransferase), BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), APOE (apolipoprotein E), and SLC6A4 (solute carrier family 6 member 4), the same allele was associated with resilience across divergent resilience definitions, which suggests these genes may therefore provide a starting point for further research examining commonality in resilience pathways.

Becoming More Rugged and Better Resourced: The R2 Resilience Program's© Psychosocial Approach to Thriving

The past decade has seen growing interest in interventions that build resilience as a complementary practice to trauma-informed care. From school-based programs focused on self-regulation and academic success to programs that support the well-being of disadvantaged populations or healthcare workers at risk of burnout, the concept of resilience is being used most commonly for programming that builds the capacity of individuals to adapt under conditions of adversity. Critiques have raised concerns that resilience-promoting programs demonstrate bias toward changing individual-level factors such as cognitions (e.g., mindfulness and grit), behavior (e.g., expressing gratitude and changing personal routines), or attachments (e.g., feeling secure in relationships) which help people adapt to socially toxic situations without changing access to the resources they require to overcome exposure to adverse psychosocial factors. This trend belies advances to the theory of resilience which support a more contextualized, multisystemic understanding of how external protective factors (resources) enhance individual qualities (ruggedness) and vice versa. Building on a multisystemic description of resilience, the R2 Resilience Program© was developed and piloted with six different populations ranging from clients of urban social services to workers in a long-term care facility, managers in the health care sector, staff of a Fortune 500 corporation, students in a primary to grade 12 school, and adult volunteers affiliated with an international NGO. Focused on building both individual ruggedness and enhancing people's resources (the two Rs), the program provides contextualized content for each population by selecting from 52 resilience promoting factors with a strong evidence base to create training curricula that enhance the personal qualities and social, physical, and institutional resources most likely to support resilience. This paper reviews the justification for a multisystemic approach to designing resilience interventions and then explains the process of implementation of the R2 program. Preliminary findings are reported, which suggest the program is experienced as effective, with evaluations ongoing.

Resilience in Adult Health Science Revisited-A Narrative Review Synthesis of Process-Oriented Approaches

Purpose: This article aims to identify how the term “resilience” is addressed in adult health science due to ongoing criticism about the lack of consistency in its conceptualization.

Method: Two databases (PubMed and PsycArticles) were searched to retrieve reviews published from 2015 up until 2020 on the general conceptualization of resilience. All reviews had to meet specific inclusion criteria, which resulted in the inclusion of 18 articles. After discussing different conceptualizations regarding the process-oriented approach of resilience in adult health research, we will highlight some mechanisms that are supposed to be involved in the resilience process.

Results: Research on resilience in health sciences confronts three core difficulties: defining positive outcome for a processual construct, describing different trajectories within the process, and identifying mechanisms that mediate resilience.

Conclusion: The definition of resilience in mental health research as a multidimensional adaptation process is widely accepted, and multiple research paradigms have contributed to a better understanding of the concept. However, the definition of a processual construct in a way that allows for high expert consensus and a valid operationalization for empirical studies remains a challenge. Future research should focus on the assessment of multiple cross-domain outcomes and international and interdisciplinary prospective mixed-method longitudinal designs to fill in the missing links.

Bouncing back, if not beyond: Challenges for research on resilience

Setbacks are a fact of life for individuals and collectives—and resilience is a key concept in explaining why some entities positively adapt (i.e., bounce back) or even emerge stronger (i.e., bounce beyond), while others suffer from such events, sometimes permanently. In this short note, we briefly introduce the concept of resilience before moving to three key challenges for management research in this field. With this, we would like to encourage the international scholarly research community to view any phenomenon of their interest also from a resilience perspective, considering significant setbacks and processes of positive adaptation.

Psychological Resilience of Volunteers in a South African Health Care Context: A Salutogenic Approach and Hermeneutic Phenomenological Inquiry

Volunteering in non-Western countries, such as South Africa, is subject to poor infrastructure, lack of resources, poverty-stricken conditions and often conducted by volunteers from lower socio-economic spheres of society. Sustaining the well-being of volunteers in this context is essential in ensuring their continued capacity to volunteer. To do so, it is important to understand the psychological resilience of these volunteers and the resistance resources they employ to positively adapt to their challenging work-life circumstances. The aim of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore volunteers’ psychological resilience from a salutogenic perspective. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight volunteers servicing government-run hospitals. Data were analysed through phenomenological hermeneutical analysis. Findings show a characteristic work-life orientation to be at the root of volunteers’ resilience. Their work-life orientation is based on a distinct inner drive, an other-directedness and a “calling” work orientation. It is proposed that this work-life orientation enables volunteers in this study context, to cope with and positively adapt to challenging work-life circumstances and continue volunteering. The elements of their work-life orientation are presented as intrapersonal strength resources fundamental to their psychological resilience. It is suggested that organisations invest in developmental interventions that endorse and promote these intrapersonal strengths.

Depressive Symptoms and Resilience among Hispanic Emerging Adults: Examining the Moderating Effects of Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, Family Cohesion, and Social Support

Emerging adulthood has been described as a difficult stage in life and may be particularly stressful for Hispanic emerging adults who are disproportionately exposed to adversity and chronic sociocultural stressors. To better prevent and treat depressive disorders among Hispanic emerging adults, more research is needed to identify and understand modifiable determinants that can help this population enhance their capacity to offset and recover from adversity and sociocultural stressors. As such, this study aimed to (1) examine the association between resilience and depressive symptoms among Hispanic emerging adults, and (2) examine the extent to which intrapersonal resources (e.g., mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation strategies) and interpersonal resources (e.g., family cohesion, social support) moderate the association between resilience and depressive symptoms. To examine these aims, 200 Hispanic emerging adults (ages 18-25) from Arizona (n = 99) and Florida (n = 101) completed a cross-sectional survey, and data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression and moderation analyses. Findings from the hierarchical multiple regression indicate that higher resilience was associated with lower depressive symptoms. Findings from the moderation analyses indicate that family cohesion, social support, and emotion regulation strategies (e.g., cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) functioned as moderators; however, mindfulness and distress tolerance were not significant moderators. Findings from this study add to the limited literature on resilience among Hispanics that have used validated measures of resilience. Furthermore, we advance our understanding of who may benefit most from higher resilience based on levels of intrapersonal and interpersonal resources.

[Theory of resilience. Key conceptual constructs and chosen issues]

The aim of this article is to familiarize readers with key conceptual constructs related to resilience theory. This theory explains the phenomenon of children's and adolescents' positive adaptation despite various adverse life conditions and traumatic events. The resilience theory emphasizes the importance (relevance) of positive factors and mechanisms for child and adolescent development. Thus, it could be very useful for developing primary prevention and mental health promotion programmes among children and youth. This article is based on a review of publications written by significant resiliency researchers: M Rutter, N. Garmezy, E. Werner, S. Luthar, A. Sameroff, K. Kumpfer, A. Masten, M. Zimmerman, D. Cicchetti. More than 20 articles and book chapters published during the past 25 years were taken into consideration. They were chosen from the electronic database available at the University of Michigan and SAMSHA, and publications available in Poland. Several resilience definitions are mentioned, indicating the interactive and dynamic process of positive adaptation. These definitions encompass the impact of both risk and positive factors (and their interaction) on the individual's behavior, competence and health. The key conceptual constructs such as risk, risk factors, positive factors, resilience models and mechanisms are described in this article. The differences between the risk and protective mechanism are also presented. The difficulties related to operationalization of the key resilience constructs in empirical research are discussed. Common difficulties are related for example to clear criteria for risk and positive adaptation, and for risk group selection.