Abstract
Resilience has been reported to be a protective psychological variable of mental health; however, little is known about its role in COVID-19 survivors. Thus, in this study, we aimed to evaluate the levels of depression, anxiety, stress, traumatic impact, and resilience associated with COVID-19, as well as to investigate the role of resilience as a moderating variable. A sample of 253 participants responded to an online survey; all were previously diagnosed with COVID-19 by a nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR test, were older than 18 years, and signed an informed consent form. Significant negative correlations were found between resilience and the mental health variables. Higher resilience was significantly related to a lower impact of the event, stress, anxiety, and depression when the number of symptoms was low. Only when the duration of COVID-19 was short and resilience levels were medium or high was psychological distress reduced. Moreover, resilience moderated the effects of COVID-19 on mental health, even if a relapse occurred. The results emphasize the need for interdisciplinary interventions aimed at providing COVID-19 patients with psychological and social resources to cope with the disease, as well as with probable relapses.
Highlights
There have been more than 250 million total cases of COVID-19, and over 5 million total deaths have been reported [1], indicating that a high percentage of people infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 recover from the disease
Given the experience gained from the pandemic outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) [2] and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) [3], clearly showing that the mental health sequelae in survivors can be catastrophic and long-lasting, it is necessary to study the mental health of patients that have recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection in order to plan, in advance, how to manage and mitigate the psychological consequences of the disease through timely interventions
We aimed to evaluate the levels of depression, anxiety, stress, traumatic impact, and resilience, as well as to investigate the moderating effect of resilience on the impact of the disease on mental health among COVID-19 survivors, since reports of this nature are currently lacking in the studied population
Summary
There have been more than 250 million total cases of COVID-19, and over 5 million total deaths have been reported [1], indicating that a high percentage of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 recover from the disease. Given the experience gained from the pandemic outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) [2] and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) [3], clearly showing that the mental health sequelae in survivors can be catastrophic and long-lasting, it is necessary to study the mental health of patients that have recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection in order to plan, in advance, how to manage and mitigate the psychological consequences of the disease through timely interventions. In this respect, several experts have reported the possibility of a subsequent pandemic of mental disorders flowing from COVID-19 [4,5]. Chamberlain et al [15] highlighted the positive correlation between the severity of the disease and the presence of post-traumatic stress symptomatology, whereas Einvik et al [16] indicated differences in the presence of psychological distress between those survivors who were hospitalized (9.5%) and those who were not (7%) in a Norwegian sample
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
