The impact of resilience and subsequent stressful life events on MDD and GAD

Background There remains a dearth of research examining the “buffering” effect of resilience, wherein resilience at one point in time would be expected to protect an individual against development of psychopathology following future adverse life events. Methods Using longitudinal data from an epidemiological twin sample (N = 7463), this study tested whether resilience would act as a buffer for stressful life events (SLEs) against risk for major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Resilience, demographics, and psychopathology were measured at Time 1 and recent SLEs and current MDD and GAD were measured at Time 2. Results Final models, controlling for demographic covariates and Time 1 diagnosis, examined the impact of Time 1 resilience, recent SLEs, their interaction, and a three‐way interaction adding sex on MDD and GAD. Conclusions The pattern of findings was the same for MDD and GAD, wherein main effects and two‐way interactions of resilience and SLEs were significant, such that greater resilience was protective even in the context of high numbers of past‐year SLEs. The three‐way interaction was not significant, suggesting that the relationship between SLEs and resilience on psychopathology was the same for both men and women. Findings support the conceptualization of resilience as a buffer against the impact of future life stressors on common internalizing psychopathology. Longitudinal designs and trajectory‐based studies that include recurring measures of SLEs could inform conceptualizations of resilience in the context of ongoing adversity and aid in developing interventions aimed at fostering healthy adaptation in the face of stressors.