Resilience and Mental Health Among Medical Students: Associations with Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the association between resilience and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in Brazilian medical students. Methods: This was a cross-sectional and analytical study conducted with 599 medical students from different higher education institutions in Brazil. Mental health was assessed using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and resilience using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10). Pearson correlation analyses and multiple linear regression adjusted for sex, previous diagnosis of a mental disorder, physical activity, and psychological and/or psychiatric follow-up were performed. Results: Resilience showed a negative and significant correlation with depression, anxiety, and stress scores. In the adjusted models, it maintained an inverse and independent association with all evaluated outcomes. Among the adjustment variables, a previous diagnosis of a mental disorder and psychological and/or psychiatric follow-up were associated with higher scores of psychological distress. Numerically higher coefficients were observed among students with a previous diagnosis of a mental disorder in the stratified analyses, although formal interaction tests were not performed. Conclusion: Higher levels of resilience were associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, suggesting an important role of this construct in the mental health of medical students. The findings reinforce the relevance of resilience in the context of medical training and suggest that this construct may have special relevance in groups with greater psychological vulnerability.