Can Resilience be Measured and Used to Predict Mental Health Symptomology Among First Responders Exposed to Repeated Trauma?

Abstract

To examine whether baseline measures of resilience among active first responders predicts future mental health symptomology following trauma exposure. Multivariate linear regression examined the associations between baseline resilience and future mental health symptomatology following repeated trauma exposure. Symptomatology at 6-month follow-up was the dependent variable. The associations between baseline resilience and future posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (P = 0.02) and depression (P = 0.03) symptoms were statistically significant. Those reporting higher resilience levels had lower symptomology at 6-month follow-up. Eighty percent of first-responders who screened positive for low resilience went on to develop more PTSD symptoms. Examining resilience may serve as a more effective means of screening, given resilience is a malleable construct which can be enhanced via targeted interventions. Higher levels of resilience may protect the long-term mental health of first-responders, particularly in regard to future PTSD.