Resilience Moderates the Associations between Bipolar Disorder Mood Episodes and Mental Health

Abstract

Resilience could moderate the impact of bipolar disorder (BD) on patients’ quality of life (QoL) and psychosocial functioning. This study aimed to (1) explore the relationships between bipolar disorder mood episodes (depression, [hypo]mania, and euthymia) and mental health outcomes of QoL, personal recovery, impaired work, and psychosocial functioning in individuals with BD; and (2) determine whether resilience domains were moderators of these associations. A clinical adult sample of 97 individuals diagnosed with BD (63.90% female, mean age = 45.02 years) completed a battery of BD-specific measures of resilience and mental health-related variables. Multiple regression showed that self-management of BD resilience domain moderated the negative relationship between (hypo)manic episode and personal recovery. Furthermore, self-confidence moderated the positive relationships between (hypo)manic and depressive episodes and impaired functioning. We suggest that BD patients experiencing (hypo)manic or depressive episodes may improve their mental health and wellbeing through interventions that promote disorder-specific resilience factors.

Keywords

• bipolar disorder
• mood episodes
• resilience
• quality of life
• personal recovery
• work and psychosocial functioning