Predictive Role of Sociodemographic and Health Factors on Psychological Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in Turkey

Abstract

Recent global changes, including increased health risks and economic instability associated with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, highlight the need for mental health researchers to regularly and frequently monitor sociodemographic shifts. To minimise the risk of psychological complications arising from adverse events, we need to identify and understand the factors linked to psychological resilience in different populations. To this end, we collected data in Turkey during the third wave of the pandemic (June 2021). The aims were to identify how the level of perceived psychological resilience changed: (1) across sociodemographic groups (age, gender, perceived economic security, caregiver status, perceived socioeconomic status, education level, perceived social isolation, and presence of acquaintances who had contracted COVID-19); (2) across health groups (smoking status, psychological or chronic illness status, and having had COVID-19); and (3) in relation to changes in fear of COVID-19. Regression analyses showed that age, gender, economic security, socioeconomic status, and illness status were factors influencing resilience, and fear of COVID-19 was negatively correlated with resilience. Young adults, females, nonbinary individuals, a low socioeconomic status, and economically insecure groups as well as people with a psychological condition were identified as lower resilience groups. The results provide insights about the predictors of perceived psychological resilience during a global crisis and help identify vulnerable populations.

Keywords

• resilience
• global crisis
• sociodemographic factors
• COVID-19
• mental health