Impact of resilience on the improvement of depressive symptoms after cognitive therapies for depression in a sample of young adults

INTRODUCTION: Few studies have evaluated positive measures for therapeutic response. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the effects of resilience on severity of depressive and anxious symptoms after brief cognitive psychotherapy for depression. METHODS: This was a clinical follow-up study nested in a randomized clinical trial of cognitive therapies. The Resilience Scale was applied at baseline. The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) were used at baseline, post-intervention, and at six-month follow-up. RESULTS: Sixty-one patients were assessed at baseline, post-intervention and at six-month follow-up. Resilience scores were significantly different between baseline and post-intervention assessments (p<0.001), as well as at baseline and at six-month follow-up (p<0.001). We observed a weak negative correlation between baseline resilience scores and HDRS scores at post-intervention (r=-0.295, p=0.015) and at six-month follow-up (r=-0.354, p=0.005). Furthermore, we observed a weak negative correlation between resilience scores and HARS scores at post-intervention (r=-0.292, p=0.016). CONCLUSION: Subjects with higher resilience scores at baseline showed a lower severity of symptoms at post-intervention and at six-month follow-up.