Resilience is associated with low psychological distress in renal transplant recipients

Renal transplantation (RT) is a significant life event; its subsequent challenges often lead to psychological distress, which substantially lowers patients' quality of life. The purpose of this study was to screen psychological distress and examine the relationships between resilience and psychological distress in RT recipients.

Participants were 139 RT recipients from the RT follow-up clinic and ward in the departments of nephrology of three general hospitals in Jinan, China. They were assessed using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Perceived Social Support Scale and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. Logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationships between resilience and psychological distress after adjusting for perceived social support.

Fifty-nine (42.4%) RT recipients were considered as experiencing "psychological distress" (K10 score ≥ 22). Resilience was associated with psychological distress after controlling for perceived social support and sociodemographic variables: a one-point increase in resilience decreased the likelihood of having possible psychological distress (odds ratio=0.945, 95% confidence interval=0.914-0.976, P<.01).

The present study suggests that resilience was significantly associated with low psychological distress in RT recipients. Psychosocial interventions focused on resilience might provide useful approaches to overcome psychological distress in RT recipients.