Resilience and Function in Adults With Physical Disabilities: An Observational Study.

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Psychology
• Disability Studies

Background:

• Physical disabilities significantly impact functional outcomes.
• Resilience may play a crucial role in adapting to disability.
• Understanding factors influencing functional outcomes is vital for improving quality of life.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if resilience is uniquely associated with functional outcomes in individuals with physical disabilities.
• To assess the association after controlling for psychological health and symptom severity.
• To examine potential moderating effects of sex, age, and diagnosis.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional survey study with 1574 community-dwelling adults with physical disabilities.
• Utilized the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (10 items) and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) measures.
• Analyzed data controlling for age, sex, diagnosis, psychological health, and symptom severity.

Main Results:

• Resilience was significantly and positively associated with satisfaction with social roles (β=.17, P<.001) and quality of life (β=.39, P<.001).
• No significant association was found between resilience and physical function (β=.04, P>.05).
• Sex moderated the association between resilience and satisfaction with social roles (P=.043).

Conclusions:

• Resilience plays a unique role in nonphysical functional outcomes for individuals with physical disabilities.
• Findings support the importance of fostering resilience to improve quality of life and social participation.
• Further research can explore interventions to enhance resilience in this population.