Anxiety, depression and family resilience: A three-level meta-analysis

Perceived family resilience, which refers to the subjective assessment of family members regarding their family's ability to effectively adapt and maintain stability during challenging times, has been negatively correlated with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression in numerous studies; however, the strength of this association has varied significantly across previous research. This study fills this gap through a three-level meta-analysis.

This study aims to obtain reliable estimates of effect sizes and explore potential moderating factors in the relationship between perceived family resilience and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Through a systematic literature search, twenty studies reported on the relationship between perceived family resilience and symptoms of anxiety and depression, encompassing 125 effect sizes and 18,283 participants. Perceived family resilience, referring to individual participants' subjective assessment of their family's resilience, along with anxiety and depression symptoms, was assessed using validated self-report questionnaires. Employing a three-level model, this three-level meta-analysis was conducted based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach.

Findings indicated a significant negative correlation between perceived family resilience and symptoms of anxiety and depression (main effect: r = -0.31, p < 0.001), with notable variations due to education level, anxiety-depression outcome type, type of measurement for anxiety and depression, and nuclear family structure.

The limited number of studies, reliance on self-report measures, cross-sectional designs, and variable study quality restrict generalizability, causal inference, and the understanding of underlying mechanisms.

The study confirms that higher perceived family resilience is associated with lower symptoms of anxiety and depression, highlighting its protective role in mental health.