Resilience and Mental Health in College Students

Research suggests a moderate incidence of depression, anxiety, and especially stress among college students (Ramon-Arbues et al., 2020). It is reasonable to believe that these mental health outcomes might be inversely correlated with resilience, the ability to adapt to new challenges.

In this study, we hypothesize an inverse correlation between resilience (as measured by the selfreported BRS-6) and stress, anxiety, and depression (as measured by the DASS-21). In other words, college students who feel resilient will experience greater mental health and wellness.

To replicate previous research that suggests these effects in females only (Ahmed & Julius, 2015), biological sex differences will be examined. Few other studies have attempted to see whether these correlations are similar for both sexes.

Finally, we want to examine whether first-generation status is implicated in these associations. Alvarado et al. (2017) suggest that although first-generation students reveal higher levels of resilience than nonfirst- generation college students, they also show lower levels of emotional intelligence. The next logical question is, “is there an association between resilience and mental health for both first-generation and non-first-generation students?” Our exploratory hypothesis is that there will be an inverse correlation between resilience and stress, anxiety and depression amongst first-generation college students.

Our preliminary findings suggest an inverse relationship between resilience and depression, stress, and anxiety. This relationship also exists for both first-generation and non-first-generation students with no differences. However, our findings did not reveal a correlation between resilience and stress for males.