Mental Resilience Linked to Longer Life—Study

Resilience, the ability to bounce back from life’s setbacks, isn’t always easy—but those who develop it may be rewarded with a longer life.

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Having the mental grit to cope and adapt to challenges is linked to longevity, a recent study found.

This link between resilience and longevity remained statistically significant even in people with diabetes, heart disease,  cancer, hypertension, and a history of strokes.

“The relationship persisted even after accounting for smoking and other health-related behaviors,” the authors said.

Researchers in Sweden and China analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study, which collects health-related information on a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults aged 50 and above. More than 10,000 Americans were evaluated on their psychological resilience and were followed for 12 years.

“Our findings revealed a protective effect of psychological resilience against mortality,” the authors wrote in their study, published Sept. 10 in BMJ Mental Health.

Psychological Resilience Improves Health

The participants were scored based on a questionnaire that rated “perseverance, calmness, a sense of purpose, self-reliance, and the recognition that certain experiences must be faced alone,” the study said.

The researchers found that people who scored the highest on psychological resilience had a lower incidence of all-cause mortality. The study showed a 38 percent decrease in the risk of death in the most resilient one-fourth of the participants, “compared with the group with the lowest scores.”

Furthermore, positive acceptance of change, which is a core aspect of psychological resilience, was associated with lower overall mortality and reduced risk of all-cause and cardiovascular death among older participants.

Mind Protects the Body

The study shows a protective effect of psychological resilience against mortality, the researchers said.

Prior research has linked psychological resilience with better biological health, though few studies have investigated this link.

“Research has highlighted a potential association between psychological resilience and epigenetic clocks,” the authors wrote. These studies found that people with higher resilience may experience slower aging, which can be seen through modifications to DNA.

One aspect of being psychologically resilient is having a sense of purpose, which prior research has shown to be linked to improved longevity.

Research published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity suggested that the relationship between the mind and body is bidirectional—with exercise linked to improved mental resilience. Mentally resilient people tend to partake more in such activities.

Physical activity and treatment to improve psychological resilience may reduce all-cause mortality, the authors said.