Resilience in 2021: Descriptive analysis of individuals accessing virtual mental health services (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Although resilience has been extensively studied by developmental researchers, it has received less attention in the psychiatry and psychopathology research and practice, which is more focused on disease and pathology, and associated symptom-based measures like PHQ-9 and GAD-7. OBJECTIVE This study aims to describe resilience levels in individuals accessing Ginger, a virtual mental health system in addition to its association with demographic characteristics, baseline depression and anxiety symptoms. METHODS We conducted a retrospective observational study of 9,165 members who accessed Ginger, an on-demand mental health system, and completed a baseline survey between January 1, 2021 to August 5, 2021. We used multivariate regression models to test for associations between baseline resilience and other member characteristics. RESULTS Baseline scores centered on a mean and median of 24 (out of 40), with 81% of the sample having low resilience at baseline. Despite having relatively higher resilience scores, members with no or mild depression or anxiety still had low resilience scores on average. CONCLUSIONS Overall, members had low baseline resilience, in line with prior studies of trauma survivors. Findings suggest a need for mental health support among individuals who might not typically be recommended for treatment based on traditional clinical assessments like PHQ-9 and GAD-7. Future research could focus on the interaction between resilience levels and symptom-based outcomes measures like PHQ-9 and GAD-7.