Resilience in systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

Resilience (RS) concerns human beings’ capacity to respond positively to adverse situations they face, enabling individuals to achieve, maintain, or recover physical or emotional health after devastating illness, losses, or other stressful situations. RS can be an important factor in health promotion. The aim of this study was to evaluate RS in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Forty-five SLE patients participated in this study and were evaluated by both Mini International Neuropsychiatric and Wagnild and Young scales. Of these, 8.9% had low RS (score < 121), 71% medium score (between 121 and 146), and 20% high RS (score > 146). Patients over 35 years of age had the highest scores on the RS scale and patients at risk of committing suicide presented the lowest RS scores, possibly due to high level of depression. Identifying risk and protective factors is important for developing psychological support strategies.

Keywords:

• systemic lupus erythematosus
• depression
• resilience
• score
• mini

Acknowledgments

SFC is currently receiving a scholarship from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (FAPESB) and MBS from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)