Associations between resilience and sociodemographic factors and depressive symptoms in women with systemic lupus erythematosus

Objective: To compare resilience in women with SLE and healthy women and determine whether sociodemographic factors and depressive symptoms were associated with resilience in patients with SLE. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Participants were 123 women with SLE according to the ACR criteria and 132 age-matched healthy women (median = 45 (IQR = 34-54) years). Scales administered were: SLEDAI-2 K for disease activity, Graffar method, SLICC damage index, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the Spanish version of the Resilience Scale of Wagnild and Young. The statistical analysis was made using the Student t, Mann Whitney, Chi-square, and Spearman's Rho tests and multivariate analysis with a generalized linear model (GLM). Statistical significance was set as p < .05. Results: There were no differences in resilience scores between women with SLE and healthy women (median = 80, IQR = 75-87 vs. median = 80, IQR = 74-86.75, p = .38), although patients with SLE had higher self-efficacy scores (median = 47 IQR = 43-50 vs. median = 45, IQR = 42-48, p = .002) and depressive symptoms (median = 10, IQR = 5-18 vs. median = 8, IQR = 5-18, p = .01). The overall resilience score correlated with depressive symptoms (r = -0.537, p < .01). The GLM showed no association between sociodemographic factors and resilience in patients with SLE. Conclusions: Resilience did not differ between women with SLE and healthy women. In patients with SLE, depressive symptoms may influence resilience and its domains, but sociodemographic factors do not. Public health significance statement The results suggest that resilience was similar between females with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and age-matched healthy women. Depressive symptoms correlated negatively with resilience in patients with SLE. Sociodemographic factors were not associated with resilience in patients with SLE.