Resilience and Mental Health: Unraveling the Interplay of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in First–Generation 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 stress, anxiety, and depression. In other words, college students who feel resilient will experience greater mental health and wellness. Building on previous research that suggests these effects in women only (Ahmed & Julius, 2015), gender differences will be examined. Few studies have attempted to see whether these correlations are similar for both genders. We also examined whether first-generation (FG) status is implicated in these associations. Alvarado et al. (2017) suggest that although FG college students reveal higher levels of resilience than non-first generation (NFG) 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 FG and NFG students?” Our exploratory hypothesis is that there will be an inverse correlation between resilience and stress, anxiety and depression amongst FG college students. Our preliminary findings suggest an inverse relationship between resilience and depression, stress, and anxiety. This relationship also exists for both FG and NFG students. However, our findings did not reveal a correlation between resilience and stress for men. To our surprise, findings also suggested higher resilience in men than women while there was no difference in resilience levels between FG and NFG college students.