Assessing Resilience and Its Correlates among Residents of Fort McMurray during the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Published in: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Main Authors: Nnamdi Nkire, Reham Shalaby, Gloria Obuobi-Donkor, Belinda Agyapong, Ejemai Eboreime, Vincent I. O. Agyapong
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2023
• Subjects: anxiety; COVID-19; depression; pandemic; predictor; resilience; mental health; Fort McMurray
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20126064

Background: The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a global health crisis that has affected the psychological well-being of individuals across the world. The persistence of the pandemic and measures to curtail it have tested people’s ability to cope successfully and bounce back from the pandemic, otherwise referred to as resilience. The present study examined resilience levels among residents of Fort McMurray and identified the demographic, clinical and social factors associated with resilience. Methods: The study used a cross-sectional survey design and collected data from 186 participants using online questionnaires. The survey included questions assessing sociodemographic information, mental health history and COVID-19-related variables. The main study outcome was resilience measured using the six-item Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). The data from the survey were analyzed using chi-squared tests and binary logistic regression analyses in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 25. Results: The results showed that seven independent variables (age, history of depression, history of anxiety, willingness to receive mental health counselling, support from the government of Alberta and support from employer) were statistically significant within the context of the logistic regression model. A history of an anxiety disorder was demonstrated to best predict low resilience. Participants who had a history of anxiety disorder were five times more likely to show low resilience compared to those without such a history. Participants with a history of depression showed a three-fold likelihood of having low resilience in comparison to those who did not have a history of depression. Individuals who expressed a desire to receive mental health counselling had a four-times likelihood of having low resilience than those who did not express a desire to receive mental health counselling. The results also showed that younger participants were more prone to low resilience compared to older ...