Resilience to Stress and Adversity: A Narrative Review of the Role of Positive Affect

Abstract: The modern conception of mental health encompasses not only mental illness but also mental wellbeing, including positive emotional states and other forms of positive experience. Accordingly, research on resilience — that is, recovery or adaptation following adversity – has recently expanded to consider the roles of positive affect in the resilience process. To review this research, we performed a keyword search of all peer-reviewed journals within the American Psychological Association’s PsycInfo database, retrieving all studies of positive affect in the context of resilience. These studies measured positive affect either as the outcome of the resilience process or as a resilience resource in its own right. With positive affect as the outcome, the literature suggests that various resilience resources can promote positive affect following a stressor, especially positive personality traits (eg, hope, optimism, self-compassion) and supportive interpersonal connections. With positive affect as a resilience resource, the literature suggests that higher levels of positive affect may protect individuals from the impact of stress on a number of outcomes, such as depression and trauma symptoms. In all, the reviewed research showcases a wide range of stressors, resources, and outcomes, and there are numerous openings for future discoveries in this promising area of inquiry.

Keywords: positive emotion, wellbeing, happiness, stress, trauma, adversity