Background: More than 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression, which is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease. This study investigated the factors influencing psychological resilience and cognitive fusion in patients with depression and the relationships of psychological resilience and cognitive fusion with depression. Methods: This study enrolled 172 participants (65.8% of them were female). Psychological resilience, cognitive fusion, and depression were assessed with the psychological resilience scale, the cognitive fusion questionnaire, the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), and Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), respectively. Furthermore, the relationships of psychological resilience and cognitive fusion with depression were investigated. Results: The psychological resilience and cognitive fusion scores of patients with depression varied significantly among different education levels, and HAMA, HAMD, and SDS scores were significantly negatively correlated with psychological resilience but positively correlated with cognitive fusion. Conclusions: Depression levels in patients with depression are closely related to psychological resilience and cognitive fusion. Therefore, anxiety and depression could be alleviated by improving the psychological resilience or reducing the cognitive fusion of patients with depression.
Keywords: anxiety; cognitive fusion; depressed emotions; depression; depressive patients; psychological resilience.