Resilience is a positive psychological trait associated with a lower risk of some physical and mental chronic diseases and could be an important protective factor against eating disorders (EDs). The aim of this study was to assess cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between resilience and ED in a large cohort of French adults. In 2017, a total of 25,000 adults from the NutriNet-Santé cohort completed the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). ED symptoms were measured in 2017 and 2020, with the Sick-Control-One-Fat-Food (SCOFF) questionnaire. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between resilience and EDs were analyzed using logistic regression, controlling for sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics. Cross-sectional analyses showed that more resilient participants exhibited EDs less frequently than did less resilient participants (p < 0.0001). Longitudinal analyses showed that, during the three years of follow up, higher resilience was negatively associated with incident EDs (OR: 0.67, 95%CI: 0.61-0.74), persistent EDs (0.46 (0.42-0.51)), and intermittent EDs (0.66 (0.62-0.71)), compared with no ED. More resilient participants were also less likely to have a persistent ED than to recover from EDs (0.73 (0.65-0.82)). This study showed that resilience was associated with less ED symptoms and a higher chance of recovery.
Keywords: eating disorders; epidemiology; longitudinal study; positive psychology; resilience.