ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Neuroscience Methods and Techniques
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1597835
This article is part of the Research TopicMolecular neuroscience of cognitive resilienceView all 3 articles
Psychological and neuro-morphological predictors of resilience in healthy adults: The whole is more than the sum of its parts
Provisionally accepted
Carlo Fabrizio1
Eleonora Picerni1*
Daniela Laricchiuta2
Davide Decandia1,3
Fabrizio Piras1
Andrea Termine1
Gianfranco Spalletta1
Laura Petrosini1
Debora Cutuli1,3- 1Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS), Rome, Italy
- 2University of Perugia, Perugia, Umbria, Italy
- 3Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Lazio, Italy
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Research in resilience has shifted the focal point from a pathological orientation (responses to recovery from trauma or stress) to an emphasis on the role of resilience in health (protective factors to maintain health levels despite eventual adversities). Even if many single factors impact resilience capacities, an integrative predictive model including psychological constructs, personality traits, and brain structural features may offer a more profound knowledge of trait resilience. We examined the associations between Resilience Scale-10 scores with numerous psychological dimensions, personality traits, and neuro-morphological features (brain volumes and thickness) in 69 healthy adults of both sexes. Furthermore, we investigated the predictors potentially associated with resilience by regression modeling. In the present exploratory study resilience values were predicted: positively by some personality characteristics (Conscientiousness, Openness, Resourcefulness, Enlightened second nature), psychological dimensions (Self-efficacy, Positive affect, Confidence), and brain morphological aspects (volumes of amygdala and hippocampus, and cortical thickness of temporal pole); and negatively by other personality traits (Fear of uncertainty) and psychological dimensions (Anxiety, Depression, Need for Approval). These results, although exploratory and hypothesis-generating rather than confirmatory, suggest that the identification of the multiple psychological and personality features and neuromorphological aspects associated with resilience may represent a good step forward in understanding the factors that predispose individuals to be resilient.
Keywords: Psychological constructs, personality traits, Brain volumes, cortical thickness, Resilience Scale-10, elastic net
Received: 21 Mar 2025; Accepted: 13 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fabrizio, Picerni, Laricchiuta, Decandia, Piras, Termine, Spalletta, Petrosini and Cutuli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Eleonora Picerni, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS), Rome, Italy
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