Resilience and positive mental health in persons with spinal cord injury and their informal caregivers: A dyadic study

Background: Despite daily challenges, persons with spinal cord injury (PwSCI) successfully mobilize individual and relational resources and attain good mental health. Psychosocial resources were investigated as components of resilience, defined as satisfactory adaptation to adversity. While the association between resilience and positive mental health, conceptualized as psychological, emotional, and social well-being, was widely observed in individuals, it remains unexplored within dyads. This study was thus aimed to investigate this association at both individual and relational levels among PwSCI and their informal caregivers, defined as family members providing regular and unpaid assistance. Method: Through a cross-sectional dyadic design, 162 PwSCI and their 162 caregivers completed the Resilience Scale for Adults and the Mental Health Continuum–Short Form. Actor and partner effects were analyzed using the actor–partner interdependence model. Results: Significant actor effects emerged for self-perception (b=.60, p,.001), planned future (b= .62, p,.001), social competence (b= .26, p,.01), and social resources (b= .28, p,.01), resilience components positively associated with individuals’ own positive mental health. A significant partner effect emerged for self-perception (b= .33, p,.05), suggesting interpersonal influence within the dyad. Caregivers reported higher positive mental health than PwSCI, but no role-based interactions emerged. Conclusions: Resilience, particularly through self-perception, supports both personal and relational well-being, suggesting the potential usefulness of dyadic-focused interventions in chronic disease.