Cognitive control and Mood in relation to Psychological Resilience: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

Psychological resilience - the ability to adapt to adversity - is associated with intact inhibitory control (IC) mechanisms, which support goal-directed behavior. To date, no study has examined the daily fluctuations of IC performance in relation to resilience. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between IC and mood in young adults in a stressful situation in relation to psychological resilience. A baseline resilience test was conducted on 156 female and male soldiers during their basic combat training. Afterward, participants completed a 2-week ecological momentary assessment protocol, which included reporting their momentary moods and completing an IC assessment twice/day. A hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis revealed that psychological resilience moderated the relationship between momentary IC and momentary mood, with better IC only being associated with better mood for those with higher, but not lower, baseline psychological resilience. This association was present only for female, but not for male participants. The study demonstrates that psychological resilience manifests itself in the everyday association between IC and mood. Additionally, these results contribute to our understanding of resilient behavior in the real world by supporting cognitive models of resilience. Trial Registration: MOH_2018-0-13_002451