The protective effects of psychological resilience on fall risk.

OBJECTIVES: Falling in later life contributes to significant declines in wellbeing. Psychological resilience (PR) has not been evaluated as a key feature of falls and how they affect older people.

METHOD: Our sample of adults 70+ were drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Using regression models, we evaluated the association between PR and odds of first fall, and associations between falling and changes in PR over time.

RESULTS: PR was not associated with the odds of a first fall but was protective against subsequent falls. A fall in Wave 2 with no major injury was associated with a larger decline in PR relative to no fall (-0.133; < 0.10). A major injury in Wave 2 and experiencing 3+ falls was associated with a decline in PR (-0.286, < 0.01; -0.406; < 0.001, respectively). Analyses of fall type suggested a pattern of greater severity associating with erosion in PR over time.

CONCLUSION: The relationship between PR and fall risk is bi-directional. Falls erode PR and PR is related to reduced fall risk among those at higher risk. Future research is needed to identify potential interventions that promote PR as a pathway to fall reduction in later life.