Resilience: An Analysis based on the sociodemographic characteristics of the Brazilian population

Abstract The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of sociodemographic data on the level of resilience of a portion of the Brazilian population. For this purpose, a non-probabilistic national sample composed of 2,038 participants answered the Resilience Scale developed by Wagnild and Young. Data were analyzed using descriptive and bivariate statistics with the help of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software. Among the results, there was a low overall mean in resilience indices (M = 124.60, SD = 22.69). There were also indications that people with certain sociodemographic characteristics tend to be more resilient: people who are religious, with a higher education level, divorced / married, retired, without piercing, non- smoker, without a history of dropout or repetition in school years. It can be concluded that such characteristics may be related to a person’s ability to be resilient, but not determinant, in the level of resilience. This information is essential to understand the factors that predispose the population to resilience.