Vulnerability and Resilience to Stress and Immune and Neuroendocrine Function in Portuguese Subjects with Psychic Anomaly (Anxiety and Depression)

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of chronic psychosocial stress and resilience, including at a biological level (immune and neuroendocrine function) in Portuguese citizens with psychic anomaly/mental disorder. The sample aggregated 69 participants. It has been used the following psychometric instruments: 21-item depression, anxiety and stress scales (DASS-21), in the Portuguese validated version; measuring state resilience (MSR), in the Portuguese validated version; the Portuguese scale of 23 questions on vulnerability to stress. Serum levels of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, antibodies anti-viral capsid antigen of Epstein-Barr virus, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol and body mass index have been measured. It has been concluded that factors of vulnerability to stress and chronic stress, of social nature (lack of social support, adverse living conditions), correlate positively with depression, anxiety and stress, and, through alostatic load, are involved in a greater propensity for immune and neuroendocrine dysfunction in this population.