As Challenges Pile Up, Americans' Ability to Bounce Back Falls

Americans have had a lot to contend with this year, and a new survey by Cigna attempts to quantify how well we bounce back from a challenge. The Cigna Resilience Index found that resilience is at risk for 60% of Americans.

David Cordani, president and chief executive officer of Cigna, noted in a statement that “resilience is not a static attribute, but functions more like a muscle that can be strengthened and grown over time.”

The Cigna Resilience Index was developed in partnership with the Resilience Research Centre, and studied responses from two groups: school- and university-age people, and workers over age 18. The study found younger kids, those between 11 and 13, show a sharp drop in resilience that lasts through age 23. People are least resilient between ages 18 and 23, the study found.

Among full-time workers, just 37% were found to be highly resilient, and that percentage dropped as employment status changed. Among part-time workers, resilience was 28%, dropping to 18% for laid-off workers.

These findings matter because resilience can have long-term effects, according to Cigna. Citing research from the National Alliance On Mental Health, Cigna said that kids who are less resilient are more likely to have lower self-esteem, lower grades and lower goals. They’re also more likely to require treatment for mental and behavioral health issues. Among adults, lower resilience is tied to lower job satisfaction, engagement, performance and retention.

“We view our research findings as a call to action to provide Americans with the tools and support they need to not only survive this moment and future crises, but ultimately, to thrive in the face of them,” Cordani said.

The report went on to identify some key ways to increase resilience, including:

• Build community. A sense of belonging is important to feelings of resilience, to the extent that young children are over 20 times more likely, and adults 16 times more likely, to have higher resilience if they feel like they fit in.
• Encourage responsible social media use. Using social media less is also tied to resilience, but how it’s used is also important. Cigna found that creating content on social media was tied to higher levels of resilience then simply consuming it.
• Have frank conversations about diversity and inclusion. Cigna found workers in more diverse workplaces, or who have frequent conversations about systemic racism, are more likely to be highly resilient than those who didn’t.
• Provide access to mental health services. Almost half of workers with access to expanded mental health services said they felt more resilient than those who didn’t have access (35%).