TY  - JOUR
T1  - Patient Resilience Across Illness Journeys: A Biopsychosocial Theory of Emotional Regulation, Social Support, Coping, and Healthcare Participation
A1  - Sara Al-Fahd
A1  - Noura Al-Khalifa
A1  - Omar Al-Turki
JF  - International Journal of Social and Psychological Aspects of Healthcare
JO  - Int J Soc Psychol Asp Healthc
SN  - 3108-4818
Y1  - 2026
VL  - 6
IS  - 1
DO  - 10.51847/JO05XCgg7j
SP  - 83
EP  - 93
N2  - Resilience in illness is often treated as a stable personal resource, yet illness journeys alter physiological burden, emotional demands, coping options, relationships, and opportunities to participate in care. This article develops a proposed biopsychosocial theory in which patient resilience is a time-varying capacity to preserve or reorganize adaptive functioning under illness-related demand. Biological burden constrains feasible adaptation; appraisal and emotional regulation shape interpretation; coping flexibility supports context-sensitive action; relational resources determine whether support is usable; and healthcare participation becomes adaptive when patients can convert knowledge, preferences, and effort into consequential involvement. Resilience can also be depleted when demands accumulate, support is mismatched, participation is obstructed, or self-management work exceeds available resources. The theory therefore shifts attention from identifying “resilient patients” toward explaining changing demand-resource configurations across illness transitions, while separating resilience from distress absence, adherence, activation, any single coping strategy, and clinical outcome.
UR  - https://smerpub.com/article/patient-resilience-across-illness-journeys-a-biopsychosocial-theory-of-emotional-regulation-social-2igebgn9dv3ebgj
ER  -