More Resilience in Males with Probable Bipolar Depression than Probable Unipolar Depression among Korean Conscripts

Objective-This study investigated whether the resilience of males with probable bipolar depression (PBD) can be strengthened and compared it to that of males with probable unipolar depression (PUD). Methods-Prospective data for 198 participants (PBD: 66, PUD: 66, normal control: 66) were analyzed. The participants’ resilience, bipolarity and severity of depressive symptoms were evaluated at baseline and after 5 weeks. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and repeated measure ANOVA was performed for comparing resilience between three groups through a basic military training. Results-The PBD group demonstrated more resilience than the PUD group at baseline. Participants with PBD became significantly more resilient than participants with PUD after 5 weeks (p<0.01, F=6.967, η2 p=0.052). Conclusion-The study indicates that interventions that strengthen resilience need to be developed for males with PBD and that such interventions are more effective for males with PBD than PUD.