Emotion-focused positive rumination and relationship satisfaction as the underlying mechanisms between resilience and psychiatric symptoms

• Underlying mechanisms of the benefit of trait resilience need more investigation.
• Emotion-focused positive rumination was proposed to be the intrapersonal mediator.
• Relationship satisfaction was proposed to be the interpersonal mediator.
• Rumination and relationship satisfaction mediated the resilience-anxiety link.
• Relationship satisfaction, alone, mediated the resilience-depression link.

More empirical investigation is needed to understand the mechanisms through which psychological resilience impacts psychiatric symptoms. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of emotion-focused positive rumination and relationship satisfaction in the inverse associations between trait resilience and anxiety and depressive symptoms. A sample of 284 Chinese college students were recruited and asked to self-administer questionnaires measuring trait resilience, emotion-focused positive rumination, relationship satisfaction, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Structural equation modeling revealed that emotion-focused positive rumination and relationship satisfaction independently and jointly mediated the inverse association between trait resilience and anxiety symptoms (data-model fit: CFI = 1.000; TLI = 1.022; IFI = 1.004; RMSEA = .000; SRMR = .014). Relationship satisfaction, alone, mediated the inverse association between trait resilience and depressive symptoms (data-model fit: CFI = 1.000; TLI = 1.021; IFI = 1.003; RMSEA = .000; SRMR = .014). The results suggested possible underlying mechanisms of the psychological benefit of trait resilience. Feasible directions for fostering resilience among college populations were discussed.