Navigating life's challenges: A randomized 6‐week online intervention study to enhance resilience in working‐age adults

Abstract Psychological resilience describes a trainable capacity that allows us to cope with adversity and adapt to stressful life events. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of a 6‐week online resilience intervention in students and working‐age individuals. We randomly assigned 174 participants aged between 18 and 54 years (74.1% female) to either an intervention ( n  = 86, M age  = 24.83, SD age  = 5.93) or a wait‐list control group ( n  = 88, M age  = 23.30, SD age  = 4.49). The intervention group received a 6‐week flexible, asynchronous online resilience training consisting of 12 short videos. We assessed resilience, perceived stress, and worries in both groups. Mixed‐ANCOVA results indicated that participants assigned to the intervention group significantly increased their resilience scores ( M diff  = 3.65, p  < .001) and reduced negative emotions such as perceived stress ( M diff  = 4.18, p  < .001) and worries ( M diff  = 5.09, p  < .001). We observed no significant changes in the wait‐list control group. The intervention group's ability to enhance resilience through watching two short videos per week supports the idea that resilience is trainable. Online resilience interventions represent a promising opportunity to acquire novel coping strategies in order to strengthen resilience and manage life's upcoming challenges.