Association of Resilience and Perceived Stress in Patients with Alopecia Areata: A Cross-Sectional Study

July 2022 in “ Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology ”

Jaehee Han, Sara J. Li, Cara Joyce, Lindsay H. Burns, Kiana Yekrang, Maryanne M. Senna, Justin Ko, Kathie P. Huang, Arash Mostaghimi

alopecia areata autoimmune disease hair loss resilience perceived stress psychosocial burden reflection storytelling mentoring mindfulness meditation AA

TLDR People with alopecia who are more resilient tend to feel less stressed.

The cross-sectional study conducted from August 2018 to November 2019 involved 141 participants, primarily women (73.8%) and Caucasian (70.9%), with alopecia areata (AA), an autoimmune disease causing hair loss. The study aimed to investigate the correlation between resilience and perceived stress in these patients. The results showed that greater resilience was strongly associated with lower perceived stress (ˆβ=−0.87; CI: −1.23 to −0.51; P < .001), regardless of the severity of hair loss or the patients' perceived impact of AA on their lives. This suggests that resilience, which can be taught through methods like reflection, storytelling, mentoring, and practicing mindfulness and meditation, could be a potential tool to mitigate the psychosocial burden of AA. Future investigations should focus on the efficacy of resilience training among patients with AA.