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. 2025 Jun 13;15(6):816.
doi: 10.3390/bs15060816.

Psychosocial Factors Influencing Resilience in a Sample of Victims of Armed Conflict in Colombia: A Quantitative Study

Andrés Camargo  1   2 , Rafael Vargas  3 , Alexander Rincón-Rodríguez  4 , Elena Jiménez  5 , Martha Trujillo-Güiza  1   6
Affiliations

Psychosocial Factors Influencing Resilience in a Sample of Victims of Armed Conflict in Colombia: A Quantitative Study

Andrés Camargo et al. Behav Sci (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: This study examines the psychosocial factors influencing resilience in Colombian victims of armed conflict, highlighting the role of personal, family, and community resources in mitigating trauma. Resilience is a dynamic process that enables individuals and communities to adapt to adversity. Given Colombia's prolonged violence and forced displacement, trauma has significantly impacted both physical and emotional health.

Methods: 200 adult conflict victims were recruited through snowball sampling and completed validated scales via a secure online platform. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), the APGAR Family Scale, and the Brief Resilience Coping Scale assessed resilience, social support, and psychological well-being.

Results: Findings indicate that family support was strongly associated with higher resilience, with participants exhibiting higher family support scores (mean = 15.6, SD = 4.47) demonstrating significantly greater resilience (p < 0.001). Additionally, resilient coping strategies (Exp(B) = 0.772, p < 0.001) and higher subjective happiness (Exp(B) = 0.864, p = 0.001) were identified as key predictors of resilience. Significant correlations were found between resilience and mental health outcomes, with higher resilience linked to lower anxiety (ρ = -0.388, p < 0.001) and depression (ρ = -0.388, p < 0.001). Education, employment, and socioeconomic status also positively influenced resilience, with individuals with higher educational levels (χ2 = 21.265, p = 0.006) and income (χ2 = 8.945, p = 0.030) showing higher resilience scores. In contrast, alcohol consumption (Exp(B) = 0.813, p = 0.014) was negatively associated with resilience.

Conclusions: This study shows that resilience in conflict victims is influenced by both individual and social factors. Strengthening family and community support, along with improving coping strategies, is essential for long-term recovery, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to enhance psychosocial well-being in affected populations.

Keywords: Colombia; armed conflict; psychosocial factors; resilience; social support.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in designing the study, the collection, the analyses, or the interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Heatmap with Pearson correlation coefficients between key psychosocial variables: Correlation values close to +1 indicate strong positive relationships, while values near −1 reflect strong negative relationships. A value of 0 means no correlation. Note: The color scale represents the strength and direction of the correlation: red indicates a strong positive correlation (close to +1), blue means a strong negative correlation (close to −1), and white indicates no correlation (0). The significance levels for each correlation coefficient are provided in Table S5, which adds further context to the relationships shown in this heatmap.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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