Definition and operationalization of resilience in qualitative health literature: a scoping review

Resilience is a burgeoning focus in health research; yet, researchers have varying conceptual and methodological approaches to understanding resilience across populations. Consequently, there is little consensus on the definition or operationalization of resilience. The objective of the present study was to conduct a scoping review of qualitative health research from the United States to connect methodological approaches with operationalization and definitions. From our initial database search of 2,142 articles, we reviewed 29 articles that met the criteria for assessment. Our review revealed: (1) definitions of resilience followed two main pathways pursuing broad or context-specific definitions and (2) operationalization originated from previous research or developed during data collection and/or analysis using emic approaches. We offer a conceptual mapping of resilience and argue that researchers should attend to the emergence of resilience in their study population and give greater consideration to the implications of methodologies for future research.