[The role of resilience for coping in different age groups].

Personality traits, e.g., resilience, which is defined as emotional strength, have a strong impact on lifespan development. In this paper, a cross-sectional study examining the protective character of resilience in aging is presented. In a sample of persons ranging in age from 30-80 years, a significant negative association between resilience and depression was observed for the oldest group of our sample (age > 70 years). Thus, resilience might serve as a "safe-guard" against depression over the life course that, however, was found to disappear when people are faced with a transition into dependency and being in need of care.