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Research Article: Role of psychological resilience and psychological distress in linking fear of disease progression to quality of life in chronic heart failure: a cross-sectional serial mediation analysis

Date Published: 2026-05-25

Abstract:
To examine whether psychological resilience and psychological distress serially mediate the association between fear of disease progression and quality of life (QoL) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). This cross-sectional study enrolled 212 patients with CHF admitted between June 2023 and June 2025. Assessment tools included a demographic questionnaire, the Fear of Progression Questionnaire (FoP-Q), the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ). Correlation and serial mediation analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 22.0, and the PROCESS macro, with the bootstrap method (5,000 resamples) used to test the mediation effects. The mean scores were 43.60 ± 8.32 for FoP-Q, 52.71 ± 14.28 for CD-RISC, 44.29 ± 10.68 for DASS-21, and 48.63 ± 10.85 for MLHFQ. Correlation analysis indicated that FoP was negatively correlated with psychological resilience (r = ?0.775) and positively correlated with psychological distress and MLHFQ scores (r = 0.868 and 0.773, respectively; all P < 0.05). Psychological resilience was negatively correlated with both psychological distress and MLHFQ scores (r = ?0.728 and ?0.744, respectively), while psychological distress was positively correlated with MLHFQ scores (r = 0.745; all P < 0.05). The mediation model revealed a direct effect of FoP on QoL (effect = 0.629, 41.14%), along with three indirect pathways: via psychological resilience alone (effect = 0.508, 33.22%), via psychological distress alone (effect = 0.344, 22.50%), and via the serial pathway from psychological resilience to psychological distress (effect = 0.048, 3.14%). Patients with CHF exhibited elevated levels of FoP and generally reduced QoL. Psychological resilience and psychological distress served as significant serial mediators in the relationship between FoP and QoL. FoP could directly reduce QoL in patients with CHF and indirectly affect it by decreasing psychological resilience and exacerbating psychological distress. Clinical attention should be directed toward assessing the psychological status of patients with CHF, improving psychological resilience, alleviating negative emotions, reducing the adverse impact of FoP, and enhancing patients’ QoL.

Introduction:
Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a condition that arises when a spectrum of cardiovascular disorders progresses to its terminal phase, characterized by impaired myocardial systolic or diastolic function, reduced exercise tolerance, and recurrent hospitalizations. Fear of progression (FoP), a common negative psychological reaction, refers to patients’ persistent concerns about disease deterioration, loss of function, death, and related impairment of social functioning. The incidence of FoP in the CHF population can…

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