Abstract
<jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic constituted a prolonged global stressor with substantial consequences for psychological well-being, health behaviors, and daily functioning. Despite widespread disruption, individuals demonstrated considerable variability in their responses to pandemic-related stressors, highlighting the importance of resilience and adaptive coping processes. To address this gap, the Nathan Kline Institute - Rockland Sample (NKI-RS) created 'Resilience to COVID-19 Stressors', a series of follow-up surveys drawing on the Rockland Sample cohort. Pre-pandemic NKI-RS data collection (n = 1500, with up to 10 years of longitudinal follow-up) incorporated deep phenotyping across cognitive, behavioral, medical, and cardiorespiratory fitness domains, along with multimodal neuroimaging (resting-state fMRI, diffusion MRI, morphometric MRI, and arterial spin labeling) and biospecimen collection. This online longitudinal investigation during the pandemic includes 553 prior NKI-RS participants aged 19 to 90 years. Over one third of the sample completed 6 or more longitudinal surveys between April 2020 and January 2022. The full dataset is openly available. Results highlight substantial heterogeneity in psychological responses to pandemic stressors. Higher resilience was associated with lower perceived stress and greater use of adaptive coping strategies. Physical activity emerged as an important behavioral correlate of resilience and stress regulation. Sex differences were observed in stress perception and coping profiles, with women reporting higher stress levels but greater engagement in certain adaptive coping behaviors. This dataset provides a unique opportunity to investigate behavioral and psychological responses to a large-scale societal stressor within a deeply phenotyped community cohort. The resource supports ongoing research examining resilience mechanisms, behavioral adaptation, and mental health outcomes during and following the COVID-19 pandemic.</jats:p>