Chronic stress occurs in everyday life, and often results in memory impairments and depressive symptoms. Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol that possesses numerous biological properties, including potent antidepressant‑like effects. The present study aimed to examine the effects of resveratrol treatment on chronic restraint stress (CRS)‑induced cognitive impairment and to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms. Male Wistar rats were exposed to CRS for 21 days in order to induce depressive‑like behavior. The results demonstrated that CRS (6 h/day, 21 days) was able to induce cognitive deficits in rats, as evidenced by Morris water maze and novel object recognition tests. In addition, CRS exposure significantly decreased the mRNA and protein expression levels of hippocampal brain‑derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the rats. Conversely, chronic treatment with resveratrol (80 mg/kg, i.p.; 21 days) significantly prevented the behavioral and biochemical alterations induced by CRS. The effects of resveratrol were nearly identical to those observed with fluoxetine treatment. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that resveratrol may be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of chronic stress‑induced cognitive impairments, and its underlying molecular mechanism may be associated with the increased levels of hippocampal BDNF.