Life After Facing Cancer: Posttraumatic Growth, Meaning in Life and Life Satisfaction.

Although it is known that facing cancer may be accompanied by a range of chronic and acute stress reactions, it can also contribute to positive psychological changes and influence one's life perception. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate relationship between posttraumatic growth (PTG), meaning in life and life satisfaction to determine whether the presence of meaning or the search for meaning mediated the relationship between PTG and life satisfaction. The study was conducted with 149 cancer survivors who were at least one-month post-completion of all medical cancer therapy. The results indicate positive associations between PTG, the presence of meaning in life, the search for meaning and life satisfaction. Moreover, the relationship between PTG and life satisfaction could be explained by the mediating effect of the presence of meaning in life. Thus, it is important for clinicians to systematically facilitate PTG, meaning in life and life satisfaction as protective factors to one's daily functioning.

End-of-Life Decision-Making in Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Croatia-A Focus Group Study among Nurses and Physicians.

Background and Objectives: Working in pediatric and neonatal intensive care units (ICUs) can be challenging and differs from work in adult ICUs. This study investigated for the first time the perceptions, experiences and challenges that healthcare professionals face when dealing with end-of-life decisions in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in Croatia. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study with focus groups was conducted among physicians and nurses working in NICUs and PICUs in five healthcare institutions (three pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) and five neonatal intensive care units (NICUs)) at the tertiary level of healthcare in the Republic of Croatia, in Zagreb, Rijeka and Split. A total of 20 physicians and 21 nurses participated in eight focus groups. The questions concerned everyday practices in end-of-life decision-making and their connection with interpersonal relationships between physicians, nurses, patients and their families. The constant comparative analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. Results: The analysis revealed two main themes that were the same among the professional groups as well as in both NICU and PICU units. The theme "critical illness" consisted of the following subthemes: the child, the family, myself and other professionals. The theme "end-of-life procedures" consisted of the following subthemes: breaking point, decision-making, end-of-life procedures, "spill-over" and the four walls of the ICU. The perceptions and experiences of end-of-life issues among nurses and physicians working in NICUs and PICUs share multiple common characteristics. The high variability in end-of-life procedures applied and various difficulties experienced during shared decision-making processes were observed. Conclusions: There is a need for further research in order to develop clinical and professional guidelines that will inform end-of-life decision-making, including the specific perspectives of everyone involved, and the need to influence policymakers.

THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM (MDT) IN THE TREATMENT OF HEAD AND NECK CANCER - A SINGLE-INSTITUTION EXPERIENCE.

Head and neck cancers are associated with significant morbidity and mortality despite advancements in treatment in recent decades. A multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of these diseases is thus of essential importance and is becoming the gold standard. Head and neck tumors also endanger relevant structures of the upper aerodigestive tracts, including bodily functions such as voice, speech, swallowing, and breathing. Damage to these functions can significantly influence quality of life. Thus, our study examined not only the roles of head and neck surgeons, oncologists and radiotherapists, but also the importance of the participation of different scientific professions such as anesthesiologists, psychologists, nutritionists, stomatologists, and speech therapists in the work of a multidisciplinary team (MDT). Their participation results in a significant improvement of patient quality of life. We also present our experiences in the organization and work of the MDT as part of the Center for Head and Neck Tumors of the Zagreb Clinical Hospital Center.

The Role of PTSD in Perception of Health-Related Quality of Life and Social Support among Croatian War Veterans.

BACKGROUND: Different studies clearly show that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is important factor in a reduction of the overall quality of life. PTSD remains a substantial problem in Croatia, nearly three decades after the beginning of the Croatian Homeland war. In this paper, we present results of our original research about impact of PTSD on the self-perceived health-related quality of life and social support in Croatian Homeland war veterans. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 277 war veterans were included from all Croatian counties. 158 (57.03%) veterans has PTSD and 119 (42.47%) are without PTSD. Strucured questionnaire was designed for socio-demographic data and information about combat experience and health problems. SF-36 was used in the estimation of health-related quality of life and Multidimesional Scale for Perceived Social Support for estimation of social support. Research was performed from June 2017 till November 2017. RESULTS: Main results of the study suggest that Croatian veterans with PTSD have lower health-related quality of life in almost all doimains, and that they perceive less social support from family, friends and significant others in comparison to veterans without PTSD. CONCLUSION: The results of this study reiterate strong impact of PTSD on quality of life and perception of social support. The research speaks in favor of the need to develop person-centered interdisciplinry health-care programs for this population, with special emphasis on their overall quality of life.

Type a Personality, Stress, Anxiety and Health Locus of Control in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to define the level of patient exposure to stress in the previous 5 years before acute myocardial infarction (AMI), personality type A assessment, ways of coping with stressful situations, health locus of control and the grade of anxiety (as state and personality trait). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 118 patients who were consecutively hospitalized during 8 months in our Coronary care unit due to AMI, took part in the study. As controls we examined 103 healthy male volunteers (mean age 60.8±2.93 years). RESULTS: AMI patients presented with higher degree of behavior corresponding to type A personality (F=18.756, p=0.000), and also showed higher degree of anxiety, as state and personality trait (F=23.634, p=0.001; F=19.253, p=0.000), in comparison to healthy controls. Also, AMI patients were significantly more often coping emotionally in stressful situations than control subjects (F=21.354, p=0.000), and they had significantly higher external locus of control compared to healthy subjects (F=13.284, p=0.001). They often considered that they were not able to control their health, namely they evaluated their ability to control their health as weak and were much more often directed to cope with intense emotions (r=0.24, p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that AMI patients psychologically differed from the healthy controls, indicating that they were prone to maladaptive behavioral patterns which could favor development and complicate course of coronary artery disease.

Psychometric properties and factor structure of the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) in a Croatian psychiatric outpatient sample.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to investigate psychometric properties and factorial structure of the Croatian adaptation of the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) in a sample of psychiatric outpatients (n=328). METHOD: The participants filled out the TCI-R, as well as self-report measures of the Big-Five personality traits (IPIP-50), trait impulsivity (BIS-11), depression (BDI-II), suicidality (SBQ-R), and life satisfaction (SWLS). We explored the internal consistency of 7 domains and 29 subscales and compared it with the Croatian version of the original TCI used in prior studies. Principal component analysis with promax rotation was conducted on temperament and character subscales separately, while concurrent validity was examined through the TCI-R's relations with the abovementioned psychological measures. RESULTS: The TCI-R scales showed adequate internal consistencies, with Cronbach's alpha values ranging from 0.77 to 0.93. The internal consistency showed to be higher in comparison with the Croatian version of the original TCI. The postulated four-factor structure of temperament and the three-factor structure of character were confirmed. The meaningful associations with other measures supported the concurrent validity of the TCI-R. CONCLUSION: The Croatian adaptation of the TCI-R exhibited satisfactory reliability and validity in a sample of psychiatric outpatients. These findings support the use of the TCI-R in Croatian clinical settings over its predecessor (TCI).

Temperament, character, and suicidality among Croatian war veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

BACKGROUND: The occurrence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors is rather frequent among war veterans, particularly those suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Understanding factors present within these individuals that increase suicide risk may inform prevention efforts. The present study aimed to determine whether the dimensions of temperament and character are associated with various aspects of suicidality among Croatian war veterans with PTSD. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A sample of 72 Croatian male war veterans (mean age 52.33 years) diagnosed with PTSD was gathered at the National Center for Psychotrauma between May and October 2014. The participants completed the Temperament and Character Inventory - Revised (TCI-R) and the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire - Revised (SBQ-R). RESULTS: Zero-order analyses revealed that temperament dimension Harm avoidance and character dimension Self-directedness were moderately associated with the total risk for suicide (i.e., the SBQ-R total score), while Persistence and Cooperativeness showed significant but weaker relations. Different dimensions of suicidality were associated with different personality traits. Harm Avoidance was shown to be significantly increased among the subgroup of war veterans with high suicidal risk. CONCLUSIONS: Notwithstanding some limitations of this study, these findings could help extend our understanding of the elevated suicide risk in war veterans with PTSD. Detection of individuals displaying high Harm Avoidance and low Self-Directedness might facilitate prevention of suicidal behaviors in this population.

Is experimentally induced pain associated with socioeconomic status? Do poor people hurt more?

BACKGROUND: The association of pain and socioeconomic status is widely reported, yet much less clearly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of experimentally induced pain threshold and tolerance with socioeconomic status. MATERIAL/METHODS: The study sample consisted of 319 adult subjects from the population of the island of Vis, Croatia, which was previously shown to have a high level of social homogeneity. A manual dolorimeter was used to measure mechanical pressure pain threshold (least stimulus intensity) and pain tolerance (maximum tolerance stimulus intensity) on both hands. Pain tolerance interval was defined as the difference between pain tolerance and threshold. Years of schooling and material status were used as socioeconomic estimates. RESULTS: Both of the socioeconomic estimates were significantly correlated with pain threshold, tolerance, and tolerance interval (P<0.001). The mixed modeling analysis, controlled for the effects of age, gender, and 4 psychological variables, indicated that education was not a significant predictor in any of the 3 models. However, lower material status was significantly associated with lower pain tolerance (P=0.038) and narrower pain tolerance interval (P=0.032), but not with pain threshold (P=0.506). The overall percentages of explained variance were lower in the tolerance interval model (20.2%) than in pain tolerance (23.1%) and threshold (33.1%), suggesting the increasing share of other confounding variables in pain tolerance and even more so in tolerance interval model. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest a significant association between experimentally induced pain tolerance and tolerance interval with material status, suggesting that poor people indeed do hurt more.

Health-related quality of life in hemato-oncology patients: role of informativeness and doctor-patient communication.

Background: The patient's information about the disease and doctor-patient communication are both constructs whose importance is emphasized in the theory, but much less frequently researched and used in the practice. Objective: This study aimed to determine whether certain facets of health-related quality of life of hemato-oncology patients in Croatia could be predicted based on patients' sociodemographic data, the disease's determinants, the patients' information about their disease and the quality of doctor-patient communication. Methods: 60 women and 54 men with diagnoses of both leukemia and lymphoma have participated in filling out questionnaires. The survey consisted of a sociodemographic questionnaire, EORTC QLQ-C30(version 3), EORTC QLQ-INFO25 and the Doctor-Patient Communication Questionnaire. Results: Patients' sociodemographic data, the disease's determinants, the patients' information about their disease and the quality of doctor-patient communication predicted 26.8 % variance of global health status (F = 2.756, p \< .01), 35.7% variance of physical functioning (F = 4.196, p \< .01), 23.3% variance of role functioning (F = 2.291, p \< .05), 29.9% variance of emotional functioning (F = 3.215, p \< .01) and 27.9% of social functioning (F = 2.881, p \< .01). Predictors that significantly contributed to the change in variance of health-related quality of life were age, duration of diagnosis, the existence of comorbidity, frequency of hospitalization, talking with the psychologist after getting the diagnosis and information. Conclusion: The study offers valuable insights into an under-researched patient population and a better understanding of their health-related quality of life. The results indicate the importance of information that can be implemented in everyday clinical practice, and pave the way for further research on doctor-patient communication.

Psychosocial Factors of Subjective Well-Being in Women with Eating Disorders.

Eating disorders are known as the most lethal mental health conditions, and lately there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of these disorders. The aim of this research was to determine the perceived quality of professional support, the relationship between subjective well-being, loneliness, resilience, and the quality of family functioning, and the possibility of predicting subjective well-being based on knowledge of psychosocial factors in people with eating disorders. Eighty-six women with a diagnosed eating disorder participated in the online survey. The Diener Subjective Well-Being Scale, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Brief Resilience Scale, and the Self-Report Family Inventory were used to measure the constructs. Questions were constructed to collect information about the perceived quality and availability of professional support. Results showed lower levels of life satisfaction and flourishing and more frequent negative experiences. Reports of medium levels of loneliness, lower levels of flourishing, and lower perceived quality of family functioning were also obtained. Significant predictors of subjective well-being were loneliness and resilience, while family cohesion was significant in predicting positive and negative experiences and flourishing. These findings can contribute to the recognition of aspects existent prior to the development of the disorder, based on which experts can determine what to focus on in the treatment process.

Subjective Well-Being in Cancer Patients: The Roles of Social Support, Purpose in Life, Resilience, and Informativeness.

The aim of this research was to determine the relationship between subjective well-being (life satisfaction, positive and negative experiences, and prosperity) and various psychosocial factors (social support received from family members and partners, purpose in life, resilience and information) in cancer patients and to examine the possibility of predicting components of subjective well-being based on these mentioned factors in cancer patients. A total of 338 adult cancer patients from Croatia participated in the study (41.1% male and 58.9% female). To measure the constructs, the Diener Subjective Well-Being Scale, the Social Support Scale at work and in the family, the Purpose in Life Scale, the Short Resilience Scale, and the EORTC-QLQ information questionnaire were used. Results showed a high level of life satisfaction and prosperity, as well as more frequent positive compared to negative experiences. A medium to high level of social support received from family members and from the partner was determined. High levels of purpose in life and medium levels of resilience and information were found. A high correlation was found among the components of the construct of subjective well-being, and a low to medium correlation among the predictors. Positive associations were found between the criteria of life satisfaction and prosperity with psychosocial factors. Negative associations were established between the positive/negative experience variables and the factors. Furthermore, the purpose in life was determined as an important predictor of all three components of subjective well-being, social support (both sources) as important for predicting life satisfaction, resilience for experiencing positive and negative experiences, and social family support for predicting the prosperity of cancer patients.

Person-centered medical interview.

We are witnessing an unprecedented development of medical science and personalized medicine. However, technological superiority must not make us lose sight of the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual totality of the patient. The core of the medical profession has always been and will be the relationship between the health professional and the person seeking assistance. However, the traditional relationship between the physician and the patient has changed and is greatly impacted by huge social, philosophical, economic, and scientific developments. It is important to develop and promote the culture of health instead of the culture of illness through a patient-doctor collaborative partnership, as well as partnership among professionals. Person-centered medical interview is an important bridge between personalized and person-centered medicine.

Posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) between fallacy and facts: what we know and what we don't know?

BACKGROUND: PTSD been recognized as a major problem in public health and has attracted an ever-growing scientific, epistemological and clinical interest. On the other side, PTSD is one of the most controversial diagnosis in psychiatry as well as in medicine in general. METHOD: We have made an overview of available literature on PTSD to identify what is our real knowledge about PTSD with all dilemmas, controversies and challenges. RESULTS: We have various options as to how to evaluate, explain and describe PTSD and other trauma-related mental and somatic disorders. In this paper we compiled an extensive set of facts and meta-facts in order to to understand the real nature of traumatic stress, negative life events and PTSD. CONCLUSION: Conflict between various concepts of PTSD and our current knowledge will probably bring with itself a new scientific paradigm with new diagnostic phenotypes and refining the old ones.

The role of personality traits in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

BACKGROUND: A number of studies have shown that although exposure to potentially traumatic events is common, development of PTSD is relatively rare, which is one of the reasons PTSD still remains a controversial psychiatric entity. The aim of this article was to provide an overview of the research on the role of personality traits in the vulnerability, resilience, posttraumatic growth and expressions associated with PTSD. Personality based approach represents a dimensional aspect of the transdisciplinary integrative model of PTSD. METHODS: We conducted a systematic search on PubMed, PsycINFO, and Academic Search Complete from 1980 (the year PTSD was first included in the DSM) and 2012 (the year the literature search was performed). Manual examination of secondary sources such as the reference sections of selected articles and book chapters were also conducted. RESULTS: Most of the reviewed studies dealing with personality traits as vulnerability and protective factors for PTSD examined the relationship between basic personality dimensions and severity of symptoms of PTSD. These studies have applied three types of methodological designs: cross-sectional, post-trauma and pre-trauma longitudinal studies, with latter being the least common option. CONCLUSION: Finding that appears relatively consistent is that PTSD is positively related to negative emotionality, neuroticism, harm avoidance, novelty-seeking and self-transcendence, as well as to trait hostility/anger and trait anxiety. On the other hand, PTSD symptoms are negatively associated with extraversion, conscientiousness, self-directedness, the combination of high positive and low negative emotionality, as well as with hardiness and optimism, while posttraumatic growth shows inverse relation to most of these traits. Furthermore, a number of studies have confirmed the existence of three distinct personality-based subtypes of PTSD: internalizing, externalizing and low pathology PTSD. These findings may help in further uncovering etiological mechanisms and in building new strategies for prevention, identification and reduction of health risks among this trauma population, as well as facilitating potential posttraumatic growth. However, focusing on just a single dimensional perspective will unable us to generate comprehensive knowledge of the etiology, course and treatment of PTSD.

Posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) from different perspectives: a transdisciplinary integrative approach.

BACKGROUND: Psychotraumatization continues to be a pervasive aspect of life in the 21st century all over the world so we should better understand psychological trauma and PTSD for the sake of prevention and healing. METHOD: We have made an overview of available literature on PTSD to identify explanatory models, hypotheses and theories. RESULTS: In this paper we describe our transdisciplinary multiperspective integrative model of PTSD based on the seven perspective explanatory approach, on the fifth discipline, the art and practice of the learning organization as well as on the method of multiple working hypotheses.Trauma vulnerability, strengths, resilience and posttraumatic growth are key concepts that enable an integration of the distinct perspectives into a coherent transdisciplinary multiperspective explanatory and treatment model of PTSD. CONCLUSION: PTSD is a complex highly disabling and suffering disorder where the past is always present in people haunted by the dread frozen in memory of the traumatic events. However, PTSD also represents an oportunity for psychological and spiritual growth due to the human ability to adapt and thrive despite experiencing adversity and tough times.

Psychiatrists' empathy, beliefs and attitudes towards veterans suffering from combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder.

BACKGROUND: Empathy is a powerful and necessary skill for understanding another person's subjective experience. In this study we wanted to explore psychiatrists' attitudes towards PTSD, general empathy, possible differences related to age, sex and regional location in Croatia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 205 psychiatrists from different Croatian regions participated in this study. To define psychiatrists' attitudes towards PTSD patients a questionnaire was devised. It contained 14 items related to psychiatrists' ability to live through emotional and social conditions of PTSD patients. BarOn Emotional Quotient-Inventory Empathy Subscale was used to measure the empathy among the subjects. RESULTS: This study has found statistically significant differences regarding gender in measured variables of the designed questionnaire. Male participants believed they were able to understand war veterans' feeling's and relate to traumatic experience while female participants stated that they had the ability to understand the trivial triggers for suicidal intentions. Regional differences were found in the understanding of war traumatic experience and social deviations occurring in PTSD. Older psychiatrists stated their incomprehension of the social difficulties the PTSD patients were facing. The years of experience in the psychiatric field were associated with inability to understand the patients' feelings'. Differences in empathy among the subjects were not found. CONCLUSION: The understanding of the empathic process in the therapeutic approach towards PTSD explored in this study was associated with basic variables such as gender and age but the construct of empathy itself is more complex and related with variables not assessed in this study, so our findings are preliminary and further research is needed.

Relationship between Nomophobia, Various Emotional Difficulties, and Distress Factors among Students.

The concept of nomophobia is a relatively new and is defined as the fear of not being able to use all the features and benefits provided by smartphones. The main goal of this research was to examine the relationship between nomophobia and various emotional difficulties and distress factors. The following measuring instruments were used on a sample of 257 Croatian students whose average age was 22 years: Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q); Scales of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress (DASS); Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale (SELSA); and Emotional Skills and Competences Questionnaire (ESCQ-15). Significant correlations between nomophobia and all examined variables were determined. It was found that nomophobia and emotional skills and competence act as significant predictors in expression of distress factors: 30% of the variance in the severity of depression symptoms, 24% of the variance in the severity of anxiety symptoms, and 26% of the variance in the severity of stress symptoms were explained.

Quality of life in Croatian Homeland war (1991-1995) veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of life in Croatian homeland war veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic low back pain (LBP). METHODS: A total of 369 participants were included, classified in four study groups: those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; N = 59), those with both PTSD and lower back pain (PTSD+LBP; N = 80), those with isolated LBP (N = 95) and controls (N = 135). WHOQOL-BREF survey was used in the estimation of quality of life. The data were analysed using statistical methods and hierarchical clustering. RESULTS: The results indicated a general pattern of lowering quality of life in participants with both psychological (PTSD) and physical (LBP) burden. The average overall quality of life was 2.82 ± 1.14 for the PTSD+LBP group, 3.29 ± 1.28 for the PTSD group, 4.04 ± 1.25 for the LBP group and 4.48 ± 0.80 for the controls (notably, all the pair-wise comparisons were significantly different at the level of P < 0.001, except for the pair LBP-controls, which was insignificant). This result indicated that quality of life was reduced for 9.9% in patients with LBP, 26.6% in patients with PTSD and 37.1% in PTSD+LBP, suggesting strong synergistic effect of PTSD and LBP. The analysis also identified several clusters of participants with different pattern of quality of life related outcomes, reflecting the complex nature of this indicator. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study reiterate strong impact of PTSD on quality of life, which is additionally reduced if the patient also suffers from LBP. PTSD remains a substantial problem in Croatia, nearly two decades after the beginning of the 1991-1996 Homeland war.

Correlation of sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression in Croatian war veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

The aim of the study was to examine the relationships between global sleep quality and its specific components and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptom severity questionnaire. We also researched whether sleep quality and sleep disturbances differed among groups of PTSD based on symptom severity categories. This study was conducted on the sample of 120 Croatian war veterans with PTSD. The following self-report instruments were used: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Addendum for PTSD, the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD, the Spielberger State and Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory. There were statistically significant differences between the three PTSD severity groups on general nervousness (PSQI-A variable), where patients with extremely severe PTSD have more symptoms of general nervousness than groups with severe or moderate PTSD. Differences were found between PTSD severity groups in episodes of terror and acting-out dreams, where patients with extremely severe PTSD have more symptoms of episodes of terror and acting-out dreams than groups with severe or moderate PTSD. Sleep quality was significantly correlated with state anxiety, trait anxiety, and depression, indicating that with decrease of anxiety and depression, sleep quality improves. Sleep latency was positively correlated with both state and trait anxiety. There wasn't any significant correlation between sleep latency and depression. Study suggests that sleep disturbances are equally severe across groups of veterans based on PTSD severity and that the severity of sleep disturbances is significantly related to severity of anxiety and depression symptoms.

Life satisfaction in persons of the third age after retirement.

The aim of this research was to determine the role of gender, type of residence, living arrangement, self-rated health status, loneliness, and sense of humor in self-reported life satisfaction in elderly retirees. The study included 300 elderly retirees from Zagreb, Croatia. Demographic data were collected with a structured questionnaire, whereas data on self-reported health status, loneliness, and sense of humor were collected with the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Life Satisfaction Index, HOPA-86, and SF-36 Health Survey. Participants living in a retirement home showed higher life satisfaction than those who lived in their own households. Those who had children showed greater life satisfaction No differences in life satisfaction were found with respect to gender, marital status, or living arrangement. The investigated demographic variables, self-rated health status, self-rated loneliness, and a sense of humor explained 52.8% of variance in life satisfaction. An active sense of humor was the most significant predictor. Living in a retirement home, having children, and having an active sense of humor had a positive influence on self-reported life satisfaction, whereas poorer self-rated health and loneliness had a negative influence. Taking into account the predictors of life satisfaction in preventive activities may contribute to successful aging.