Positivity and Self-Efficacy Beliefs Explaining Health-Related Quality of Life in Cardiovascular Patients.

BACKGROUND: Psychological well-being and health-specific self-regulation have been associated with cardiovascular health. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal relationship of positivity and health-specific self-regulatory variables to health-related quality of life in patients with cardiovascular disease. METHODS: A sample of 550 cardiac patients completed a number of instruments (positivity, regulatory emotional self-efficacy, and cardiac self-efficacy scales, and the general health questionnaire SF-12) on two occasions 9 months apart, assessing their level of positivity, health-specific self-efficacy beliefs, and health-related quality of life. RESULTS: Mediational analyses demonstrated that health-specific self-efficacy beliefs mediate the relationship between positivity and health-related quality of life. In terms of self-efficacy in managing negative affect, the despondency-distress factor showed both direct and indirect effects on health, while the anger factor showed only an indirect effect. The results of the structural equation model demonstrated suitable indices of fit. CONCLUSIONS: Positivity may act as a disposition helps patients to use motivational strategies related to health, be more confident in their ability to regulate their emotions, and follow the recommendations of their cardiac medical team, enabling them to perceive a higher quality of life. These findings indicate the need to promote psychosocial interventions that include these variables.

Longitudinal Relations Among Positivity, Perceived Positive School Climate, and Prosocial Behavior in Colombian Adolescents.

Bidirectional relations among adolescents' positivity, perceived positive school climate, and prosocial behavior were examined in Colombian youth. Also, the role of a positive school climate in mediating the relation of positivity to prosocial behaviors was tested. Adolescents (N = 151; Mage of child in Wave 1 = 12.68, SD = 1.06; 58.9% male) and their parents (N = 127) provided data in two waves (9 months apart). A model of bidirectional relations between positivity and perceived positive school climate emerged. In addition, adolescents with higher levels of perceived positive school climate at age 12 showed higher levels of prosocial behaviors in the following year. Positive school climate related positivity to adolescents' prosocial behavior over time.

Investigation of age and gender effects on positive orientation in Italian twins.

We investigated age and gender effects on "Positive Orientation" (POS)-an individual's tendency to view life with a positive outlook-using a genetically informed design. Study subjects were 1016 twins aged 22-75 from the Italian twin registry. We assessed POS by the recently developed P-scale. First, we used confirmatory factor analysis to investigate scale's measurement invariance by age and gender. Then, we applied biometric modelling to estimate genetic and environmental components of POS score. Overall, we found a satisfactory degree of measurement invariance by both age and gender. Results from these analyses further indicated an increasing mean level of POS across the lifespan. Additive genetic and unshared environmental factors explained respectively 58% and 42% of variance in POS score, with no significant gender differences; furthermore, the pattern of change of gene-environment architecture of POS over time was consistent with a greater plasticity of personality at older ages.