Hope and physical health.

This article provides a brief overview of the recent research focusing on hope and physical health. The reviewed research is limited to research primarily on hope as conceptualized by Snyder and colleagues [33] and to those studies in which the researchers measured hope using scales based on Hope Theory proposed by Snyder and colleagues. Studies on hope and health behaviors, as well as specific health outcomes such as pain, cancer, and chronic illness are included. Overall findings indicate that hope is plays an important role in health.

The development and validation of the protective factors survey: a self-report measure of protective factors against child maltreatment.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the internal structure of a self-report measure of multiple family-level protective factors against abuse and neglect and explore the relationship of this instrument to other measures of child maltreatment. METHODS: For the exploratory factor analysis, 11 agencies from 4 states administered the Protective Factors Survey (PFS), the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (Ondersma et al., 2005), and another measure to establish content validity (N=249 participants). Exploratory factor analyses were conducted to obtain a small, integrated set of items that tap the targeted protective factors correlated with other theoretically important constructs. Correlations were computed to explore PFS criterion-related validity. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on an additional sample of 689 participants from 19 agencies across the United States. RESULTS: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded a 4-factor solution, consisting of Family Functioning, Emotional Support, Concrete Support, and Nurturing and Attachment. Four measures were administered to assess constructs that were predicted to correlate negatively with the protective factors: child abuse potential, depression, stress, and maladaptive coping. The PFS was also predicted to correlate positively with adaptive coping such as use of emotional and instrumental social support and positive reframing. Overall, the PFS subscales were significantly related to these measures in the directions predicted. CONCLUSIONS: The PFS is a valid and reliable instrument to measure individual differences in multiple protective factors in families. The measure is an easily administered tool that offers programs an alternative to costly, time-intensive measures. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The PFS offers community-based prevention programs a valid and reliable survey instrument that measures multiple protective factors. The subscales-Family Functioning, Emotional Support, Concrete Supports, and Nurturing and Attachment-can be used by practitioners to understand the service population more fully, inform services, and contribute to the evidence base of a protective factors approach. Practitioners can build on the strengths or protective factors in parents and select services to address areas that are less developed.

Optimism and physical health: a meta-analytic review.

BACKGROUND: Prior research links optimism to physical health, but the strength of the association has not been systematically evaluated. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to conduct a meta-analytic review to determine the strength of the association between optimism and physical health. METHODS: The findings from 83 studies, with 108 effect sizes (ESs), were included in the analyses, using random-effects models. RESULTS: Overall, the mean ES characterizing the relationship between optimism and physical health outcomes was 0.17, p < .001. ESs were larger for studies using subjective (versus objective) measures of physical health. Subsidiary analyses were also conducted grouping studies into those that focused solely on mortality, survival, cardiovascular outcomes, physiological markers (including immune function), immune function only, cancer outcomes, outcomes related to pregnancy, physical symptoms, or pain. In each case, optimism was a significant predictor of health outcomes or markers, all p < .001. CONCLUSIONS: Optimism is a significant predictor of positive physical health outcomes.

Self-regulation processes and health: the importance of optimism and goal adjustment.

This article discusses how self-regulatory models can be used to understand people's response to health threats. The article begins with a general discussion of the principles and assumptions of self-regulatory models of behavior. Two distinct lines of research are then presented addressing two important processes of adaptive self-regulation. First, we provide a brief overview of the literature on optimism and adjustment to chronic disease and other health outcomes. Second, we present an overview of the process of disengagement from unattainable goals, focusing on recent research. We close by making recommendations for future research.

Dispositional forgiveness of self, others, and situations.

Six studies regarding forgiveness are presented. The Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS), a self-report measure of dispositional forgiveness (with subscales to assess forgiveness of self, others, and situations) was developed and demonstrated good psychometric properties. Forgiveness correlated positively with cognitive flexibility, positive affect, and distraction; it correlated negatively with rumination, vengeance, and hostility. Forgiveness predicted four components of psychological well-being (anger, anxiety, depression, and satisfaction with life); forgiveness of situations accounted for unique variance in these components of psychological well-being. Forgiveness and hostility demonstrated equivalent, inverse associations with relationship duration, and forgiveness accounted for unique variance in relationship satisfaction, even when controlling for trust. Forgiveness level correlated positively with decreased negativity in statements written about transgressions in the present versus the past tense.