Measuring Penny Written by Loreen Leedy Cyberlesson by Katie.
Grace Stephenson and Victoria Leedy Hanover College
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Transcript of Grace Stephenson and Victoria Leedy Hanover College
Grace Stephenson and Victoria LeedyHanover College
Optimismand
Physical Illness
Can positive thoughts really create a healthy
life?
OPTIMISM Dispositional Optimism
The expectation of positive outcomes (Scheier and Carver, 1982)
CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH Positive association between optimism
and reduced cardiovascular illness Boehm and Kubzansky (2012)
Dispositional optimism is associated with a faster rate of recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery Scheier et al. (1989)
OPTIMISM AND CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH Optimism measured at one point in
time is related to CVD and CVD-related mortality years later even after controlling for CVD risk factors and depression. Giltay et al. (2004) Giltay et al. (2006) Tindle et al. (2009)
A MANIPULATION OF OPTIMISM The Best Possible Self: a manipulation
of optimism through writing exercises King (2001)
An observed sustained increase in optimism from the BPS intervention Meevissen et al. (2011)
A POSSIBLE MEDIATOR How does optimism provide protection
against illness? Elevates positive affect
King & Burton (2009)
HYPOTHESES 1. Participants in BPS condition will show a
significant increase in optimism and a decrease in illness. This decrease in illness will be greater than the decrease experienced by participants in the CE condition.
2. Participants in the CE condition will show a significant decrease in illness.
3. Participants in the Control Condition will experience neither an increase in optimism or a decrease in illness.
PARTICIPANTS Total: 31
GenderMale- 19%Female- 81%
EthnicityCaucasian- 77%African-American- 6%African – 10%Unknown – 6%
Per Condition:BPS- 52%Challenge- 23%Control- 25%
Age18-23 years old
MATERIALS Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R)
to measure dispositional optimism Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994
Examples: “I rarely count on good things happening to me” “It’s important for me to keep busy” “Overall, I expect more good things to happen to
me than bad”
1-4 Likert scale
MATERIALS PILL Scale
to measure self-reported illness Pennebaker, 1982; Pennebaker & Beall, 1986
Examples: Running nose Indigestion Insomnia or difficulty sleeping
1-4 Likert scale
PROCEDURE Communicated through email
Participants randomly assigned to one of three conditions: BPS, Challenging Event, Control
Subjects completed baseline questionnaires: Optimism Scale
PROCEDURE, CONT. Participants wrote every day for 4
consecutive days
Every week thereafter for 3 weeks, participants completed optimism and illness scales
PROCEDURE, CONT. BPS Writing Prompt
Think about your life in the future. Imagine that everything has gone as well as it possibly could. You have worked hard and succeeded at accomplishing all of your life goals. Think of this as the realization of all of your life dreams. Now, write about what you imagined.
King, 2001
PROCEDURE CONT. Challenging Event Writing Prompt
Looking back over your entire life, please identify and describe what you now consider to be the greatest single challenge you have faced in your life. What is or was the challenge or problem? How did the challenge or problem develop? How did you address or deal with this challenge or problem? What is the significance of this challenge or problem in your own life story?
(McAdams, 2008)
PROCEDURE CONT. Control Writing Prompt
Write about what you did today. Go into as much detail about your activities as possible. Do not focus on your emotional experience, but rather the sequence of events. As you write, do not worry about punctuation and grammar.
King, 2001
RESULTS: OPTIMISM
RESULTS: ILLNESS
Participants in BPS condition will show a significant increase in optimism and a decrease in illness.
DISCUSSION
Participants in the CE condition will show a significant decrease in illness.
DISCUSSION
Participants in the Control Condition will experience neither an increase in optimism nor a decrease in illness.
DISCUSSION
RESULTS: OPTIMISM AND ILLNESS ACROSS TIME
LIMITATIONS Lack of participants
Unequal participants among conditions
Lack of controlled environment
Deviation from schedule
SCHEDULE DEVIATION
FOR ADDITIONAL RESEARCH Compare hand written and typed responses
Only conducted in controlled environment
Different age groups
People who have recovered from life-threatening illness
Questions?
RESULTS: OPTIMISM AND ILLNESS ACROSS CONDITION
INTRODUCTION, CONT. Self-efficacy: belief in one’s capabilities to
organize and execute the course of action required to produce given attainments
Shift from biomedical model to more biopsychosocial model over previous years
Many impairments today can be eliminated by the individual because they are choices
RESULTS: SELF-EFFICACY
DROP OUT RATE BPS: 24% Challenge: 22% Control: 33%
EXPECTED RESULTS
BPS Challege Control
High SELow SEIll
ness