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