Συναισθηματική διάθεση, αναπαραστάσεις και τρόποι διαχείρισης της ασθένειας, και υποκειμενική υγεία σε χρόνιους ασθενείς

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine the relation of general affect to chronic patients’ illness representations, coping strategies and subjective health. Positive and negative affect was used as indicators of the typical personal responses to environmental stimuli. Patients suffering from a cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus-II, or rheumatoid arthritis (N=137; 53 males, 84 females) participated in the study, which was conducted in two phases with a two-month time interval. According to the findings, general affect is related to subjective health, even after controlling for illness-related variables. Moreover, the emotional representations of illness and the illness problem-solving coping strategies mediated the relation of positive and negative affect to both physical and psychological health. These findings are important for theory and clinical practice as they may help us better understand the complex relationships between the illness experience and the broader personal and social context. At the same time, they suggest that an intervention plan aiming at both the problem- and the contextrelatedfactors could be more efficient in helping chronic patients, than aiming solely at either the context or the problem.