Positive Life Experiences Research Articles

Supporting older adults who misuse alcohol.

Older adulthood is a unique time of transition often referred to as the 'golden years'. It is characterised by positive life experiences such as retirement but also by a loss of routine, identity and meaning. The literature identifies alcohol misuse as a growing issue in this population. However, the stigma, perceptions and patterns of drinking associated with alcohol misuse among older people can be a barrier to individuals seeking health advice. This article identifies that older adulthood is a period when nurses can offer health education and support using their unique relationships with patients to encourage healthy drinking behaviours.

Parenting Styles and Their Role in Fostering Gratitude in Young Adults

Gratitude, the appreciation of positive life experiences, is essential for young adults' well-being. The state of young adulthood associated with emerging adulthood and the shift in adult development makes it possible to cultivate gratitude. Parenting practices refer to the temper and discipline of families that have been shown to affect young adults. This research examines parenting styles and their link to gratitude in young adults. The sample comprised 134 participants aged 18-21 years and their parenting style as well as gratitude was established using the Adolescent Parenting Attitude Four Factor Questionnaire and the gratitude questionnaire respectively. There were found statistically significant relationships between parenting styles and gratitude. Authoritative parenting demonstrated a small positive relationship, while the other three parenting styles demonstrated negative relationships. The outcomes of this study understand the significance of parenting strategies concerning young adults’ emotional-social development and augment the notion that authoritative parenting best predicts gratitude.

Older Parents to an Adult Child With Intellectual Disability: Balancing Dependence With Separation.

This study focuses on the experiences of older parents who have an adult child with intellectual disabilities (ID), specifically exploring their overall experiences and relationships with their offspring. A qualitative methodology incorporating semi-structured interviews was employed. Participants comprised sixteen older parents to an adult child with mild to moderate ID living in a residential village. Participants described various challenges, including physical and health-related difficulties and loneliness. Interviewees also expressed positive life experiences, such as engaging in new activities and pursuits. Parents noted a newfound balance in their parent-child relationships, affording them more time for personal interests in older adulthood, which they found to be unique opportunities distinct from their earlier years. It is recommended that interactions between older and younger parents of children with ID be fostered, facilitating opportunities for the younger generation to benefit from the experiences of their more seasoned counterparts.

Prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation in chronic patients with schizophrenia: a hospital-based cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT Background Prior studies seeking to identify factors associated with suicide in patients with schizophrenia have reported important, though limited, and controversial findings. Our aims were to examine the prevalence of suicidal ideation (SI) and investigate the relationship between SI and a variety of factors (such as insomnia, religious coping, previous life experiences, dependency in daily living activities, positivity) in patients with schizophrenia. Method This was a cross-sectional study carried out among Lebanese patients with schizophrenia during January 2022. Results Out of 196 patients, 17.3% had SI. Multivariable logistic regression found that more loneliness (aOR = 1.43) and more severe insomnia (aOR = 1.08) were substantially related with increased odds of reporting SI, whereas having more positive life experiences (aOR = 0.83) was associated with lower odds of occurrence of SI. Positive/negative religious coping, activities of daily living and positivity showed no significant association with SI in our sample and context. Conclusion Findings showed that SI is highly prevalent in chronic patients with schizophrenia. The study identified three important factors (insomnia, loneliness, and positive experiences in life) associated with SI in schizophrenia, which could be targeted in prevention and intervention strategies.

Examining the Relationship Between Metacognitive Learning Strategies and Positive-Negative Life Experiences in Adolescents in Terms of Cognitive and Emotion Regulation Mediator Variables

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between metacognitive learning strategies, positive– negative life experiences, and cognitive emotional regulation in adolescents. In addition, adolescents’ metacognitive learning strategies, positive– negative life experiences, and cognitive emotional regulation variables were examined by addressing demographic variablessuch as gender, grade level, family income level, and family attitudes. The sample of the study was 623 students in Ereğli district of Konya. Because of the research, there is a significant difference between adolescents’ positive and negative life experiences and gender. There was no significant difference between adolescents’ positive and negative life experiences and grade level. There is a significant difference between adolescents’ positive and negative life experiences and parental attitude variables. There was no significant difference between adolescents’ positive and negative life experiences and income level variables.

The resounding influence of benevolent childhood experiences.

Research with Indigenous communities has demonstrated the detrimental impacts of intergenerational trauma and disproportionate adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on health and behavioral outcomes in adulthood. A more balanced narrative that includes positive childhood experiences is needed. The construct of benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) facilitates assessment of positive early life experiences and their impact on well-being for Indigenous peoples. We consider associations between BCEs and well-being when taking into account ACEs and adult positive experiences. Participants are from Healing Pathways, a longitudinal, community-based panel study with Indigenous families in the Midwestern United States and Canada. Data for the current analyses are derived from 453 participants interviewed at wave 9 of the study. Participants reported high levels of positive childhood experiences in the form of BCEs, with 86.5% of the wave 9 participants reporting experiencing at least six of seven positive indicators. BCEs were positively associated with young adult well-being. This relationship persisted even when accounting for ACEs and adult positive experiences. While ACEs were negatively correlated with young adult well-being, they were not significantly associated with well-being when considering family satisfaction and receiving emotional support. Evidence of high levels of BCEs reflects realities of strong Indigenous families and an abundance of positive childhood experiences.

The effects of life experiences and polygenic risk for depression on the development of positive and negative cognitive biases across adolescence: The CogBIAS hypothesis.

The Cognitive Bias (CogBIAS) hypothesis proposes that cognitive biases develop as a function of environmental influences (which determine the valence of biases) and the genetic susceptibility to those influences (which determines the potency of biases). The current study employed a longitudinal, polygenic-by-environment approach to examine the CogBIAS hypothesis. To this end, measures of life experiences and polygenic scores for depression were used to assess the development of memory and interpretation biases in a three-wave sample of adolescents (12-16 years) (N = 337). Using mixed effects modeling, three patterns were revealed. First, positive life experiences (PLEs) were found to diminish negative and enhance positive forms of memory and social interpretation biases. Second, and against expectation, negative life experiences and depression polygenic scores were not associated with any cognitive outcomes, upon adjusting for psychopathology. Finally, and most importantly, the interaction between high polygenic risk and greater PLEs was associated with a stronger positive interpretation bias for social situations. These results provide the first line of polygenic evidence in support of the CogBIAS hypothesis, but also extend this hypothesis by highlighting positive genetic and nuanced environmental influences on the development of cognitive biases across adolescence.

Evaluation of the validity and reliability of Children’s Worlds Subjective Well-Being Scale (CW-SWBS) in Tehran, Iran

IntroductionOne of the basic priorities of any society is to improve the lives of children to have a better childhood and a good chance of living in the future. There are relatively few studies on children's subjective well-being. Subjective well-being includes various factors such as family, school, friends, positive life experiences, etc. The present study was conducted in Tehran with the aim of cultural compatibility and evaluating the validity and reliability of Children’s Worlds Subjective Well-Being Scale (CW-SWBS) in the age group of 7–10 years. MethodTo evaluate the psychometric properties of CW-SWBS, the original scale was translated from English to Persian according to the instructions of the World Health Organization. The content validity of translated scale was determined by 8 experts in the field of children and the face validity was determined by 10 children. Then, to determine the construct validity, Confirmatory Factor Analysis was performed with a sample size of 820. The reliability of the scale was assessed using internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the stability of the scale was assessed by test and re-test using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). ResultsThe mean age of the children participating in the study was 8.8 years. Fifty-three percent of them were girls. The translated tool was validated with 9 subscales (family, children's financial status and assets, relationships with friends and other people, neighborhood, school, child's health status, time and leisure management, general feeling about children's lives and rights) and 73 items. The face validity and content validity of the CW-SWBS were confirmed. The results represented that the fit indices including NFI, AFI, RFI I < CFI more than 0.9 and AGFI, PNFI, SRMR, RMSEA are very suitable. Also, the results are reliable with Cronbach's alpha values of the total scale (α = 0.822) and coefficient (0.834). ConclusionThe Persian version of the multi-factor CW-SWBS is acceptable in terms of psychometric properties and can be used to measure children's subjective well-being in research departments, as well as raising the awareness of social workers, psychologists, counselors and health workers to monitor children's subjective well-being. Measuring different dimensions of children's well-being with a participatory method provides a basis for transmitting their views, experiences, and arguments that in addition to empowering children, an effective and useful operational guide in the social development process and achieving an acceptable level of well-being and health in different aspects of children's lives.

Positive life experiences and mortality: Examination of psychobiological pathways

Introduction and rationalePositive life experiences are potentially-rewarding events and behaviors, such as social and romantic interactions, experiences of relaxation and physical comfort, time spent in nature, and other leisure activities. To date, there is limited evidence linking positive life experiences to long-term health outcomes. Objective and methodsThe current study used data from N = 1243 participants in the Midlife Development in the US Study Biomarker Project to examine whether greater frequency of a range of different positive experiences and greater level of enjoyment of these experiences was linked to survival over a 12- to-16-year period in Cox proportional hazards models. The potential mediating roles of positive affect, depression, perceived stress, and an allostatic load index of physiological dysregulation in these associations were also examined. ResultsGreater frequency of positive experiences and greater enjoyment of positive experiences were both associated with a reduced hazard of mortality over the 12- to 16-year period. Models assessing a single mediator showed that both associations were mediated by decreased depression and decreased perceived stress, but not by positive affect or allostatic load. In supplementary multi-mediation models, depression was the only significant mediator of the frequency-survival and enjoyment-survival associations. ConclusionsPositive life experiences may confer long-term survival benefits, partially through lessening depressive symptomatology.

The interaction effect of personality hardiness and fear of failure to predict achievement motivation adolescents of working mother

Individuals with traits of hardiness believe that success is the result of both positive and negative life experiences. People who are highly motivated to achieve have a close relationship with intense dedication, reasonable control, and positive challenges. They are even willing to accept failure as part of the goal-setting process This study was conducted to explain the psychological characteristics of hardness and fear of failure that are predicted to determine the achievement motivation of adolescents whose mothers are employed. Participants were recruited anonymously and willingly from universities in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, Riau. After collecting and analyzing 280 questionnaires for outlier analysis, 188 were found valid for further study. Two stages of measurement were carried out; measuring was examined, and the structural model was deemed statistically significant. This study applied a quantitative methodology to the analysis of the path analysis mediation model. This study employs three measurement instruments and demographic data to address research issues. Dispositional Resilience Scale-15 (DRS-15), an action strategy to measure achievement motivation behavior personality, and the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI), a multidimensional assessment of cognitive-motivational-relational fear of failure, were used in this study to collect data. Path analysis from SmartPLS 3.2 was used to analyze the research data and determine the moderating and correlation values for the studied variables. This assessment indicates that fear of failure does not contribute to SMK students in Pekanbaru's toughness with success motivation. In contrast, the coefficient values for other factors indicate a positive contribution.

Active Aging in Senior Housing Residents and Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Comparative Study in Finland.

Leading an active life in old age underpins positive life experience. This study aimed to compare the levels of active aging in senior housing residents and community-dwelling older people. We combined data from the BoAktiv senior house survey (N = 336, 69% women, mean age 83 years) and AGNES cohort study among community-dwelling older adults (N = 1021, 57% women, mean age 79 years). Active aging was assessed with the University of Jyvaskyla Active Aging scale. Data were analyzed with general linear models, and the analyses were stratified by sex. Men in senior houses demonstrated lower active aging scores in general than community-dwelling men. Women in senior houses showed greater will to be active, but poorer ability and possibilities for activity than community-dwelling women. Despite the social and supporting environment, senior housing residents' possibilities for leading an active life seem to be compromised, potentially leading to an unmet activity need.

Relations between PTSD symptoms and reckless behaviors among military veteran students: Moderating roles of negative and positive life experiences.

Relations between PTSD symptoms and reckless behaviors among military veteran students: Moderating roles of negative and positive life experiences.

Investigation of Ostracism (Social Exclusion) and Forgiveness Levels of Adolescents with Positive and Negative Life Experiences

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between positive and negative childhood experiences, forgiveness and social exclusion experiences of individuals in adolescence. The research was carried out using the relational survey technique, one of the quantitative research methods. The participants of the study consisted of middle school and high school students (n=669), 354 girls and 315 boys, aged between 11 and 17, in the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. The data collection tools employed within the study are: Personal Information Form, Adolescent Ostracism (Social exclusion) Scale to measure the social exclusion levels of the participants, Childhood Happiness/Peace Memories Scale to measure their positive experience levels, Childhood Experiences Scale to measure their negative experience levels, and Forgiveness Scale for Adolescents to measure their tendency to forgive. For the analysis of the data, SPSS 26.00 package program was utilized and descriptive analysis, correlation, and multiple regression analysis were conducted. As a result of the data analysis, it was observed that exclusion dimension within the social exclusion scale has a higher mean score than the disregarding dimension, exclusion dimension features higher significance, the social exclusion experiences of the adolescents differ significantly in favor of the female adolescents in the neglected dimension.

Analysis of Changes in Time Use and Activity Participation in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States: Implications for Well-Being

This research aims to investigate the well-being implications of changes in activity-travel and time-use patterns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data from 2019 and 2020 to assess changes in activity-travel and time-use patterns. It applies two methods—a well-being scoring method and a time-poverty analysis method—to evaluate the impacts of these changes on society. The results show that individuals experienced diminished well-being during the pandemic even when their time-poverty statistics showed an improvement; this is because the pandemic did not allow individuals to pursue activities in a way that would enhance well-being. In general, well-being is positively associated with the pursuit of discretionary activities in the company of others in favored out-of-home locations. This explains why people have rapidly embraced traveling again in a post-pandemic era. At the same time, people desire more discretionary time (less time poverty); because the elimination of the commute contributes to this, workers are reluctant to return fully to the workplace. Planning processes need to account for a new normal in which activity-travel patterns will be increasingly shaped by the human desire to accumulate positive life experiences.

Compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress in teachers: How they contribute to burnout and how they are related to trauma-awareness

IntroductionTeachers play an integral role in providing positive life experiences for their students and are especially crucial for students who are experiencing or have experienced a trauma in their lives. In Australia however, teachers are increasingly stating that they do not plan on remaining in the profession causing media and governments to warn of a teacher shortage. Several key factors for teacher attrition have been proposed, with burnout being described as a contributing factor). Studies which have focused specifically on teachers’ experiences working with students with histories of trauma have suggested links between lack of trauma-aware training and increased levels of compassion fatigue (CF), secondary traumatic stress (STS), and burnout.MethodsThis paper draws on established research into CF, STS and burnout as well as trauma awareness of teachers using a narrative topical approach to explore the challenges faced by teachers and students in a post-covid landscape.ResultsThe results of this review suggest a need for additional research into the impact on teachers of working with an increasingly traumatized student body.ConclusionThe lack of trauma-specific training reported by pre-service and current teachers indicate a need for higher education institutions and schools to better prepare teachers to support traumatized students while safeguarding their own wellbeing.

Montessori Method applied to dementia, a person-centered global approach Part 1: Origins and principles

While dementia care is going through a major crisis, a strong call for the development of person-centered care for persons with a diagnosis of dementia has recently emerged. Person-centered care (PCC) is a philosophical and theorical intervention framework acknowledging that the individual is still a person who can live positive life experiences and relationships, despite a progressive disease, even at severe stages. It has arisen as a response to a medical model, focused on pathology and deficits. The benefits of PCC have been well documented. However, questions remain about how to concretely provide it. In this context, the Montessori method applied to dementia represents one way to apply person-centered care to person with dementia. Based on the philosophy and principles of the scientific pedagogy developed by Maria Montessori, it integrates PCC principles, associated with rehabilitation techniques, to promote constructive engagement in meaningful activities, to give back sense of control to the person with dementia, and to allow the person to have a role in the community. In this article, we will first present the person-centered care philosophy, its main principles, and effects. Secondly, we will describe a brief historical perspective of the Montessori method for person with dementia. Then, we will present Montessori principles in a detailed and structured way.

Socioeconomic status, positive experiences, and allostatic load.

Socioeconomic disparities in physiological well-being may be a pathway to the poorer health outcomes observed in those of lower socioeconomic status (SES). The present research examined greater frequency of positive life experiences (POS) as a route through which greater cumulative SES (CSES) may be linked to lower allostatic load (AL), a multisystem index of physiological dysregulation, and assessed whether the association between POS and AL varies along the socioeconomic spectrum. These associations were examined using data from the Midlife Development in the United States Biomarker Project (N = 2,096). Analyses included tests of whether positive experiences mediated the CSES-AL association, whether CSES moderated associations of positive experiences and AL, and whether CSES moderated positive experience mediation of the CSES-AL association (moderated mediation). The observed association between CSES and AL was weakly mediated by POS. CSES moderated the POS-AL association, such that POS was associated with AL only at lower levels of CSES. The moderated mediation analysis showed that POS mediated the association between CSES and AL only at lower levels of CSES. The results suggest complexity in associations between cumulative socioeconomic advantage, positive life events, and physiological well-being. Positive life events may play a stronger role in physiological health in those of lower socioeconomic advantage, as one of multiple pathways through which lower SES is linked to poor health. Given the modifiability of access to, and frequency of, positive life events, the potential role of positive experiences in lessening health disparities warrants further study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Foundations for Chronic Low Back Pain Management may Start in Early Life. Exploring the Role of Caregiver Parental Leave on Future Low Back Pain in the Offspring

Chronic low back pain is difficult to treat and despite increased spending on health services, clinical outcomes for people with low back pain have not improved. Innovative, large scale initiatives seem necessary to stem the cost of low back pain. Psychological health contributes to the development and persistence of chronic low back pain and psychological interventions are important in the management of low back pain. Given the contribution of psychological health to low back pain development and management, it raises the question; can we support psychological health in later life by bolstering emotional development in early life, and reduce the burden of this common condition? Positive early life experiences, including those induced by extended paid parental leave, could bolster emotional development and support the psychological health necessary to manage low back pain in later life. We present the current state of evidence demonstrating the potential value of increasing support for parent-child relationships in early life to reduce the burden of low back pain in future generations. The current evidence is limited to cross-sectional associations, but strong preclinical data clearly shows the potential negative impacts of maternal separation on rodent pup health that compels consideration in human populations. PerspectiveThe benefits stemming from enhanced child development include stable emotional foundations, possibly improving psychological health and low back pain management in the future. This perspective raises questions for future studies – within the context of low back pain, what ingredients bolster stable psychological health? And are these ingredients influenced by parental leave?

Perinatal experiences of resettled Syrian migrant women in Greece-a qualitative study

Background: Many women report that their privacy in hospitals was not respected and that their needs were totally ignored. A woman’s perinatal experience can be determinant for a woman’s life, introducing her into maternity either in a gentle way or causing her trauma. These findings can be used to improve health services in Greece. Aim: To identify the positive and negative life experiences of refugee women giving birth in Greece. Method: A qualitative interpretive design was used. Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 14 Syrian women. The majority were refugees that gave birth in Greece and only four with birthing experience in both Syria and Greece. Data were detailed interpreted and analyzed thematically. Results: “Numerous people were getting in and out of the room” emerged as one of the dominant themes, together with the communication difficulty due to the lack of translators. Women used the phrase “The main problem was the language’’ together with “I couldn’t ask for anything’’. Last but not least, women stated that the staff had racist behavior ‘’ Some of them, weren’t nice to me, they were racists’’. Another woman described “They made me feel inferior wearing my handkerchief’’. In addition to that, from this statement, it emerges that their religion had not been respected. Conclusion: This study discusses the experiences that Syrian migrant women have to go through in public hospitals, due to lack of privacy during their stay, communication problems as well as staff’s racist behavior. Overall, all these reasons lead to a traumatic experience and a degraded healthcare system.

Positive and negative life experiences and changes in internal working models of attachment - a comparative study.

One of the most important questions in personality psychology and psychopathology is whether working models of attachment change during lifetime. It is assumed that early childhood experiences influence the formation of secure or insecure internal working models of attachment The belief that attachment representations formed in childhood are relatively stable is no longer so obvious: new reports have appeared, according to which important life experiences may lead to a change in attachment style from insecure to secure or the other way around. The main aim of the present project was to investigate whether and in what manner positive and negative life experiences lead to changes in internal working models of attachment. The specific style of attachment to mother, father, partner, and friend was measured with the ECR-RS, while global attachment was assessed based on the SAAM and ECR-RS G. The number and intensity of positive and negative life experiences was assessed by means of the LES-M. We analyzed the results for a sample of 156 adults. The study revealed significant relations between the level of positive life experiences and global and specific styles of attachment to a friend and partner. However, no significant relationships were observed between the intensity of negative life events and attachment style. Between-group comparisons showed that in the group in which a change of attachment style from insecure to secure had taken place the experience of positive events was significantly stronger than in the group in which there had been no such change. The compared groups did not differ in the level of negative life experiences. The study supports the hypothesis about a change of global attachment style and selected specific aspects of insecure attachment to a secure style as a result of experiencing positive life events.