Development Of Positive Psychology Research Articles

Leadership coaching transforming mental health systems from the inside out: The Collaborative Recovery Model as person-centred strengths based coaching psychology

Mental health service provision is being transformed by a call for ‘recovery oriented care’. Rather than the traditional medical meaning of cure, the term ‘recovery’ refers to the personal and transformational process of patients living with mental illness, moving towards a preferred identity and a life of meaning – a framework where growth is possible, and the fixed mindsets around diagnoses such as schizophrenia are challenged. At an organisational level, however, organisations and their service providers have typically operated on a framework that is fixed in terms of the potentialities of the mental health patients. This paper describes the ongoing transformation of a large tertiary inpatient mental health unit in Ontario, Canada, through a parallel staff and patient implementation of a person-centred strengths based coaching framework, known as the Collaborative Recovery Model (CRM). Consistent with developments in positive psychology, the model focuses on strengths and values, goals and actions, within a coaching framework, with an emphasis on the alliance between staff and patient, and the growth potential of the patient. By using the principles of coaching psychology, mental health staff members are leading change in the organisation by personal use of the principles and practices that they are also using to coach patients. The leadership and organisational change challenges are described and future directions are discussed.

Developmental Psychopathology, Positive Psychology, and Knowledge Development in Child and Youth Care: Editorial Hopes and Aspirations for the Forum

Developmental Psychopathology, Positive Psychology, and Knowledge Development in Child and Youth Care: Editorial Hopes and Aspirations for the Forum

W10-04 Constructivism and positive psychology: Contribution of depathologizing metatheory and practice

What do Constructivism and Positive Psychology, both movements of recent coinage, share? On some fundamental metaphoric assumptions, constructivism shares with positive psychology the humanist legacy, and an acknowledgement of the creative potential in human beings. Through practical approaches focusing not on the need of treatment and correction, but on the developing potential of subject's experiences, personal constructs, and emotions, constructivism shares with positive psychology a less negative and pathologizing view of psychological problems. This and other assumptions characterizing constructivism are presented as good contributes to theoretical and methodological developments both in positive psychology and psychotherapy in its different settings.

Figure Skating: A Different Kind of Youth Sport

Figure skating is a distinct youth sport often overlooked in the sport psychology literature. This paper reviews the literature to substantiate how figure skating presents challenges for adaptation and development not shared by other sports. The possible implications of figure skating on identity and self-worth are considered, as is the role of coaches in the figure skating environment and how they can potentially foster or hinder their athletes’ positive psychological development. In this regard, the possible application of parenting style theories is discussed in the context of figure skating coaches. Finally, Smith, Smoll, and Curtis’s (1979) Coach Effectiveness Training program is considered as a potential intervention program to promote healthy psychological development for young figure skaters.

Positive Psychological Impact of Bariatric Surgery

Psychological impact of bariatric surgery has been described mostly in terms of reduction of psychopathology. This exploratory study examines the impact of bariatric surgery in terms of positive psychological growth and development. 57 patients who underwent LAGB were recruited to this study; 31 patients (54.4%) completed a questionnaire battery 1 year or more following surgery. Positive impact was assessed using the posttraumatic growth questionnaire. Mental and physical health were assessed using the SF-36. Family support was assessed using the perceived family support questionnaire and weight loss measure was assessed using measured weight differences prior to and 1 year after surgery. Positive impact was apparent in all dimensions including greater appreciation of life, increased sense of personal strength and improvement in relating to others. Positive impact appears to be independent of physical and mental health as well as of family social support. Positive impact of bariatric surgery is a substantial outcome and should be examined further. Positive impact of bariatric surgery should be taken into account as a therapeutic tool in positive oriented psychological interventions following bariatric surgery.

The Efficacy of an Outdoor Adventure Education Curriculum on Selected Aspects of Positive Psychological Development

To date, little empirical research has been conducted to support the claim that outdoor adventure education (OAE) develops desirable psychological characteristics in participants. This study examined the effects of an OAE foundation degree curriculum on positive psychological development. Fifty-two students (26 OAE students, 26 controls on an unrelated course), aged 16–39 years, completed a battery of positive psychological questionnaires (at the start of their respective courses and 3 months later) measuring hardiness, mental toughness, self-esteem, self-efficacy, dispositional optimism, and positive affectivity. OAE curriculum activities included rock-climbing, navigation training, countryside leadership, gill-scrambling, and open canoeing. Control students were enrolled on a classroom-based travel and tourism college course. Inferential multivariate statistics revealed non-significant (p > .05, partial η2 = .38) improvements by the OAE group across several psychological constructs. Significant effects (p < .05, partial η2 = .15) for the cohort were revealed for total hardiness. No significant gender differences were reported. The non-significant overall effect is interpreted in terms of sample size, OAE activities, and measured personality styles. The implications of these results are discussed relative to previous findings and in terms of psychological theory.

Effect of a psychological skills training program on swimming performance and positive psychological development

Research has shown that psychological skills training can be effective in enhancing athletes’ performance and positively influencing cognitive and affective states (cf. Williams & Krane, 2001). However, to date, little work has been conducted investigating such processes with adolescent high‐performing swimmers. The present study examined the effects of a seven‐week psychological skills training (PST) program on competitive swimming performance and positive psychological development. Thirty‐six national level swimmers (13 boys, 23 girls; M = 13.9 years old) followed a PST program for 45 minutes per week. The intervention consisted of goal setting, visualization, relaxation, concentration, and thought stopping. Performance times were obtained from official meets. Participants completed seven inventories measuring quality of performance, and six positive psychological attributes: mental toughness, hardiness, self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, dispositional optimism, and positive affectivity. Findings demonstrated that there was a significant post‐PST program improvement in three separate swimming strokes, each over 200 m. Non‐significant improvements were shown in 10 other events. There was also an overall significant improvement in participants’ post‐intervention positive psychological profiles

The Relationship Between Genotype and Positive Psychological Development in National-Level Swimmers

We report a preliminary study of the relationship between genotype (using a functional polymorphism of the serotonin transporter 5-HTT gene) and positive psychological development in high-achieving adolescent swimmers. Thirty-one volunteers of both genders, aged 10-24 years, completed a battery of positive psychological questionnaires measuring hardiness, mental toughness, self-esteem, self-efficacy, dispositional optimism, and positive affectivity. DNA samples were obtained via buccal swabs. The sample was initially split into three groups on the basis of 5-HTT genotype: SS, SL, and LL. Multivariate statistics revealed a discernible trend of a relationship between LL genotype and higher levels of positive psychological development. The nonsignificant overall effect is interpreted in terms of sample size and age of participants. The implications of these results are discussed relative to previous findings and in terms of psychological theory.

Happiness, excellence, and optimal human functioning: Review of a special issue of the American Psychologist (2000;55:5-183), Martin E P Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, guest editors.

In January 2000, the American Psychological Association's flag-ship journal, American Psychologist, dedicated an entire issue to the growing field of “positive psychology,” including both theory and practical applications. The special issue was highly relevant to physician well-being, and in this article I summarize and critique its key papers. Subsequent developments in positive psychology—including conferences, further readings, and grant awards—are available at http://www.apa.org/releases/positivepsy. html or the journal editor's web site, http://psych.upenn.edu/seligman.

Psychosomatic group treatment helps women with chronic pelvic pain

This study evaluates group treatment for women suffering from chronic pelvic pain. The concept of group treatment was based on psychosomatic and physiotherapeutical principles and on cognitive and operant behavioral therapy. Each group was composed of up to six women suffering from chronic pelvic pain, and two physiotherapists. Each group treatment session lasted 2.5 h per week for a period of 10 weeks. The women completed questionnaires and pain drawings four times during the treatment period from the beginning of the period till 15 months later. During 13 group treatment periods 53 women accomplished the treatment Before the treatment the women had experienced pain for an average period of 5 years and 9 months (ranging from 6 months to 22 years). The women's descriptions of the changes derived from group treatment were analyzed according to the Grounded Theory Method. A methodical triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data as well as analyzes of the drawings were applied.One year after the end of due treatment, 39% of the women were pain-free. The average level of pain measured according to the Visual Analog Scale was reduced from 2.8 to 0.9 (p < 0.01). The intake rate of analgesics was reduced from an average of 8.5 units to 0.9 units per week (p < 0.01). Furthermore a reduction in the use of the National Health Service and increases in gainful employment were registered. By means of the Grounded Theory Analysis a model of the development process was elaborated. The process begins with the development of self-knowledge, followed by the woman assuming self responsibility for her own lift and performing self-activeness. During the process the woman increases her feeling of self-control and personal mastery of her emotions. The women's pain drawings improved, resulting in more detailed drawings, the color intensity abating, the extent of pains declining, and the outlines blurring.In conclusion this kind of group treatment brings the women relief from their pain thus reducing the use of the National Health Service by women suffering from chronic pelvic pain. The women also experience a positive psychological development. This method of treatment, in which a synergetic combination of physical and psychological treatment mutually enhance the effect of the treatment, will probably have a beneficial impact on the treatment of other patients suffering from acute or chronic physical or psychological traumas or from chronic pains.

Day care for early preschool children: implications for the child and family. American Psychiatric Association Task Force on Day Care for Pre-School Children.

The use of nonparental day care for children has increased over the past several decades and mirrors changes in the social and economic fabric of the United States. In the case of the early preschool child, precise understanding of the implications of day care for later development remains elusive. Of equal concern are the implications of early preschool day care for the family unit and especially the mother. What constitutes appropriate, safe, and affordable day care has been debated. The impact of poor care is demonstrable for both the child and family. Quality day care offers the potential for positive psychological development of the child and the family. The research related to day care for young children has expanded our knowledge of child development, but it also highlights a need for expanded research using refined measures of psychological growth and child-parent interaction. This report was approved by the APA Board of Trustees in December 1992.

Conditions for Positive Psychological and Educational Development of Hearing‐Impaired Persons

The purpose of this study was to gather information about positive psychological and educational development of hearing‐impaired persons.

Social psychological effects of simulation in foreign language learning

In an effort to find new and imaginative teaching materials and techniques that can aid in improvement of students' functional communicative skills, many teachers are using simulation techniques. Providing opportunities for real communication is important because this kind of talk is satisfying to students, prepares them for the kind of communication they will experience in the target culture, motivates them, and produces results which transcend the immediate classroom. The use of simulation as a teaching device has implications beyond the linguistic and the pedagogical for there are far-reaching and longer-term social and psychological payoffs. Simulation activities can contribute to the positive social and psychological development of the student by providing opportunities to focus on the individual contribution, encourage creativity, and build self-esteem. Simulation can also help to develop social skills and comprehension of other cultures by providing opportunities for the student to assume role s/he will assume outside class.

Echter XX/XY Hermaphrodit mit positivem H-Y-Antigen ohne aufgefundenes Testisgewebe - Beobachtung von Geburt bis zum 10. Lebensjahr*

A rare modification of true Hermaphroditism is demonstrated in a ten-year-old child we have observed since birth. The cytogenetic analysis revealed a XX/XY-mosaicism. Two kinds of origin are discussed: 1. an ovum with two nuclei was fertilized by two different sperm cells, 2. two heterosexual zygotes fused. -- We could not find tissue of the testes but confirmed the diagnosis of a hermaphroditism by the detection of the HY-antigen and by typical endocrinological findings. Two different cell populations found in erythrocytes and by GPT-isoenzymes indicated a chimerism. By knowledge of these findings, we could help the child to undergo a positive psychological and social development.