Quality of life and the condition of health

The article presents the results of research indicating that there is no simple correlation between the condition of health and the satisfaction with life. The analysis indicates that the valuation of one's life depends on the conception of health (health as a lack of illness; health as vital forces; health as the outcome of balancing resources and threats), irrespective of the actual condition of health of an individual.Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/201

Quality of life and the condition of health

The article presents the results of research indicating that there is no simple correlation between the condition of health and the satisfaction with life. The analysis indicates that the valuation of one's life depends on the conception of health (health as a lack of illness; health as vital forces; health as the outcome of balancing resources and threats), irrespective of the actual condition of health of an individual.Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/201

Scientific knowledge and social practice in health psychology: A discipline at the crossroads

Health psychology was founded as a response to social needs for better understanding and regulation of psychological aspects of biological, mental, and social well-being. Despite initial enthusiasm and optimism in its early days, three decades of development yielded results that are disappointing to many scholars in terms of health psychology practical meaning. Thus, in this paper we review several challenges for health psychology. We believe that health psychology might benefit from revival of aims and values that distinguished the discipline at its onset such as bio-psycho-social perspective that has been narrowed to somatic illness in recent days. Second, more integration is needed in theory and terminology to eliminate overlapping concepts labeled with different names. Furthermore, social practice would benefit from greater responsiveness of health psychologists to new technologies. Finally, health psychology is likely to derive benefits from more general well-established perspectives on diffusion of innovation in social practice. We conclude that health psychology as a practice-related scientific discipline is likely to regain its initial momentum once these problems are solved and novel areas of scientific exploration are identified

Evidence-based assessment in a transtheoretical and paradigmatic approach

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a defined proposal for how to integrate science and clinical practice that treats scientific evidence, particularly the results of empirical research, as a source of clinically useful and highly objective knowledge. We assume that the principles and standards of clinical practice defined in EBP have resulted in the emergence of many trans-theoretical models, but have also significantly influenced the credibility of practice derived from paradigmatic approaches. The aim of the article is to share our reflections on two issues: 1) What clinical problems arise in non-standard situations in the application of evidence-based practice for the best clinical outcomes for a patient with mental health problems? 2) What methods of integrating patient data are used by clinical psychologists in a transtheoretical and paradigmatic approach in differential (assessment), structural-functional and epigenetic (case formulation) diagnosis? In connection with developed standards for diagnosis and the effectiveness of psychotherapy, we consider EBP particularly relevant for the theory and practice of clinical psychology

Original article Coping with stress among Polish immigrants

BACKGROUND Opening the Western labour markets for Poles, a result of Poland’s accession to the European Union, led to mass economic emigration of thousands of Poles. Immigrants chose mostly the following English-speaking countries: Ireland, England and Scotland. Moving house and changing job is a challenge that needs to be dealt with. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE This study involved 239 people who emigrated to England, Scotland and Ireland. It was aimed at answering the following question: Do Polish immigrants in various countries experience varied stress levels and use varied strategies to cope with stress? RESULTS The conducted study showed differences in stress levels, depending on immigrants’ target country. There were also significant differences between strategies used to handle stress. Additionally, the study indentified factors influencing stress levels. Immigrants’ high stress levels were accompanied by stress management strategies focused on stressor avoidance, blaming as well as sense of one’s ineffectuality. CONCLUSIONS European English-speaking countries presents various challenges to immigrants. Observed dissimilarities in stress levels might stem from difference in size of cultural gap between the target and home country. Seeing that, cultural factors may significantly influence stress level perceived by immigrants, thus a question for further studies arises: what are specific cultural features significant in experiencing stress among immigrants? Answering to that question will give an unprecedented insights to demands of emigration and may lay a basis for future community support programs

Original article New challenges for clinical health psychology in diagnosis and therapy of tinnitus

Background Tinnitus is becoming a social issue as the number of individuals suffering from this condition is still increasing. The aim of this study was to analyze the characteristics of tinnitus and related distress, as well as general psychiatric distress of affected individuals. Participants and procedure The study included 169 tinnitus patients aged between 22 and 88 years (mean 53.52). The duration of tinnitus ranged between 5 months and 30 years (mean 5.29 years). The participants presented either with normal hearing or with hearing loss. The study was based on a standardized interview and examination with two psychometric instruments: the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI). Results Duration of tinnitus, its subjective severity, experiencing negative emotions and lack of social support turned out to be a composite measure determining the level of tinnitus-related distress. In turn, the level of psychiatric distress was determined by sex of the participants, presence of difficulties in life, subjective severity of tinnitus and lack of social support. Conclusions Characteristics of tinnitus and its psychological consequences affect various functional aspects and health of the affected patients. The diagnostic instruments used in the study (THI and GHQ-28) proved to be appropriate and identified a subset of tinnitus patients who required appropriate psychotherapeutic intervention. The complex situation of patients experiencing subjective signs of tinnitus points to a necessity of cooperation between specialists in laryngology and psychologists, as a vital component of multidisciplinary evaluation and the therapeutic process

Resiliency and well-being in chronic diseases – mediating role of empowerment and coping

Maintaining high levels of well-being in the face of a chronic disease requires utilization of many psychosocial resources in the coping process. The efficacy of this process depends on using coping strategies that fit to the specificity of a particular chronic disease. The aim of this study was to show the relationships between well-being and coping strategies, and less studied constructs such as resiliency and personal empowerment among people with diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. The study comprised 100 participants (59 with type I diabetes and 41 with rheumatoid arthritis) who completed a set of questionnaires measuring wellbeing, strategies of coping with stress, resiliency and personal empowerment. As expected, there was a significant indirect effect of resiliency on well-being through mediators such as personal empowerment and disease-specific coping strategies. The results support the significant determinants of well-being among people with chronic diseases. They also indicated a more complex structure of the variables in which resiliency plays a major role for the well-being by the means of coping strategies and personal empowerment

Psychosocial coping resources and health among Germans and Poles

Culture has a substantial impact on mechanism of coping with stress and related health outcomes. We proposed a model emphasizing the mediating role of coping resources and competences in the relationship between controllability of demands in professional/educational life and health in the cross-cultural context. The model is based on the transactional model of stress. 595 participants from East Germany, West Germany and Poland completed: Sense of Coherence Scale SOC-9, Self-Esteem Scale, Social Support Scale, Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, Proactive Coping Inventory, Scale of Demands in Professional Life, Brief Stress Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale and Mental Health Questionnaire. The results have shown the general cross-cultural validity of the proposed mediational model but also indicated some cultural differences in the determinants of health. Germans had higher self-esteem and social support. Poles had higher selfefficacy and used proactive coping strategies more often. Self-esteem was the strongest predictor of mental health in both nations. We discussed the results within a broad interpretive framework of social transitions

Psychosocial coping resources and health among Germans and Poles

Culture has a substantial impact on mechanism of coping with stress and related health outcomes. We proposed a model emphasizing the mediating role of coping resources and competences in the relationship between controllability of demands in professional/educational life and health in the cross-cultural context. The model is based on the transactional model of stress. 595 participants from East Germany, West Germany and Poland completed: Sense of Coherence Scale SOC-9, Self-Esteem Scale, Social Support Scale, Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, Proactive Coping Inventory, Scale of Demands in Professional Life, Brief Stress Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale and Mental Health Questionnaire. The results have shown the general cross-cultural validity of the proposed mediational model but also indicated some cultural differences in the determinants of health. Germans had higher self-esteem and social support. Poles had higher selfefficacy and used proactive coping strategies more often. Self-esteem was the strongest predictor of mental health in both nations. We discussed the results within a broad interpretive framework of social transitions