title: Optimism and well-being: a prospective multi-method and multi-dimensional examination of optimism as a resilience factor following the occurrence of stressful life events.
abstract: Optimism has been conceptualised variously as positive expectations (PE) for the future , optimistic attributions , illusion of control , and self-enhancing biases. Relatively little research has examined these multiple dimensions of optimism in relation to psychological and physical health. The current study assessed the multi-dimensional nature of optimism within a prospective vulnerability-stress framework. Initial principal component analyses revealed the following dimensions: PEs, Inferential Style (IS), Sense of Invulnerability (SI), and Overconfidence (O). Prospective follow-up analyses demonstrated that PE was associated with fewer depressive episodes and moderated the effect of stressful life events on depressive symptoms. SI also moderated the effect of life stress on anxiety symptoms. Generally, our findings indicated that optimism is a multifaceted construct and not all forms of optimism have the same effects on well-being. Specifically, our findings indicted that PE may be the most relevant to depression, whereas SI may be the most relevant to anxiety.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Harvard University , Cambridge , MA , USA.
authors.forename: Evan M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Kleiman
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
authors.forename: Alexandra M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Chiara
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior , Alpert Medical School of Brown University , East Providence , RI , USA.
authors.forename: Richard T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: d Department of Psychiatry, Aaron T. Beck Psychopathology Research Center , University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
authors.forename: Shari G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Jager-Hyman
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
authors.forename: Jimmy Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
authors.forename: Lauren B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Alloy
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D000067656:Optimism / Q000523:psychology*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Optimism; anxiety; depression; resilience; stressful life events