Wellbeing and distress in young people with chronic conditions: how do positive psychology variables relate to mental health outcomes?

Asha Parkinson; Barbara Mullan; Keely Bebbington; Elizabeth Davis; Claire Treadgold; Amy Finlay-Jones

doi:10.1080/21642850.2023.2274539

Wellbeing and distress in young people with chronic conditions: how do positive psychology variables relate to mental health outcomes?

Health Psychol Behav Med. 2023 Nov 6;11(1):2274539. doi: 10.1080/21642850.2023.2274539. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Asha Parkinson^{1

2}, Barbara Mullan^{2

3}, Keely Bebbington^{4

5}, Elizabeth Davis^{4

6

7}, Claire Treadgold^{8

9}, Amy Finlay-Jones¹

Affiliations

¹ Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Australia.
² enAble Institute, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley, Australia.
³ WACPRU, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley, Australia.
⁴ Children's Diabetes Centre, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
⁵ Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
⁶ Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Perth Children's Hospital, Perth, Australia.
⁷ Division of Paediatrics, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
⁸ Starlight Children's Foundation, Naremburn, NSW, USA.
⁹ Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health, UNSW, Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, USA.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the unique and shared contributions of various positive psychology constructs (gratitude, optimism, hope, self-compassion, self-efficacy, and emotion regulation) to wellbeing and distress outcomes in young people living with a diverse range of chronic health conditions.

Methods and measures: 169 Australians (84.0% female, mean age = 21.2) who reported living with a chronic physical condition completed a cross-sectional survey assessing wellbeing, distress, and each positive psychology variable. Two multiple regressions were used to determine the unique and shared contributions of the positive psychology variables to wellbeing and distress outcomes.

Results: When considered alongside symptom severity, the variables explained 53.4% and 38.1% of variance in distress and wellbeing, respectively. Only optimism and self-efficacy accounted for unique and significant variance in the model predicting wellbeing, accounting for 6.1% and 4.6% of unique variance, respectively. For the distress model, optimism, self-compassion, and emotion regulation each accounted for significant variance. When considered alongside other variables, hope and gratitude did not contribute to either model.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that individual positive psychology variables differentially contribute to wellbeing and distress outcomes in young people with chronic conditions. Optimism appears to account for unique variance in both outcomes, suggesting it may be a parsimonious target to promote complete mental health in this population.

Keywords: Positive psychology; chronic conditions; wellbeing; youth.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by Healthway under an Exploratory Research Grant awarded to Amy Finlay-Jones. Amy Finlay-Jones was supported by the Starlight Children’s Foundation.