Gratitude. I'm working at a new scale related to perceived gratitude by helping professionals. It seems to be a strong moderator for stress and burnout. Gratitude (espressed and perceived) is a growing topic in positive psychology, related as you are interested in, to coping and resilence.

Thank you Daniela, very interesting topic from what I am reading. Does Self-forgiveness impact gratitude? Equally interesting. Thanks again.

Curabo, Self efficacy

Thanks Egon, I shall have to look into the Curabo effect and it's possible impact. It is a very interesting angle and I think might fit in nicely. Is there anything you would recommend reading? What I have seen so far the studies are just related to pain and practitioners, has there been any that you know of involving parents?

Yes there are different for example

Parental self-efficacy and online support among parents of children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Merkel RM, Wright T. Pediatr Nurs. 2012;38(6):303-8 or

From powerlessness to empowerment: Mothers expect more than information from the prenatal consultation for preterm labour. Gaucher N, Payot A., Paediatr Child Health. 2011;16(10):638-42

Contentment, may also be relevant.

Mindfulness may be a term, I recall it being mentioned in some of the literature regarding Positive Psych.

You might want to include acceptance, which is an interesting concept in regards

to coping. And maybe compassion?

Might be that the references below are helpful.

Wilma Otten and Joop Van Der Pligt (1996). Context Effects in the Measurement of Comparative Optimism in Probability Judgments. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology: Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 80-101.

Weinstein, Neil D. (1980), “Unrealistic Optimism about Future

Life Events,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,

39 (November), 806-820.

Wilma Otten has written her PhD thesis on the topic 'optimism'.

Thanks Jens, I have not looked at acceptance however I did have a look at an interesting study of self-compassion recently and was wondering the same of that. I shall take a look. If there is anything in particular you think I should read let me know. Many thanks.

Thanks Hans, I shall get hold of those references and take a look. Much appreciated. This systematic review looks like it will shortly constitute a PhD in it's own right.... Great to have so much advise. Thanks. Merisa.

Hi Merisa. This is a really interesting area. I do work in attachment across the life span, temperament and information processing, all of which influence the capacity for hope, optimism and coping. You mention resilience and I wondered if exploring the research on risk and protective factors ( e.g. Ciccetti, Offord) at an individual, family and community level may help in exploring the interdependent systemic factors. that can impact on the capacity for hope and coping. Temperament research could help to explore how having a predisposition e.g. to approaching rather than avoiding new situations and tending to interpret situations positively can be a protective factor; secure attachment can help an individual to develop a sense of trust and competence and will influence how an individual processes the world around them. You mentioned emotional regulation and information processing e.g. Crick and Dodge may be a useful avenue. Would be happy to discuss this further if you're interested. Good luck in your work! Sue

I propose to cross the central concepts of the review with emotional management. I was a nurse of cancer children (and their families) and now as a teacher in nursing school, I have studied and taught on the subject of hope in children/families with chronic illness, Enhancing the influence of emotional management/regulation to cope with the processes of disease.

Thank you Paula, I am certainly anticipating a lot of aspects that will need to be cross analysed in the context of emotional management. I am also quite curious about the cultural influences. Thank you.

Happy New Year!

It seems there are two large and potentially fruitful areas still to explore Merisa. (a) Well-being (b) Human flourishing.

Check out the latest work from Martin Seligman.

Good luck and stay connected

Tony

Hope and optimism could be seen in terms of relational and emotional investments made in a given social or contextual reality. Do we need to include these also?

I was wondering that also - thinking about the effect of the given relationship to the volume of optimism / hope that may be displayed at any one time. I shall look out for this also. There is some interesting work out there in this field but it seems quite erratic I am enjoying the challenge of at least giving it some structure. I was hoping to focus my first review on Early childhood but am not sure my strings are picking up all the studies in this area. I will continue but may need to enhance my searches with key developmental themes to see investigate further.

Hi Tony, thanks for that, I am very interested in both well-being and human flourishing so I have noted when looking at some of the body of works done in adulthood to maybe focus that review in those areas as I would love to be able to see the staged comparisons between the developmental ages in relation to both well-being and human flourishing although I am not sure at present how to define human flourishing it is not a term I have come across as yet, do you have a reference perhaps that might be a good starting point to define this term?

I'd add positive emotion, positive affect and emotion regulation.

Best,

teddi

Thanks Tedra, I actually did more strings today using "positive schema" OR "positive emotion" OR self-efficacy OR "behavioural disinhibition" OR "positive development trajectories" OR adaptive OR adjustment as well as "emotion* regulation" OR "self control" OR anger for coping and it seems to have opened up a whole new world to explore with defined age groups and terms. I shall add positive affect and emotion regulation in my next sweep. Thanks.

mindfulness is a technique for coping with stress when used like meditation. it can be relatively easy to train people to use it. research from carnegie mellon psych department has even shown it helps patients with HIV/AIDS. i can't remember the author, but mindfulness training slowed or prevented the progresison to AIDS in HIV positive people. i would use the terms 'mindfulness' and 'mindfulness training'.

maybe you can be of some use my article that will appear next month on the Italian J. of Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy

maybe you can be of some use my unpublished article that will appear next month on the Italian J. of Cognitive behavioral Psychotherapy Vol. 20.1/2014 (draft in attach.)

Positive thinking

Merissa , you might consider adding "future oriented thinking", as this general area would cover both optimism and hope.

I've been enjoying your questions and everyone's answers thanks.

All the best

Sue

Thanks Sue, So many questions - I am like a child in a sweet shop. Delighted that there are so many rich avenues to explore now that I can devote much more time to research after my exams.