This article describes a scale measuring dispositional optimism, defined in terms of generalized outcome expectancies. Two preliminary studies assessed the scale's psychometric properties and its relationships with several other instruments. The scale was then used in a longitudinal study of symptom reporting among a group of undergraduates. Specifically, respondents were asked to complete three questionnaires 4 weeks before the end of a semester. Included in the questionnaire battery was the measure of optimism, a measure of private self-consciousness, and a 39-item physical symptom checklist. Subjects completed the same set of questionnaires again on the last day of class. Consistent with predictions, subjects who initially reported being highly optimistic were subsequently less likely to report being bothered by symptoms (even after correcting for initial symptom-report levels) than were subjects who initially reported being less optimistic. This effect tended to be stronger among persons high in private self-consciousness than among those lower in private self-consciousness. Discussion centers on other health related applications of the optimism scale, and the relationships between our theoretical orientation and several related theories.

Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies.

This article examines health promotion and disease prevention from the perspective of social cognitive theory. The areas of overlap with some of the most widely applied psychosocial models of health are identified. The models of health promotion and disease prevention have undergone several generational changes. We have shifted from trying to scare people into health, to rewarding them into health, to equipping them with self-regulatory skills to manage their health habits, to shoring up their habit changes with dependable social supports. These transformations have evolved a multifaceted approach that addresses the reciprocal interplay between self-regulatory and environmental determinants of health behavior. Social cognitive theory addresses the socio structural determinants of health as well as the personal determinants. A comprehensive approach to health promotion requires changing the practices of social systems that have widespread detrimental effects on health rather than solely changing t...

https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Bandura/Bandura1998PH.pdf

Health promotion from the perspective of social cognitive theory

The question of how affect arises and what affect indicates is examined from a feedback-based view-point on self-regulation. Using the analogy of action control as the attempt to diminish distance to a goal, a second feedback system is postulated that senses and regulates the rate at which the action-guiding system is functioning

Origins and Functions of Positive and Negative Affect: A Control-Process View.

This article provides a critical review of the empirical literature on the role of depression and elation in biasing mnemonic processing. Two classes of effects—state dependence and mood congruence—are examined. The latter, which involves the enhanced encoding and/or retrieval of material the affect

Affect and Memory: A Review

This article presents a self-presentation approach to the study of social anxiety that proposes that social anxiety arises when people are motivated to make a preferred impression on real or imagined audiences but doubt they will do so, and thus perceive or imagine unsatisfactory evaluative reactions from subjectively important audiences. We presume that specific situational and dispositional antecedents of social anxiety operate by influencing people's motivation to impress others and their expectations of satisfactorily doing so. In contrast to drive models of anxiety but consistent with social learning theory, it is argued that the cognitive state of the individual mediates both affective arousal and behavior. The traditional inverted-U relation between anxiety and performance is reexamined in this light. Implications of the approach for counseling situations are considered, especially the recommendation that treatments be tailored to the specific type of selfpresentational problem encountered by clients,

Social anxiety and self-presentation: A conceptualization model.

The recent emphasis on cognitive factors in the treatment of emotional problems has stimulated the development of cognitive assessment techniques. This paper presents the development and initial validation of an instrument to assess self-statements about social interactions. The 30-item questionnaire contains 15 positive (facilitative) and 15 negative (inhibitory) self-statements that were derived from subjects who listed thoughts while imagining difficult social situations. Item selection was accomplished by using judges' ratings of those thoughts. Validity studies with two samples compared scores on the self-statement measure with self-report, judges' and confederates' ratings of skill and anxiety following taped role-play and face-to-face interactions, and with questionnaire measures of social anxiety and skill. The measure appears to be a reliable, valid measure of cognitions associated with social anxiety. Research directions in cognitive assessment are suggested.

Cognitive assessment of social anxiety: Development and validation of a self-statement questionnaire

Although religion/spirituality (R/S) is important in its own right for many cancer patients, a large body of research has examined whether R/S is also associated with better physical health outcomes. This literature has been characterized by heterogeneity in sample composition, measures of R/S, and measures of physical health. In an effort to synthesize previous findings, a meta-analysis of the relation between R/S and patient-reported physical health in cancer patients was performed. A search of PubMed, PsycINFO, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and the Cochrane Library yielded 2073 abstracts, which were independently evaluated by pairs of raters. The meta-analysis was conducted for 497 effect sizes from 101 unique samples encompassing more than 32,000 adult cancer patients. R/S measures were categorized into affective, behavioral, cognitive, and 'other' dimensions. Physical health measures were categorized into physical well-being, functional well-being, and physical symptoms. Average estimated correlations (Fisher z scores) were calculated with generalized estimating equations with robust variance estimation. Overall R/S was associated with overall physical health (z = 0.153, P < .001); this relation was not moderated by sociodemographic or clinical variables. Affective R/S was associated with physical well-being (z = 0.167, P < .001), functional well-being (z = 0.343, P < .001), and physical symptoms (z = 0.282, P < .001). Cognitive R/S was associated with physical well-being (z = 0.079, P < .05) and functional well-being (z = 0.090, P < .01). 'Other' R/S was associated with functional well-being (z = 0.100, P < .05). In conclusion, the results of the current meta-analysis suggest that greater R/S is associated with better patient-reported physical health. These results underscore the importance of attending to patients' religious and spiritual needs as part of comprehensive cancer care.

https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/cncr.29353

Religion, spirituality, and physical health in cancer patients: A meta-analysis.

In the present investigation, an inductive measurement technique was employed to test some of the shared assertions made by theories of emotional behavior and behavior change. Specifically, the effects of heterosocial anxiety and anonymity on self-statements and self-evaluation by men were investigated. It was found that the anticipation of a discussion with an unfamiliar woman resulted in (a) the spontaneous generation of more negative self-statements and self-evaluation by high than by low heterosocially anxious men, (b) high and low heterosocially anxious men emitting their self-statements, which were clearly distinguishable; and (c) the anonymity of the impending discussion affecting neither the self-statements nor the self-evaluation of high and low heterosocially anxious men. These results provide evidence that an individual's idiosyncratic cognitive responses can be assessed objectively and easily, and that the nature of the self-statements is affected by individual differences even though the individuals involved may be unaware of these effects.

Self-statements and self-evaluations: A cognitive-response analysis of heterosocial anxiety.

The Cancer Behavior Inventory (CBI), a measure of self-efficacy for coping with cancer, was revised by adding a new stress management scale and reducing its length from 43 to 33 items. The 33-item CBI was administered to 280 cancer patients. A principal factors analysis with varimax rotation yielded the hypothesized seven factors (alphas in parentheses): (1) maintenance of activity and independence (alpha=0.86), (2) seeking and understanding medical information (alpha=0.88), (3) stress management (alpha=0.86), (4) coping with treatment-related side-effects (alpha=0.82), (5) accepting cancer/maintaining positive attitude (alpha=0.86), (6) affective regulation (alpha=0.81), and (7) seeking support (alpha=0.80). The alpha for the entire CBI was 0.94, the test-retest (1 week) reliability coefficient was 0.74, and correlations with measures of quality of life and coping supported its validity. The CBI may be useful to researchers and clinicians and can be integrated into a self-regulation model of coping.

/pdf/self-efficacy-for-coping-with-cancer-revision-of-the-cancer-20s2sveva7.pdf

Self-efficacy for coping with cancer: revision of the Cancer Behavior Inventory (version 2.0).

This article reports the development of a measure of self-efficacy for coping with cancer. Items culled from a variety of sources were chosen for inclusion in the Cancer Behavior Inventory (CBI) based on the psychometric properties of the items and the fit of the items in a factor structure. Factor analysis on a group of 502 persons with cancer yielded 6 factors: (a) Maintenance of Activity and Independence (alpha = .89), (b) Coping With Treatment-Related Side Effects (alpha = .88), (c) Accepting Cancer/Maintaining Positive Attitude (alpha = .87), (d) Seeking and Understanding Medical Information (alpha = .88), (e) Affective Regulation (alpha = .75), and (f) Seeking Support (alpha = .77). Cronbach's alpha for the entire measure was .96, and correlations with other measures supported its validity. The CBI may be useful for research and clinical practice.

Thomas V. Merluzzi

Papers

Cognitive assessment of social anxiety: Development and validation of a self-statement questionnaire

Religion, spirituality, and physical health in cancer patients: A meta-analysis.

Self-statements and self-evaluations: A cognitive-response analysis of heterosocial anxiety.

Self-efficacy for coping with cancer: revision of the Cancer Behavior Inventory (version 2.0).

Assessment of self-efficacy and coping with cancer: Development and validation of the Cancer Behavior Inventory.