Podium Presentation - 10 minutes International Positive Psychology Association 8th IPPA World Congress 2023

What’s the difference between wellbeing, quality of life, resilience, and coping? An umbrella review and concept map of 155 measures of positive mental health. (#69)

Matthew Iasiello 1 , Daniel B Fassnacht 2 , Kathina Ali 2 , Joep van Agteren 1 , Elli Kolovos 2 , Todd Kashdan 3
  1. South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Australia
  2. College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia
  3. College of Humanities and Social Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA

Background

Mental health or feeling mentally healthy is a universally valued outcome. However, a multitude of definitions, models, and measures of ‘positive’ mental health hinder scientific understanding and precision.

Aims

This review aimed to clarify and synthesize the theoretical and measurement landscape of positive mental health.

Method

We extracted measures attempting to capture umbrella concepts of positive and adaptive states of mental health (i.e., well-being, quality of life, and resilience/coping), paying close attention to the underlying dimensions (e.g., vitality, sense of autonomy) and design features (e.g., response scales, time periods referred to). We also aimed to consolidate existing dimensions of mental health into a concise, conceptual framework.

Results

Our search identified 155 unique measures of umbrella concepts of mental health with a total of 410 original dimensions derived from these measures. Using a coding scheme with a series of independent raters, we consolidated these 410 dimensions of mental health into 21. A concept map was created to illustrate the inter-relationship between these 21 consolidated dimensions. Our results demonstrate minimal consensus on the underlying dimensions and measurement approaches for studying mental health, resulting in an unwieldy situation for scientific study.

Conclusion

The current review provides a preliminary synthesis and concept map of mental health to guide future research. We attempt to advance the literature by moving toward consensus on the structure and components of the positive and adaptive states of mental health. By refining measurement practices in the mental health space, stronger, durable science becomes increasingly attainable.

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