Factor structure of quality of life in adolescents

Psychosocial Profile in Portuguese Adolescents with Chronic Disease Attending an Outpatient Department in a Hospital Setting

Living with a chronic disease (CD) in adolescence involves new multifaceted challenges. This study aims to conduct a psychosocial characterization of a group of adolescents with chronic diseases in a hospital setting and to compare such dimensions for the total group and for different diseases. A cross-sectional study included 135 adolescents with chronic diseases (51.9% boys; 48.1% girls), having an average age of 14±1.5 years (SD=1.5) and attending a paediatric outpatient department in a hospital setting. Statistically significant differences were found among the different chronic diseases for the variables self-regulation (adolescents with diabetes had significantly higher competencies) and multiple psychosomatic symptoms (adolescents with neurologic diseases reported significantly more complaints). Boys presented both better health-related quality of life and psychosomatic health when compared to girls. No statistically significant differences were observed for health-related quality of life, psychosomatic health, resilience, and social support. These findings bring important suggestions especially while planning interventions, which must take into account the promotion of a healthy psychosocial development, through an inclusive perspective (covering different chronic diseases), that take into consideration specific and gendered approaches. Such suggestions might help healthcare professionals to better plan interventions in order to increase their effectiveness.

Positive Orientation-a Common Base for Hedonistic and Eudemonistic Happiness?

Positive orientation (PO) is proposed as a common base for hedonistic and eudemonistic senses of happiness. PO involves a tendency to formulate positive judgments concerning the self, one's personal life, and the future. Previously, PO had been investigated in the context of the hedonistic approach to well-being. In this article, we tested a broader understanding of PO, which is conceptualized, here, as a latent factor underlying variables that exemplify hedonistic and eudemonistic view on happiness. Using two samples (N = 159 and N = 200), we tested three models of PO extended to include various measures of meaning of life. The extended models fitted the data well. Results suggest that PO can be a general factor that is the basis for integrating two aspects of well-being: searching for positivity and pleasure, as well as striving for meaning.