Impact of stroke on affective well-being: findings from a large longitudinal nationally representative study

Abstract

Objectives

To examine whether the incidence of stroke influences affective well-being (positive affect and negative affect), and whether such a relationship is moderated by general self-efficacy.

Method

Longitudinal data from 2008, 2011 and 2014 were used from a population-based sample of community-residing individuals ≥ 40 years in Germany (n = 9,659 in regression analysis). Affective well-being was quantified using the established Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). A well-established scale by Schwarzer and Jerusalem was used to assess general self-efficacy. General practitioner diagnosed stroke was reported.

Results

Fixed effects regressions showed that the incidence of stroke was associated with a decrease in positive affect in the total sample (β = –.17, p < .001) and in both sexes (men: β = –.16, p < .05; women: β = –.19, p < .01). In contrast to these findings, the incidence of stroke was not associated with changes in negative affect (total sample; stratified by sex). Moreover, general self-efficacy moderated the relation between stroke and positive affect.

Conclusion

Panel regression models showed that the incidence of stroke was associated with a decline in positive affect in the total sample and in both sexes. As the general self-efficacy moderated this association, it may be beneficial to enhance self-efficacy and prioritize coping strategies among stroke survivals.

Keywords:

• Affective well-being
• negative affect
• positive affect
• self-efficacy
• stroke
• well-being
• cerebrovascular disorders

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data used in this study are third-party data. The anonymized data sets of the DEAS (1996, 2002, 2008, 2011 and 2014) are available for secondary analysis. The data has been made available to scientists at universities and research institutes exclusively for scientific purposes. The use of data is subject to written data protection agreements. Microdata of the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) is available free of charge to scientific researchers for non-profitable purposes. The FDZ-DZA provides access and support to scholars interested in using DEAS for their research. However, for reasons of data protection, signing a data distribution contract is required before data can be obtained. Please see for further Information (data distribution contract): https://www.dza.de/en/fdz/access-to-data/formular-deas-en-english.html.

Complying with ethics of experimentation

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Consent

Written consent was obtained from all participants. It was not necessary to obtain permission from institutional review boards or ethic committees, as the criteria for requiring an ethics statement were not met (e.g. risk for the respondents, lack of information about the aims of the study, examination of patients).