Correlates and predictors of optimism in individuals with early psychosis or severe mental illness

Abstract

Studies interested in the recovery of people with a severe mental illness mention factors such as hope and optimism as key elements. The goal of this study was to increase our understanding of correlates and predictors of optimism in this population using samples from two different studies: (1) 150 patients with early psychosis; (2) 143 individuals with severe mental illness engaged in a vocational rehabilitation service. Pearson correlations and linear regressions were used in order to determine the variables with the strongest links with optimism. In the first study, close to 51% of the variance on the optimism score could be explained by a model including: high self‐esteem, high capacity for leisure activities, low depression score, and low belief that one’s problems constitute an illness. In the second study, 45% of the variance was explained by a model including high self‐esteem, low depression, and high social support. The clinical implications of these results are discussed further, including the potential damage to optimism of promoting an illness model to clients.

Keywords:

• optimism
• hope
• early psychosis
• severe mental illness

Acknowledgements

Funding for this study was provided by the MIND Foundation (formerly Norma Calder), by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) for study 1 and by Fonds de recherche en santé – Conseils Québecois de la Recherche Sociale – Ministère de la Santé et Services sociaux for study 2. The principal author had benefited from a salary award from MSFHR, as well as from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. We would like to thank the research assistants who helped with this study, namely Alicia Spidel, Caroline Greaves as well as the participants and clinicians who graciously took part in both studies.