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Influence of Dispositional Optimism on Ethically Salient Research Perspectives: A Pilot Study.

ABSTRACT: Research participants should be drawn as fairly as possible from the potential volunteer population. Underlying personality traits are underexplored as factors influencing research decision-making. Dispositional optimism, known to affect coping, physical health, and psychological well-being, has been minimally studied with respect to research-related attitudes. We conducted an exploratory, online survey with 151 individuals (with self-reported mental illness [n = 50], physical illness [n = 51], or neither [n = 50]) recruited via MTurk. We evaluated associations between dispositional optimism (assessed with the Life Orientation Test-Revised) and general research attitudes, perceived protectiveness of five research safeguards, and willingness to participate in research using safeguards. Strongly optimistic respondents expressed more positive research attitudes and perceived four safeguards as more positively influencing willingness to participate. Optimism was positively associated with expressed willingness to participate in clinical research. Our findings add to a limited literature on the influence of individual traits on ethically salient research perspectives.

SUBMITTER: Kim JP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9265192 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Influence of Dispositional Optimism on Ethically Salient Research Perspectives: A Pilot Study.

Kim Jane Paik JP Mondal Sangeeta S Tsungmey Tenzin T Ryan Katie K Dunn Laura B LB Roberts Laura Weiss LW

Ethics & human research 20220501 3

Research participants should be drawn as fairly as possible from the potential volunteer population. Underlying personality traits are underexplored as factors influencing research decision-making. Dispositional optimism, known to affect coping, physical health, and psychological well-being, has been minimally studied with respect to research-related attitudes. We conducted an exploratory, online survey with 151 individuals (with self-reported mental illness [n = 50], physical illness [n = 51], ...[more]

PMID: 35543260

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Project description:Higher levels of optimism have been linked with positive health behaviors, biological processes, and health conditions that are potentially protective against cognitive impairment in older adults. However, the association between optimism and cognitive impairment has not been directly investigated. We examined whether optimism is associated with incident cognitive impairment in older adults.Data are from the Health and Retirement Study. Optimism was measured by using the Life Orientation Test-R and cognitive impairment with a modified version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status derived from the Mini-Mental State Examination. Using multiple logistic regression models, we prospectively assessed whether optimism was associated with incident cognitive impairment in 4624 adults 65 years and older during a 4-year period.Among participants, 312 women and 190 men developed cognitive impairment during the 4-year follow-up. Higher optimism was associated with decreased risk of incident cognitive impairment. When adjusted for sociodemographic factors, each standard deviation increase in optimism was associated with reduced odds (odds ratio [OR] = 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.61-0.81) of becoming cognitively impaired. A dose-response relationship was observed. Compared with those with the lowest levels of optimism, people with moderate levels had somewhat reduced odds of cognitive impairment (OR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.59-1.03), whereas people with the highest levels had the lowest odds of cognitive impairment (OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.36-0.74). These associations remained after adjusting for health behaviors, biological factors, and psychological covariates that could either confound the association of interest or serve on the pathway.Optimism was prospectively associated with a reduced likelihood of becoming cognitively impaired. If these results are replicated, the data suggest that potentially modifiable aspects of positive psychological functioning such as optimism play an important role in maintaining cognitive functioning.

Project description:Dispositional optimism is a potentially modifiable factor and has been associated with multiple physical health outcomes, but its relationship with depression, especially later in life, remains unclear. In the Nurses´ Health Study (n = 33,483), we examined associations between dispositional optimism and depression risk in women aged 57-85 (mean = 69.9, SD = 6.8), with 4,051 cases of incident depression and 10 years of follow-up (2004-2014). We defined depression as either having a physician/clinician-diagnosed depression, or regularly using antidepressants, or the presence of severe depressive symptoms using validated self-reported scales. Age- and multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) across optimism quartiles and for a 1-standard deviation (SD) increment of the optimism score. In sensitivity analyses we explored more restrictive definitions of depression, potential mediators, and moderators. In multivariable-adjusted models, women with greater optimism (top vs. bottom quartile) had a 27% (95%CI = 19-34%) lower risk of depression. Every 1-SD increase in the optimism score was associated with a 15% (95%CI = 12-18%) lower depression risk. When applying a more restrictive definition for clinical depression, the association was considerably attenuated (every 1-SD increase in the optimism score was associated with a 6% (95%CI = 2-10%-) lower depression risk. Stratified analyses by baseline depressive symptoms, age, race, and birth region revealed comparable estimates, while mediators (emotional support, social network size, healthy lifestyle), when combined, explained approximately 10% of the optimism-depression association. As social and behavioral factors only explained a small proportion of the association, future research should investigate other potential pathways, such as coping strategies, that may relate optimism to depression risk.

Project description:ObjectiveTo test whether 2 conceptually overlapping constructs, dispositional optimism (generalized positive expectations) and optimistic bias (inaccurately low risk perceptions), may have different implications for smoking treatment engagement.MethodPredominantly Black, low-income Southern Community Cohort study smokers (n = 880) self-reported dispositional optimism and pessimism (Life Orientation Test-Revised subscales: 0 = neutral, 12 = high optimism/pessimism), comparative lung cancer risk (Low/Average/High), and information to calculate objective lung cancer risk (Low/Med/High). Perceived risk was categorized as accurate (perceived = objective), optimistically-biased (perceived < objective), or pessimistically-biased (perceived > objective). One-way ANOVAs tested associations between dispositional optimism/pessimism and perceived risk accuracy. Multivariable logistic regressions tested independent associations of optimism/pessimism and perceived risk accuracy with cessation motivation (Low/High), confidence (Low/High), and precision treatment attitudes (Favorable/Unfavorable), controlling for sociodemographics and nicotine dependence.ResultsMean dispositional optimism/pessimism scores were 8.41 (SD = 2.59) and 5.65 (SD = 3.02), respectively. Perceived lung cancer risk was 38% accurate, 27% optimistically-biased, and 35% pessimistically-biased. Accuracy was unrelated to dispositional optimism (F(2, 641) = 1.23, p = .29), though optimistically-biased (vs. pessimistically-biased) smokers had higher dispositional pessimism (F(2, 628) = 3.17, p = .043). Dispositional optimism was associated with higher confidence (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.71, 95% CI [1.42, 2.06], p < .001) and favorable precision treatment attitudes (AOR = 1.66, 95% CI [1.37, 2.01], p < .001). Optimistically-biased (vs. accurate) risk perception was associated with lower motivation (AOR = .64, 95% CI [.42, .98], p = .041) and less favorable precision treatment attitudes (AOR = .59, 95% CI [.38, .94], p = .029).ConclusionsDispositional optimism and lung cancer risk perception accuracy were unrelated. Dispositional optimism was associated with favorable engagement-related outcomes and optimistically-biased risk perception with unfavorable outcomes, reinforcing the distinctiveness of these constructs and their implications for smoking treatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

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Influence of Dispositional Optimism on Ethically Salient Research Perspectives: A Pilot Study.

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Influence of Dispositional Optimism on Ethically Salient Research Perspectives: A Pilot Study.

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