Self-perceived quality-of-life scale

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The self-perceived quality-of-life scale [1] [2] is a psychological assessment instrument which is based on a comprehensive theory of the self-perceived quality of life (SPQL) [3] and provides a multi-faceted measurement of health-related and non-health-related aspects of well-being. [4] The scale has become an instrument of choice for monitoring quality of life in some clinical populations, for example, it was adopted by the Positively Sound network for women living with HIV. [5]

Contents

The improvement of mental disorders may have an effect on multiple domains of an individual's life which could be captured only through a comprehensive measurement. For example, the treatment of a phobia may reduce fear (mental health index), which could lead to the improvement of social relations (social relations index) and, in turn, performance at work, resulting in an increase in salary (financial index). Hence, in order to detect all implications of a treatment (e.g., for a phobia), a comprehensive measurement across multiple domains of an individual's life is needed. The SPQL scale can provide such a comprehensive measurement.

The scale is designed in an electronic format. The software calculates scores automatically; this allows for advanced quantification methods. The automatic calculations and quantification methods allowed undertaking a comprehensive approach for assessing SPQL from multiple facets. A multi-facet approach, in turn, provided a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of mental health interventions (through pre- and post tests).

The scale emerged from synthesis of existing theories including: (a) subjective well-being, (b) developmental life-stages, (c) different categories of human needs, (d) quality of life, and (e) subjective evaluation processes. The scale consists of three axes: Subjective well-being, positive and negative affect, and fulfillment of needs. See a model diagram below.

The scale can (a) identify possible side effects of psychiatric or psychological interventions which could occur in multiple domains of an individual's life, (b) detect the occurrence of relapses, (c) assist in evaluating the progress of recovery, (d) measure the effects of various non-normative positive and negative events (e.g., divorce, promotion at work, becoming a parent) on an individual's life as a whole and trace the course of their development, (e) evaluate an individual's SPQL throughout the lifespan, (f) predict depression, anxiety, and mood, and (g) assess the effectiveness of interventions intended to enhance well-being and improve quality of life on an individual level.

This scale could be used by individual mental health professionals to evaluate the progress of treatment. This is useful for clients as well because they themselves are able to compare their initial scores with scores after intervention. Because the scale is available online, clients are able to complete the questionnaire outside of the therapy sessions. The scale also could be used in medical settings to assess how medical treatment affects a patient's life overall and in specific aspects over time, as well as allow detecting psychological side effects. The scale could be of use to insurers because it would help in evaluating the effectiveness of mental health interventions.

Theory

SPQL model. Spql.jpg
SPQL model.

It is safe to postulate that all people want to have a good life. Although the meaning of “a good life” may vary from culture to culture and from individual to individual, this meaning revolves around the same aspects of life across cultures. What actually varies between cultures and individuals is the availability of certain aspects of a good life, the subjective significance people assign to these aspects, and the way people evaluate these aspects of a good life.

Everything we do or do not do, wish or do not wish, and have or do not have has an explicit or an implicit relevance to how good or not good we perceive our lives to be. Because the preference for a good life over a bad life underlies all facets of our lives, understanding what constitutes and influences a good life on an individual level has a significant value for all people.

During the past several decades researchers investigated the concept of “the good life” based on three theoretical approaches:

  1. Focusing on quality of life (QOL) on a population and on individual levels by considering objective and/or subjective factors present or absent in people's lives; [6] [7]
  2. Focusing on subjective well-being (SWB) by considering an individual's level of overall happiness and life satisfaction; [8] [9] [10] [ pages needed ] and
  3. Focusing on an individual's level of functionality across social, psychological, and health factors. [11] [12] [13]

The comprehensive scale of the good life, the Self-Perceived Quality of Life (SPQL) scale, overcame the limitations of prior approaches by integrating measurements of SWB, QOL, and functionality on an individual level, and by utilizing innovative quantification methods. [14] [15] [ page needed ] The scale focused on how individuals evaluate their lives and compare these measurements with the average good life of others. The SPQL scale includes well-being, emotions, and physical and mental health indices. The SPQL scale has implications for evaluating the effectiveness of a wide range of interventions intended to improve mental health and well-being.

Conceptual model

The SPQL construct consists of three axes, each compounded from several variables:

Subjective well-being (SWB)
Baseline average of overall happiness/unhappiness and transient deviations, which are measures of frequency and intensity of nonnormative transient experiences of happiness/unhappiness.
Subjective affective experiences (SAE)
Average of overall positive and negative affect.
Fulfillment of needs
A product of strength and fulfillment of a wide range of needs and preferences.

Because fluctuations within SPQL are likely to occur over time, a single-occasion measurement will not provide a comprehensive assessment. [16] [17] In order to capture a more comprehensive picture of SPQL, the SWB variable (axis) was measured retrospectively throughout three major life stages of adult human development: Early-adulthood, mid-adulthood, and late-adulthood (see SPQL model diagram).

Transitions between life stages

Example lifespan curve of a 69-year-old person. LifespanFig2.jpg
Example lifespan curve of a 69-year-old person.

As people approach a life stage in their development, they face developmental tasks that they need to master in order for the transition to the next life stage to be successful. [18] [19] The cycle of transition from one life stage to another is marked by three phases:

  1. Mastering or failing a task;
  2. Consequential reevaluation of life circumstances, values, and self-concept; and
  3. Adjustment and adaptation to new values and circumstances.

To a lesser degree, cycles of transitions occur continually within major life stages on annual and even on daily bases.

A curve of SWB throughout the lifespan can reflect the experience of an individual's good life. Ideally, all three SPQL axes should be evaluated for each life stage. However, this would make a questionnaire too long. Although the SPQL scale measures only one SPQL axis (SWB) for each life stage, the developed theoretical framework discusses the evaluation of all three SPQL axes throughout the major life stages. Thus, the framework can support the development of a next version of the scale that would accomplish this goal. Future research could explore possibilities for reducing the number of the evaluated scale items and include questions that will evaluate all three SPQL axes throughout the major life stages.

Axes

Participants' responses on the inventories for each of the three SPQL axes (see Appendixes) provided the data for the psychometric validation of the scale and for the quantitative analyses that allowed measuring the good life. The theoretical framework for the first two axes was based on the existing theories of SWB, positive affect and negative affect, and mood. [9] [20] [10] [ page needed ] [21] The theoretical framework for the third axis was based on theories that conceptually differentiate between different categories of needs. [22] [23] Different categories of needs, in turn, are sorted into four general categories of needs composing the third axis. The measurement of an individual's level of functionality across social, psychological, and health factors was integrated in the third axis. This integration was accomplished through evaluating the strength and fulfillment of an individual's needs for optimal functioning across these factors.

Axis I: subjective well-being

The subjective well-being (SWB) baseline is maintained by psychological and biological homeostasis. [24] [25] Measurement of overall happiness determined the SWB baseline. A higher SWB baseline indicates a higher SPQL. People who have experienced more positive and less negative intense experiences during their lives (i.e., transient deviations), have a higher SPQL. Intense experiences were assessed through measuring the frequency and intensity of nonnormative transient subjective experiences of happiness/unhappiness that deviate from the SWB baseline throughout time.

Axis II: subjective affective experiences

People who have experienced more positive and less negative subjective affective experiences (SAE) during their lives (i.e., transient deviations), have a higher SPQL. The average of positive and negative SAE was used to measure overall SAE.

Axis III: fulfillment of needs

Individuals with the same score on SWB can differ in their evaluations of standards of living even if their objective life circumstances are alike. Accordingly, their self-perceived QOL may vary. Hence, in order to capture a more accurate measurement of SPQL, the strength and degree of fulfillment of a wide range of human needs and preferences for life circumstances was evaluated. However, felt needs are not the only kind of needs that a person may have. [22] If a need is satisfied it may not be felt as intensely as an unsatisfied need of lesser importance in terms of overall happiness. Thus, the strength with which a need is felt at a certain point in time does not necessarily indicate that it makes a greater contribution to the overall SPQL than other needs, which are felt less intensely or unfelt at all at that point in time because they are satisfied. Hence, the strength of individual preferences and needs was evaluated not only through questions such as “how important is fulfillment of this need to your overall happiness?” but also with questions such as “if this need were unfulfilled, how would it affect your overall happiness?”

Conceptual model for axis III fulfillment of needs. In order to measure fulfillment of needs, a broad range of human needs was sorted into four conceptually distinct categories that are (a) contingent on corresponding stages of cognitive and moral development, [26] [27] (b) constitute major components of self-concept, [28] and (c) correspond to the neural activity in different clusters of anatomical brain regions. [29] [30] Because sometimes the same anatomical brain regions are involved in different ways in neural activity associated with the four categories of needs, implicated brain regions will be distinguished based on their dominance in related processes, and based on the chronological maturation of the dominant regions.

Four categories of needs on axis III

Categories of needs by self-concept, cognitive development, moral development, and corresponding brain regions
Categories of needsComponents of the self-concept Cognitive development
(Piaget)		 Moral development
(Kohlberg)		Corresponding anatomical brain regions
DominantSupplementary
Instinctual needsInstinctual self-conceptPrenatal through SensorimotorPreconventional Brainstem: Lower functions Limbic system
amygdala
Self-centered emotional needsSelf-centered emotional self-conceptSensorimotor through Early Formal OperationalPreconventional through ConventionalLimbic system,
amygdala		 Frontal lobes;
Cortical association zones
Humanistic & spiritual emotional needsHumanistic & spiritual emotional self-conceptEarly Formal operational through Formal OperationalConventional through PostconventionalFrontal lobes;
Cortical association zones		Limbic system
amygdala
Cognitive needsCognitive self-conceptFormal operational through Postformal OperationalPostconventionalFrontal lobesCortical association zones;
Limbic system
amygdala
  1. Instinctual needs include (a) sensory stimulation needs that became linked with positive or negative affect without involvement of cognitive evaluations; (b) physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sex; and (c) other physiological needs, such as those related to digestion, fluid balance, body temperature, and blood pressure, which could elicit positive or negative affect depending on whether the needs are met.
  2. Self-centered emotional needs include (a) needs for safety and security (e.g., financial stability, home), love and belonging (e.g., affectionate relationships, sense of community), esteem (e.g., recognition, confidence); (b) ego-centered self-conscious needs (underpinned by self-conscious emotions, that is, emotions which require self-conscious awareness and evaluations), such as pride and honor (e.g., from personal accomplishments vs. nurturing), and guilt and embarrassment (with a focus on how one's status has been affected vs. focusing on how others have been affected); and (c) spiritual/religious needs motivated by ego inflation or belonging emotional needs.
  3. Humanistic and spiritual emotional needs include (a) a higher order of self-conscious altruistic needs that are not self-centered, such as pride and honor (e.g., from nurturing vs. from personal accomplishments), and guilt and embarrassment (with a focus on how others have been affected vs. focusing on how one's status has been affected); (b) humanistic, self-actualization needs, characterized by a desire to fulfill one's potential, which are not ego-centered (e.g., desiring truth over dishonesty); and (c) spiritual/religious needs which are not motivated by ego inflation or belonging emotional needs.
  4. Cognitive needs include needs for harmony, organization, and coherence in (a) aesthetics (e.g., art, architecture, poetry, and music) and (b) intellect (sciences, information, and skills).

Measuring axis III fulfillment of needs

Two dimensions of motivational units: strength and fulfillment. Fig2spql.jpg
Two dimensions of motivational units: strength and fulfillment.

Because according to the SPQL theory an individual's motivations ensue from the idiosyncratic cluster of the four categories of needs, these four categories are proposed to compound an individual's motivational framework (MF). In the following discussion, disparate preferences and needs will be referred to as motivational units (MU). Motivational units have two dimensions, importance of MU to the SPQL (strength) and the degree of fulfillment. The strength of a motivational unit (MU) was determined by evaluating the capacity for the fulfillment or unfulfillment of the MU to skew the SWB baseline.

See also

Related Research Articles

Quality of life (QOL), according to Britannica, is the degree to which an individual is healthy, comfortable, and able to participate in or enjoy life events. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines QOL as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns". Standard indicators of the quality of life include wealth, employment, the environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation and leisure time, social belonging, religious beliefs, safety, security and freedom. QOL has a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, politics and employment. Health related QOL (HRQOL) is an evaluation of QOL and its relationship with health.

Happiness Mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by pleasant emotions

The term happiness is used in the context of mental or emotional states, including positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. It is also used in the context of life satisfaction, subjective well-being, eudaimonia, flourishing and well-being.

Positive psychology Approach of psychological scientific study

Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living, focusing on both individual and societal well-being. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions...it aims to improve quality of life." It is a field of study that has been growing steadily throughout the years as individuals and researchers look for common ground on better well-being.

The economics of happiness or happiness economics is the theoretical, qualitative and quantitative study of happiness and quality of life, including positive and negative affects, well-being, life satisfaction and related concepts – typically tying economics more closely than usual with other social sciences, like sociology and psychology, as well as physical health. It typically treats subjective happiness-related measures, as well as more objective quality of life indices, rather than wealth, income or profit, as something to be maximized.

Self-acceptance is acceptance of self.

"Leisure refers to activities that a person voluntarily engages in when they are free from any work, social or familial responsibilities." Leisure satisfaction is the positive perceptions or feelings that an individual forms, elicits and gains as a result of engaging in leisure activities and choices. What can contribute to leisure satisfaction is to what degree an individual is currently satisfied with their leisure experiences and activities. An individual might attain positive feelings of contentment and happiness that result from the satisfaction of needs. Participation in leisure activities and leisure satisfaction are inextricably linked to an individual's health. Caldwell (2005) suspects that leisure activities may be associated with a number of defensive traits that enhance a person's resiliency to negative life experiences. Some aspects of leisure activities that can act as protective factors include: "[the activity] being personally meaningful, intrinsically interesting and/or challenging; offering social support and friendships; contributing to a sense of competence and/or self efficacy; offering a sense of personal control, choice and self-determination; and being relaxing and/or distracting the individual from negative life events." Leisure activities, although ranging in types, have also proven to be beneficial to health cross-culturally.

Quality of working life (QWL) describes a person's broader employment-related experience. Various authors and researchers have proposed models of quality of working life – also referred to as quality of worklife – which include a wide range of factors, sometimes classified as "motivator factors" which if present can make the job experience a positive one, and "hygiene factors" which if lacking are more associated with dissatisfaction. A number of rating scales have been developed aiming to measure overall quality of working life or certain aspects thereof. Some publications have drawn attention to the importance of QWL for both employees and employers, and also for national economic performance.

Flourishing Positive psychology

Flourishing is "when people experience positive emotions, positive psychological functioning and positive social functioning, most of the time," living "within an optimal range of human functioning." It is a descriptor and measure of positive mental health and overall life well-being, and includes multiple components and concepts, such as cultivating strengths, subjective well-being, "goodness, generativity, growth, and resilience." Flourishing is the opposite of both pathology and languishing, which are described as living a life that feels hollow and empty. It is a central concept in positive psychology, developed by Corey Keyes and Barbara Fredrickson.

Positive affectivity (PA) is a human characteristic that describes how much people experience positive affects ; and as a consequence how they interact with others and with their surroundings.

Edward Francis Diener was an American psychologist, professor, and author. Diener was a professor of psychology at the University of Utah and the University of Virginia, and Joseph R. Smiley Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois, as well as a senior scientist for the Gallup Organization. He is noted for his research over the past thirty years on happiness, including work on temperament and personality influences on well-being, theories of well-being, income and well-being, cultural influences on well-being, and the measurement of well-being. As shown on Google Scholar as of April 2021, Diener's publications have been cited over 257,000 times.

Well-being What is intrinsically good for someone

Well-being, also known as wellness, prudential value or quality of life, refers to what is intrinsically valuable relative to someone. So the well-being of a person is what is ultimately good for this person, what is in the self-interest of this person. Well-being can refer to both positive and negative well-being. In its positive sense, it is sometimes contrasted with ill-being as its opposite. The term "subjective well-being" denotes how people experience and evaluate their lives, usually measured in relation to self-reported well-being obtained through questionnaires. Sometimes different types of well-being are distinguished, like mental well-being, physical well-being, economic wellbeing or emotional well-being. The different forms of well-being are often closely interlinked. For example, improved physical well-being is associated with improved emotional well-being. As another example, better economic well-being tends to be associated with better emotional well-being even in adverse situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Well-being plays a central role in ethics since what we ought to do depends, at least to some degree, on what would make someone's life go better or worse. According to welfarism, there are no other values besides well-being.

Extraversion and introversion Personality trait

The traits of extraversion and introversion are a central dimension in some human personality theories. The terms introversion and extraversion were introduced into psychology by Carl Jung, although both the popular understanding and current psychological usage vary. Extraversion tends to be manifested in outgoing, talkative, energetic behavior, whereas introversion is manifested in more reflective and reserved behavior. Jung defined introversion as an "attitude-type characterised by orientation in life through subjective psychic contents", and extraversion as "an attitude-type characterised by concentration of interest on the external object".

Meta-mood is a term used by psychologists to refer to an individual's awareness of their emotions. The term was first utilized by John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey who believed the experience of mood involved "direct" and "indirect" components. While the direct level refers to the simple appearance of mood - happiness, fear, anger, sadness, and surprise, the indirect level, or the meta-mood experience, does not solely consist of the emotions experienced by an individual in the moment. Rather, it is a reflective state which involves additional thoughts and feelings about the mood itself. "I shouldn’t feel this way" or "I am thinking of ways to improve my mood" are examples of reflective thoughts during a meta-mood experience.

In positive psychology, a meaningful life is a construct having to do with the purpose, significance, fulfillment, and satisfaction of life. While specific theories vary, there are two common aspects: a global schema to understand one's life and the belief that life itself is meaningful. Meaning can be defined as the connection linking two presumably independent entities together; a meaningful life links the biological reality of life to a symbolic interpretation or meaning. Those possessing a sense of meaning are generally found to be happier, to have lower levels of negative emotions, and to have lower risk of mental illness.

Life satisfaction (LS) is the way in which people show their emotions, feelings (moods) and how they feel about their directions and options for the future. It is a measure of well-being assessed in terms of mood, satisfaction with relationships, achieved goals, self-concepts, and self-perceived ability to cope with one's daily life. Life satisfaction involves a favorable attitude towards one's life—rather than an assessment of current feelings. Life satisfaction has been measured in relation to economic standing, degree of education, experiences, residence, among many other topics.

Emotional well-being refers to the emotional quality of an individual's experiences. Emotional well-being is influenced by a variety of psychological, demographic, economic, and situational factors. For example, the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak lowered emotional well-being by 74% in China according to one study. Multiple factors may interact

Allocentrism is a collectivistic personality attribute whereby people center their attention and actions on other people rather than themselves. It is a psychological dimension which corresponds to the general cultural dimension of collectivism. In fact, allocentrics "believe, feel, and act very much like collectivists do around the world." Allocentric people tend to be interdependent, define themselves in terms of the group that they are part of, and behave according to that group's cultural norms. They tend to have a sense of duty and share beliefs with other allocentrics among their in-group. Allocentric people appear to see themselves as an extension of their in-group and allow their own goals to be subsumed by the in-group's goals. Additionally, allocentrism has been defined as giving priority to the collective self over the private self, particularly if these two selves happen to come into conflict.

Subjective well-being Self-reported measure of well-being

Subjective well-being (SWB) is a self-reported measure of well-being, typically obtained by questionnaire.

The Six-factor Model of Psychological Well-being is a theory developed by Carol Ryff which determines six factors which contribute to an individual's psychological well-being, contentment, and happiness. Psychological well-being consists of positive relationships with others, personal mastery, autonomy, a feeling of purpose and meaning in life, and personal growth and development. Psychological well-being is attained by achieving a state of balance affected by both challenging and rewarding life events.

Well-being is a topic studied in psychology, especially positive psychology. Related concepts are eudaimonia, happiness, flourishing, quality of life, contentment, and meaningful life.

References

  1. ↑ Trakhtenberg, E. C. (2008, August). Self-perceived quality of life scale: Theoretical framework and development. Presentation at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Boston, Massachusetts.
  2. ↑ Trakhtenberg, E. C. (2009). What constitutes happiness? Self-perceived quality of life scale: Theoretical framework and development. Saarbrücken, Germany: VDM. https://www.amazon.com/constitutes-happiness-Self-perceived-quality-scale/dp/3639207165
  3. ↑ Trakhtenberg, E. C. (2007, August). Enhancing the quality rather than intensity of subjective well-being. Presentation at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, California.
  4. ↑ Trakhtenberg, E. C. (2008). Self-perceived quality of life scale: Theoretical framework and development (Doctoral dissertation, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Palo Alto, CA). Dissertation Abstracts International, 69 (3).
  5. ↑ http://positivelysound.org/aboutus.htm.
  6. ↑ Power, M.J. (2004). "Quality of life". In Lopez, S.J.; Snyder, C.R. (eds.). Positive psychological assessment: A handbook of models and measures. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. pp. 427–439.[ ISBN missing ]
  7. ↑ World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) Group (1995). "World Health Organization quality of life assessment (WHOQOL): Position paper from the World Health Organization". Social Science and Medicine. 41 (10): 1403–1409. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(95)00112-k. PMID   8560308.
  8. ↑ Corey, L.M.; Keyes, C.L.M.; Magyar-Moe, J.L. (2004). "The measurement and utility of adult subjective well-being". In Lopez, S.J.; Snyder, C.R. (eds.). Positive psychological assessment: A handbook of models and measures. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. pp. 411–425.[ ISBN missing ]
  9. 1 2 Diener, E.; Suh, E.M.; Lucas, R.E.; Smith, H.E. (1999). "Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress". Psychological Bulletin. 125 (2): 276–302. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.125.2.276.
  10. 1 2 Watson, D. (2000). Mood and temperament. New York: Guilford Press.[ ISBN missing ]
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  12. ↑ Ryff, C.D. (1989). "Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 57 (6): 1069–1081. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069.
  13. ↑ Ware & Sherbourne, 1992.[ full citation needed ]
  14. ↑ Hagerty, M.; Cummins, R.; Ferriss, A.; Land, K.; Michalos, A.; Peterson, M.; et al. (2001). "Quality of life indexes for national policy: Review and agenda for research". Bulletin of Sociological Methodology. 71: 58–78. doi:10.1177/075910630107100104. S2CID   147171373.
  15. ↑ Rapley, M. (2003). Quality of life research: A critical introduction. London: Sage.[ ISBN missing ]
  16. ↑ Diener, 2000.[ full citation needed ]
  17. ↑ Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005.[ full citation needed ]
  18. ↑ Erikson, 1968.[ full citation needed ]
  19. ↑ Harter, 1998, 1999.[ full citation needed ]
  20. ↑ Fredrickson, 1998.[ full citation needed ]
  21. ↑ Watson & Clark, 1994.[ full citation needed ]
  22. 1 2 Maslow, 1970.[ full citation needed ]
  23. ↑ Panksepp, 2000.[ full citation needed ]
  24. ↑ Brickman & Campbell, 1971.[ full citation needed ]
  25. ↑ Cummins & Lau, 2004.[ full citation needed ]
  26. ↑ Kohlberg, Levine, & Hewer, 1983.[ full citation needed ]
  27. ↑ Piaget, 1952.[ full citation needed ]
  28. ↑ Marcia, 1980.[ full citation needed ]
  29. ↑ Berridge, 2004.[ full citation needed ]
  30. ↑ Lewis, 2000a.[ full citation needed ]
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