The role of resources in the face of psychopathology

Abstract

Objectives The current study compared resource realization and psychological distress in patients with different psychiatric diagnoses and healthy individuals and examined the moderating effect of intrapersonal resources (personal strengths) and interpersonal resources (relationships) on the association between incongruence (unsatisfactory realization of personal goals) and psychological distress. Method In total, 218 participants (45.87% female, mean age = 39.83 years) completed standardized questionnaires at one measurement point. Results Healthy individuals (n = 56) reported the most resources, followed by patients with psychotic (n = 53), substance use (n = 53), and depressive disorders (n = 56). While patients with psychotic disorders benefited from intra‐ and interpersonal resources, patients with depression only benefitted from intrapersonal resources. Patients with substance use disorders did not benefit from resources at all. Conclusions Depending on the diagnosis, patients evaluated their level of resources differently and benefitted in different ways. The results suggest that within psychotherapy, it might be useful to strengthen resources, especially for patients with depressive and substance use disorders.

Patients' self‐perceived strengths increase during treatment and predict outcome in outpatient cognitive behavioral therapy

“…Patients in the strengths‐oriented module profited significantly more ( d = 0.69, p = 0.03). Concurrently, strengths seem to be less accessible for patients: two recent studies showed that clinical samples before treatment report significantly lower levels of currently perceived strengths compared to healthy individuals (Goldbach et al, 2019; Victor et al, 2019).…”

Multidimensional assessment of strengths and their association with mental health in psychotherapy patients at the beginning of treatment

“…The independence of WIRF subscales also provide practical implications: Although recent studies indicated that patients perceive fewer current strengths than healthy individuals, this does not mean that strengths to cope with their problems do not exist ( Goldbach et al, 2020 ; Victor et al, 2019 ). The results of this study highlight that it makes sense for therapists to actively address existing strengths to further foster mental health.…”

“…High levels of psychopathology appear to be associated with negativity biases, which may be one reason why patients have less access to their own strengths that are present despite their distress ( Stanton & Watson, 2014 ; Trompetter et al, 2017 ). With respect to this, two studies showed that both psychiatric inpatients and psychotherapy outpatients report significantly lower levels of self-perceived strengths compared to healthy individuals with large effect sizes for this difference ( Goldbach et al, 2020 ; Victor et al, 2019 ). Most available instruments assess strengths over all situations a person experiences (trans-situational).…”

A mental imagery micro-intervention to increase positive affect in outpatient CBT sessions (PACIfIC): Study protocol of a randomized controlled implementation trial

“…optimism, social support; Taylor & Broffman, 2011 ). Previous findings indicated moderate to high correlations between different constructs and the possibility to assess a generic perception of inherent resources ( Goldbach et al, 2020 ; Taylor & Broffman, 2011 ; Victor et al, 2019 ). Psychological resilience was defined as the potential to successfully adapt to adversities and stressors ( Davydov et al, 2010 ).…”