Reflections on genes and sustainable change: toward a trait and state conceptualization of response shift

This article discusses recent advances in research on adaptation, positive psychology, and genetics, and how these advances apply to response shift in health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) research.

As these advances shed new light on the extent to which HRQOL is changeable or fixed, we explored the extent to which a trait and state distinction is informative for response shift research.

Direct and moderated response shift effects are discussed in terms of the trait and state distinction to enable hypothesis generation for future research.

Implications for study design and data-analytic methods, as well as clinical practice are discussed.