Positive psychology in rehabilitation medicine: a brief report

The field of positive psychology has grown exponentially within the last decade. To date, however, there have been few empirical initiatives to clarify the constructs within positive psychology as they relate to rehabilitation medicine. Character strengths, and in particular resilience, following neurological trauma are clinically observable within rehabilitation settings, and greater knowledge of the way in which these factors relate to treatment variables may allow for enhanced treatment conceptualization and planning.

The goal of this study was to explore the relationships between positive psychology constructs (character strengths, resilience, and positive mood) and rehabilitation-related variables (perceptions of functional ability post-injury and beliefs about treatment) within a baseline data set, a six-month follow-up data set, and longitudinally across time points.

Pearson correlations and supplementary multiple regression analyses were conducted within and across these time points from a starting sample of thirty-nine individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) in an outpatient rehabilitation program.

Positive psychology constructs were related to rehabilitation-related variables within the baseline data set, within the follow-up data set, and longitudinally between baseline positive psychology variables and follow-up rehabilitation-related data.

These preliminary findings support relationships between character strengths, resilience, and positive mood states with perceptions of functional ability and expectations of treatment, respectively, which are primary factors in treatment success and quality of life outcomes in rehabilitation medicine settings. The results suggest the need for more research in this area, with an ultimate goal of incorporating positive psychology constructs into rehabilitation conceptualization and treatment planning.