[Wisdom Attitudes and Coping In Life of Psychosomatic Patients]

Wisdom is a capacity, which is needed in coping with difficult problems in life. It can be understood as a special type of problem solving skill. It is getting growing recognition in psychology in general, and in psychotherapy and clinical practice in particular. Goal of the present study is to assess wisdom competencies and their correlates in psychosomatic patients, using for the first time the 12-WD-scale.

The 12-WD-Scale covers 12 wisdom dimensions. As part of their routine intake assessment, 202 unselected inpatients of a department of psychosomatic medicine filled in the 12-WD-scale together with the differential life burden scale, the global belief in a just world scale and the posttraumatic embitterment scale. Additional patient and clinical data could be taken from the routine data.

Wisdom scores showed a normal distribution. The mean was in the positive range (4.50, SD=0.71). A factor analysis showed three factors (sobriety, serenity, modesty), explaining 53.7% of the total variance. There were positive correlations of the wisdom score with life satisfaction and age, negative correlations with beliefs in justice and embitterment, but not with formal education.

The results of the 12-WD-Scale show that psychosomatic patients appreciate wisdom attitudes and that this is associated with better coping in life. Wisdom competencies are an interesting field in psychotherapy when patients are burdened by difficult situations in life. The 12-WD-scale can provide helpful information in this regard.