Abstract

VILHENA, Estela et al. Psychological factors as predictors of adjustment to life of people with chronic diseases. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2014, vol.15, n.1, pp.219-232. ISSN 1645-0086.  https://doi.org/10.15309/14psd150118.

Chronic diseases are long-lived, slow progression and induce changes in the lives of people, who are confronted with a set of factors that have a negative impact on their quality of life (QoL). The QoL is a concept involving essential components of human quality: physical, psychological, social, cultural and spiritual. After diagnosis and with stable disease, patients try to find new ways to deal with their new condition. This study aimed to identify predictive psychosocial factors (optimism, positive and negative affect, treatment adherence, social support and spirituality) QoL (general well-being, physical health, mental health) and subjective well-being (SWB) in people with chronic diseases. The sample of 774 subjects [30 % diabetes, 27.1 % cancer, 17.2 % diabetes, 12 % epilepsy, 11.5 % multiple sclerosis and 2.2 % gravis, 70.5 % female, age M(SD)=42.9(11.6), education M(SD)=9.6(4.7) years diagnosed M(SD)=12.8(9.7), disease classification M(SD)=6.6(2.8)], was recruited from the Portuguese central hospitals. Applying Structural Equation Modeling and adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical variables, it was found that more optimistic people, more active and with a better treatment adherence, have better overall well-being, better mental health and better subjective well-being; better treatment adherence contributes to better physical health, better social support reflected in better mental health, people with more spirituality have better physical health and better mental health. These findings contribute to the development of a therapy that can help to better adaptation of treatment protocols to meet the needs of patients.

Keywords : Adjustment; Chrons Disease; Psychosocial factors; Subjective well-being; Quaity of Life.

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