Previous research has shown that positive affect (PA) is associated with the coping strategies of "searching for and finding positive meaning." The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the coping strategy of "finding positive meaning" and PA using an intervention method. Additionally, inasmuch as previous research has revealed that PA is associated with physical and mental health status, the current study measured health status in order to carry out a preliminary test as to whether PA increased by the intervention can also improve health. Participants in the intervention group (Japanese graduate students; 13 men and 16 women) reported the most stressful event during the past 3 days and its positive meaning, while those in the control group (13 men and 15 women) reported the most stressful event alone. Both groups reported twice a week for 5 successive weeks using e-mails. Three questionnaires, the Japanese version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule scales for measuring positive and negative affects (NA), the situational version of the General Coping Questionnaire for coping strategies, and the Japanese version of the General Health Questionnaire for health status, were administered to all participants just before the start of the intervention, after the conclusion of the intervention, and at the 5-week follow-up session. Results revealed that the "finding positive meaning" coping strategy and PA were enhanced by the intervention in the follow-up for men and women with no changes in NA. For the health scales of the General Health Questionnaire, no significant group-related effects were observed. Thus, the intervention had no significant influence on NA or health status. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed along with a few limitations in this study.
In this paper, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children originally developed in 1999 by Laurent, et al. was adapted for use in Japan. In Study 1, a total of 763 children in Grades 4 to 6 completed this Schedule, and 103 of them completed it again about three months later. Principal factor analysis with promax rotation identified two factors, positive and negative affect, in the Japanese version, whose alphas (over .80) and test-retest correlations (over .50) were sufficient to indicate internal consistency and stability over time. In Study 2, a total of 328 children completed the Japanese version, the Depression Self-rating Scale for Children, and the Trait Form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. Intercorrelations showed convergent and discriminant validity using these self-report measures of depression and anxiety. Overall these data support the reliability and validity of this Japanese version.
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