Do They Know How Happy They Are? On the Value of Self-Rated Happiness of People With a Mental Disorder

Abstract

Quality of life is often measured using questions about happiness. This method presumes that respondents are able to judge their life. Research suggest that this is typically the case, but this is not to say that everybody can. In that context one may doubt whether people with a mental disorder can judge their life adequately. Happiness can be rejected as a indicator for quality of life for people with mental disorders, because of affective and cognitive distortions. We therefore checked the validity of happiness and satisfaction measures in the context of mental disorders. Psychiatric diagnoses were determined at baseline and at 12 and 36 months follow-up in a representative sample (N = 7,076) of the Dutch population, using a full Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Respondents indicated how often they had felt happy during the past month and how satisfied they were with their lives in general. The measurements have a satisfactory concurrent, ecological and predictive validity for people with mental disorders. Though the level of happiness is lower among the people with mental disorders, conditions for happiness and contentment appear to be similar.

A Felicidade Em Pessoas Com Doença Mental: Uma Revisão Integrativa Da Literatura

“…Pessoas com a mesma doença não percecionam felicidade da mesma maneira (Buckland et al, 2014). Para alguns autores, a felicidade não é um bom indicador para a qualidade de vida das pessoas com doença mental porque, o seu humor tende a refletir estados psicológicos alterados e não, circunstâncias objetivas das suas vidas, embora, as dúvidas, sobre se as pessoas conseguem julgar as suas vidas adequadamente, pela distorção possível ao nível afetivo e cognitivo, se estendam à população em geral, pois não se investigam estas perceções quando as pessoas estão em estado psicótico (Bergsma, Veenhoven, Have, & de Graaf, 2011). Por outro lado, na população em geral, uma percentagem elevada dos que não se sentem felizes nos últimos dias, têm psicopatologia (Bergsma & Veenhoven, 2011a;Bergsma et al, 2011),ou seja, é um indicador importante em qualquer população.…”

The role of resources in the face of psychopathology

“…In contrast, several studies indicate that self‐reports of patients with schizophrenia are valid in different domains of personality and mood and are not affected by the severity of psychotic symptoms, cognitive deficits, or antipsychotic medication (Bell, Fiszdon, Richardson, Lysaker, & Bryson, ; Liraud, Droulout, Parrot, & Verdoux, ; Voruganti, Heslegrave, Awad, & Seeman, ). In the case of patients with depression, the effect of psychopathology on the validity of self‐ratings of personality traits, temperament, and interpersonal problems seems to be minimal and not influenced by mistaken beliefs (Bergsma, Veenhoven, ten Have, & de Graaf, ; Ready & Clark, ). In the present study, we cannot judge the extent to which the statements of patients with schizophrenia and depression were valid and whether or not they had a positivity or negativity bias, respectively.…”

Concepts and Theories of Happiness of Population in Urban Neighbourhoods

“…Various studies have been carried out at the national and city levels (Bartolini et al, 2013;Florida et al, 2013;Frey and Stutzer, 2013;Tandoc and Takashi, 2013). However, most studies were not focused on the living environment or neighbourhood (Bergsma et al, 2010;Moradi et al, 2013;Snoep, 2008;Spruk & Keseljevic, 2014). Additionally, the application of happiness theory for the Malaysian urban neighbourhood environment is yet undecided.…”