Inner Strength as Disclosed in Narratives of the Oldest Old

Nygren, Björn; Norberg, Astrid; Lundman, Berit

doi:10.1177/1049732307306922

Cited by 67 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Development of the scale was inspired by empirical research on various aspects of inner strength among old people (e.g. Aléx et al, 2006;Nygren et al, 2007;Santamäki Fischer et al, 2008) and on a meta-theoretical analysis that resulted in the identification of four dimensions of inner strength: firmness, creativity, connectedness, and flexibility, with an understanding that inner strength relies on the interaction of these dimensions (Lundman et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The total score ranges from 25 to 175, and the higher the score, the higher the degree of resilience. The scale was translated into Swedish and psychometrically tested by Nygren et al (2004) and Lundman et al (2007).…”

Section: Instruments For Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Inner strength has also been described as the ability to fight and the motivation to go on and to do better (Haile et al, 2002). Nygren et al (2007) found that making good choices (for oneself and for others) could be interpreted as one dimension of inner strength. Dingley and Roux (2003) identified five interrelated dimensions: drawing strength from the past, focusing on opportunities, being supported by others, knowing one's purpose, and nurturing one's spirit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development and psychometric properties of the Inner Strength Scale

Lundman

Viglund

Aléx

et al. 2011

International Journal of Nursing Studies

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Background: Four dimensions of inner strength were previously identified in a metatheoretical analysis: firmness, creativity, connectedness, and flexibility.Objective: The aim of this study was to develop an Inner Strength Scale (ISS) based on those four dimensions and to evaluate its psychometric properties.Method: An initial version of ISS was distributed for validation purpose with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Resilience Scale, and the Sense of coherence Scale. A convenience sample of 391 adults, aged 19 to 90 years participated. Principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used in the process of exploring, evaluating, and reducing the 63-item ISS to the 20-item ISS. Cronbach's alpha and test-retest were used to measure reliability.Results: CFA showed satisfactory goodness-of-fit for the 20-item ISS. The analysis supported a four-factor solution explaining 51% of the variance. Cronbach`s alpha on the 20-item ISS was 0.86, and the test-retest showed stability over time (r = 0.79). Conclusion:The ISS was found to be a valid and reliable instrument for capturing a multifaceted understanding of inner strength. Further tests of psychometric properties of the ISS will be performed in forthcoming studies. What this paper adds A new scale, the Inner Strength Scale, has been developed to estimate the four dimensions of firmness, creativity, connectedness, and flexibility. The Inner Strength Scale was found to have satisfactory validity and reliability. The Inner Strength Scale was found to be applicable to men and women of various ages.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Instruments For Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development and psychometric properties of the Inner Strength Scale

Lundman

Viglund

Aléx

et al. 2011

International Journal of Nursing Studies

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“…The findings from this review reveal the multidimensional nature of older peoples' experiences of living with cancer, throwing into sharp relief both the sources of suffering endured and the resourcefulness and resilience (Nygren, Norberg, & Lundman, 2007) older people bring to managing a changed life.…”

Section: Experiencing Cancer In Oldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiencing Cancer in Old Age: A Qualitative Systematic Review

2009

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Our purpose in this study was to find, report, and interpret the results of qualitative studies which investigated the experiences of older people living with cancer. We conducted systematic literature searches, identified and extracted the findings from 11 studies, and analyzed them systematically. We interpreted the findings to suggest that living with cancer in old age is to live in a perpetual state of ambiguity. The experience is characterized by a sense of disintegration, diminished identity, suffering, and social retraction. These experiences are balanced by sources of comfort and strength found within the self and among diverse relationships. The results of our study illuminate the complex, multidimensional character of living with cancer in old age. They show that older people living with cancer are resilient as well as vulnerable. We argue for changes in attitudes and behavior that will enable health care professionals to foster older peoples' resilience. In this article we report the purpose, design, conduct, and findings of a systematic search and review of qualitative research literature that investigated older peoples' experiences of living with cancer.Cancer has its highest incidence in older populations. There is extensive literature reporting the incidence and prevalence of cancers in older age groups, along with approaches to treatment and the effects and management of comorbidity (Bennahum, Forman, Vellas, & Albarede, 1997;Extermann, Overcash, Lyman, Parr, & Balducci, 1998;Satariano & Silliman, 2003). However, the subjective perceptions of older individuals undergoing the experience of cancer remain largely unknown. This review provides a basis for developing clinical health services that are based on older peoples' perceived and expressed needs.To make the most effective use of research findings, approaches to synthesizing the results of many studies on the same topic have increasingly found favor and, in quantitative research, sophisticated methods of meta-analysis have been developed which aim to produce a definitive set of findings from a wide range of work. In qualitative research, also, such an approach is deemed to be an essential part of increasing the usefulness and relevance of findings (Sandelowski, Docherty, & Emden, 1997), though the methodology is at an earlier stage of development (Dixon-Woods, Booth, & Sutton, 2007;Popay & Roën, 2003) and there has been debate about whether the approach is epistemologically appropriate (Campbell et al., 2003;McDermott, Graham, & Hamilton, 2004;Sandelowski et al., 1997). This approach is termed variously "metastudy," "metasynthesis," and "research integration." It is an approach to the literature that is more than a critical review: it is an attempt to integrate findings across studies to arrive at new understandings.Our reading of methodological literature in the field of qualitative reviewing and synthesis (Barbour, 2001;Booth, 2001;Britten et al., 2002;Campbell et al., 2003;Noblit & Hare, 1988;Paterson, Thorne, Canam, & Jillings, 2001...

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“…Acceptance may represent emotional equanimity that comes with the letting go of a struggle to regain what is lost or being taken away (Prigerson & Maciejewski, 2008). One study using a phenomenological hermeneutical method to analyse interviews from persons 85 to 90 years old found that an important subtheme was 'feeling an inner peace (that) comes from an acceptance of oneself as one is, and one's life as it has been and as it is' (Nygren, Norberg, & Lundman, 2007.The third possibility is that mindfulness allows for 'a deep, penetrative non-conceptual seeing into the nature of mind and world ' (Kabat-Zinn, 2003, p146), to learn and to recognize the impermanent nature of all phenomena experientially and phenomenologically, which is a fundamental insight of Buddhism (Nanamoli & Bodhi, 1995). Through mindfully attending to negative phenomena, such as self-critical thinking (such as 'my life is worthless'), one learns that such emotions and thoughts need not be feared or avoided and that they eventually pass away (Segal et al, 2002).…”

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confidence: 99%

Can Inner Peace be Improved by Mindfulness Training: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Liu

Wang

et al. 2013

Stress and Health

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This article reports a randomized controlled trial to investigate whether mindfulness training can successfully improve inner peace in participants with no known mental disorder. Fifty-seven participants were randomized to either mindfulness training (n = 29) or wait-list control (n = 28). The experience sampling method was used to measure the fleeting momentary experience of inner peace in participants. In addition, we used an experimental approach to assessing ability to focus attention: the Meditation Breath Attention Score, as well as the self-report Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Compared with the wait-list control group, mindfulness training led to an increase in scores of inner peace, Meditation Breath Attention Score and FFMQ, using analysis of repeated measures analysis of variance. Change in inner peace was not, however, mediated by changes in self-rated mindfulness (FFMQ) nor by increased attentional focus. The findings provide first evidence suggesting that using mindfulness training improves the participants' inner peace. The focus here was on the immediate effects and future studies need to use follow-up. © 2013 The Authors. Stress and Health published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Mindfulness has been called the 'heart' of Buddhist meditation (Kabat-Zinn, 2003;Thera, 1962), an essential tool to help identify the inner causes of suffering, the possibility of freedom from suffering and the means to realize such freedom (Wallace & Shapiro, 2006). Over the past 30 years, mindfulness has received a great deal of research attention within educational, health and psychiatric settings, because of its demonstrated links to psychological and physical health benefits (Baer, 2003;Keng, Smoski, & Robins, 2011). Mindfulness-based interventions, such as the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) (Kabat-Zinn, 1990) and mindfulnessbased cognitive therapy (Barnhofer et al., 2009;Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002), have been shown to be successful in alleviating a variety of types of suffering, including reducing pain (Kabat-Zinn, Lipworth, & Burney, 1985;Kabat-Zinn, Lipworth, Burney, & Sellers, 1987;Samuelson, Carmody, Kabat-Zinn, & Bratt, 2007), stress (Astin, 1997), depression (Segal et al., 2002) and anxiety (Delgado et al., 2010). Several studies also demonstrate the benefits of mindfulness-based practice in non-clinical samples. For example, mindfulness training has been shown to improve one's social relationships (Bowen et al., 2006), produce increased positive affect, better immune system responses (Davidson et al., 2003) and better physiological responses to stress and negative emotions (Tang et al., 2009(Tang et al., , 2007. Moreover, mindfulness meditation is associated with changes in grey matter concentration in brain regions involved in emotion regulation (Hölzel et al., 2011).In Buddhism, inner peace is taught as the most important thing in our life. Gautama Buddha described nirvana as the ultimate goal (Mitchell, 2002). Nirvana is an ancient Sanskrit term used in Buddhism to de...

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Inner Strength as Disclosed in Narratives of the Oldest Old

Cited by 67 publications

References 25 publications

Development and psychometric properties of the Inner Strength Scale

Development and psychometric properties of the Inner Strength Scale

Experiencing Cancer in Old Age: A Qualitative Systematic Review

Can Inner Peace be Improved by Mindfulness Training: A Randomized Controlled Trial

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