Positive mental health in outpatients: comparison within diagnostic groups

Abstract

BackgroundPositive mental health (PMH) supplements the definition of mental health which is not just the mere absence of mental illness. It encompasses an individual’s social, emotional and psychological well-being. This cross-sectional study examines the PMH levels in a multi-ethnic outpatient population and the socio-demographic correlates of PMH across the various diagnostic groups. In addition comparisons with the general population were conducted.MethodsOutpatients with schizophrenia spectrum, depressive or anxiety disorders seeking treatment at a tertiary psychiatric care hospital were included in the study sample. All respondents completed the PMH instrument. Independent t-tests and ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc tests were used to establish differences between the PMH levels and domains.ResultsThree hundred and sixty outpatients with a mean age of 39.2 years were included in the study. 52.5% were younger adults (21–39 years). There were slightly more males (50.8%) and 56.1% of the sample was unemployed. PMH scores differed between the patient and general populations. There were significant associations of the PMH domains with socio-demographic variables such as age, ethnicity, gender and education status in the patient population.ConclusionsPMH can be viewed as a protective factor of mental illnesses. As such it is critical that mental health professionals examine the domains of PMH in individuals with mental illnesses. This will in turn allow them to develop coping strategies that can look into focusing on emotional, psychological and social well-being appropriately to allow these individuals to thrive.

Understanding the relationships between mental disorders, self-reported health outcomes and positive mental health: findings from a national survey

“…However, a cut-off value for better or poorer PMH is not available. Total PMH scores obtained for individuals with mental disorders included in this study were much lower than the Singapore's general population norm (mean Total PMH score: 4.61) [25], but slightly higher than that in mental health users (mean Total PMH score: 3.93) [26]. The severity of the illness or it's symptoms could be a possible confounder of this association, which may limit clinically meaningful interpretations to be drawn from the results.…”

“…Of the mental disorders studied, lifetime mood (MDD and bipolar disorder) and anxiety (GAD and OCD) disorders showed significant associations with PMH even after controlling for important confounders such as history of chronic physical illnesses. These findings were expected given the preliminary studies in Singapore and the UK that have found association of PMH and mental well-being with either diagnosed mental disorders or symptoms of depression and anxiety [26,36]. However, this is the first study that assessed PMH among individuals meeting DSM-IV criteria for AUD.…”

“…It also encompassed their religious and spiritual awareness, goals, autonomy and affective state of mind. Studies in the area of PMH have since yielded information on its sociodemographic correlates in the Singapore's general population [24,25] and in people with mental disorders [26]. The later study also found that PMH varied by gender in people with schizophrenia [27] and showed that PMH was positively associated with life satisfaction and general functioning, but negatively related to depressive symptom severity in mental health service users [16].…”

Development and validation of the Rapid Positive Mental Health Instrument (R-PMHI) for measuring mental health outcomes in the population

“…R-PMHI scores were associated with ethnicity in this study ( Table 7). This finding is consistent with earlier studies [13,15,38]. However, R-PMHI scores did not show a significant relationship with marital status as seen in all previous studies using the PMHI where those who were married had significantly higher total PMH as compared to those who were never married and/or were divorced /separated/ widowed [12,13,38].…”

“…The study also estimated preliminary positive mental health values as established by the R-PMHI and explored socio-demographic correlates of positive mental health using the measure. The 47-item PMHI generated values in the range of 3.93 to 4.61 for total positive mental health among populations comprising mental health service users [38] and the general population [12]. The R-PMHI score of 4.86 seen among the general population in this study is much higher than the earlier estimates.…”