Suffering, psychological distress, and well‐being in Indonesia: A prospective cohort study

Ho, Samuel; Cook, Kaye V.; Chen, Zhuo Job; Kurniati, Ni Made Taganing; Suwartono, Christiany; Widyarini, Nilam; Wong, Paul T. P.; Cowden, Richard G.

doi:10.1002/smi.3139

Cited by 20 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 64 publications

(83 reference statements)

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“…This general theory suggests that a fully happy brain (Breuning, 2015), even in times of suffering, depend on developing the wisdom of the soul (McLaughlin & McMinn, 2022;Siegal, 2018;Vaillant, 1998). My parting thought is that we really need more research to discover why people have the uncanny propensity and ability to turn heaven into hell, and to create hell for themselves for no apparent reasons (Cowden et al, 2021;Ho et al, 2022). The general theory of mental health and wellbeing is to enable people to live the best possible bittersweet life (Cain, 2022) of turning hell into heaven and preventing the self-destructive act of turning heaven into hell.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of The Evolution of Life Worth Living: Why we choose to live

Wong¹

2022

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

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Soper’s pain-brain theory, based on evolutionary biology, represents a provocative breakthrough for both suicidology and positive psychology. The main thesis of the book is that the evolved way of choosing to live rather than to die in the face of unbearable suffering is to develop a zest for happiness and meaning. His new theory can be summed up by a two-by-two matrix of “pain-type” versus “brain-type” of reducing pain, and the “keeper” versus “fender” levels of protecting us from suicide. My main critique is that the brain versus pain distinction is confusing because the brain is the center for all the functions needed for to reduce pain and keep us alive. Similarly, his football metaphor of two levels of defense(“keeper” and “fender”) is incomplete because the best defense is offence, when a good last line of defense can be quickly turned into offence. Therefore, a more fluid way of conceptualizing this distinction may be the dialectically interactive dual systems of life protection (Yin) and life expansion strategies (Yang) (Wong, 2012). Soper’s pain-brain theory is similar to Wong’s general existential positive psychology theory of flourishing through suffering (Wong, 2020a, 2021a). Both approaches emphasize the centrality of suffering and posit that whether suffering results in mental illness and suicide or mental health and flourishing depends on whether we have the wisdom of the soul and the necessary social support.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of The Evolution of Life Worth Living: Why we choose to live

Wong¹

2022

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

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“…Each item is rated using an 11-point response scale, with different anchor points for the first item (0 = Not suffering at all ; 10 = Suffering terribly ) compared to the other six items (0 = Strongly disagree ; 10 = Strongly agree ). Consistent with previous research (e.g., Cowden et al, 2021 , 2022 ; Ho et al, 2022 ), responses to the items were averaged for an overall suffering score.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The T 2 and T 3 surveys contained the same set of measures that were administered at T 1 . A masked translation and back-translation process was used to translate the surveys from English to Indonesian (for further details, see Ho et al, 2022 ); all participants completed the surveys in the Indonesian language. Participants were compensated the equivalent of $6 (USD) for participating in the three surveys.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential effects of decisional and emotional forgiveness on distress and well-being: A three-wave study of Indonesian adults

Cook

Kurniati²,

Suwartono³

et al. 2022

Front. Psychol.

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Research suggests that interpersonal forgiveness is beneficial to individual functioning, but few longitudinal studies have explored the independent contributions of decisional and emotional forgiveness to reducing different forms of distress and improving multidimensional well-being. In this three-wave (T1: December 2020; T2: January 2021; T3: February 2021) prospective study of predominantly young Indonesian adults (n = 595), we examined the associations of decisional and emotional forgiveness with three indicators of distress and 10 components of well-being. Applying the outcome-wide analytic template for longitudinal designs, our primary analysis involved estimating two sets of linear regression models (one set for decisional forgiveness and one set for emotional forgiveness) in which the outcomes were regressed on each interpersonal forgiveness process (one outcome at a time). Adjusting for a range of covariates (including prior values of decisional forgiveness, emotional forgiveness, and all 13 outcomes) assessed at T1, decisional forgiveness assessed at T2 was associated with an increase in seven components of well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, physical health, sense of purpose, promote good, delayed gratification, content with relationships, satisfying relationships) approximately 1 month later at T3. In contrast, emotional forgiveness assessed at T2 was associated with an increase in a single component of well-being (i.e., satisfying relationships) assessed at T3. Neither decisional nor emotional forgiveness assessed at T2 showed evidence of associations with any of the subsequent indicators of distress assessed at T3. Our findings suggest that, at least within a principally collectivistic cultural context such as Indonesia, decisional forgiveness in the aftermath of a transgression may have greater short-term benefits for well-being compared to emotional forgiveness. Implications of the findings for research and interventions are discussed.

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“…However, the findings of previous studies provide little evidence in alignment with this notion. Effect sizes reported in a number of prior cross-sectional studies suggest a small-to-moderate positive association between depression and suffering (e.g., Büchi et al, 2002;Brady et al, 2019;Davis et al, 2021), with slightly smaller effect sizes found in a few longitudinal studies that have been conducted (e.g., Cowden et al, 2021b;Ho et al, 2022).…”

Section: Empirical Evidence Distinguishing Depression and Sufferingmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…To date, much of the research on suffering has focused on clinical samples comprising older adults who are experiencing physical health symptoms (e.g., pain), have chronic medical illnesses (e.g., cancer), or are receiving palliative care ( Cowden et al, 2021b ). However, recent research has documented the potential for suffering to degrade well-being among non-clinical young adult populations (see Ho et al, 2022 ), suggesting that further consideration should be given to the implications of suffering for the functioning of both clinical and non-clinical populations. Broadening the scope of research on suffering to a more diverse range of populations could enhance our understanding about the nature of suffering, its linkages to other related constructs (e.g., depression), and how it might be effectively addressed to promote well-being.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are depression and suffering distinct? An empirical analysis

Cowden

Węziak‐Białowolska

McNeely³

et al. 2022

Front. Psychol.

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Depression and the subjective experience of suffering are distinct forms of distress, but they are sometimes commingled with one another. Using a cross-sectional sample of flight attendants (n = 4,652), we tested for further empirical evidence distinguishing depression and suffering. Correlations with 15 indices covering several dimensions of well-being (i.e., physical health, emotional well-being, psychological well-being, character strengths, social well-being, financial/material well-being) indicated that associations with worse well-being were mostly stronger for depression than suffering. There was a large positive correlation between depression and suffering, but we also found evidence of notable non-concurrent depression and suffering in the sample. After dividing participants into four groups that varied based on severity of depression and suffering, regression analyses showed higher levels of well-being among those with both none-mild depression and none-mild suffering compared to those with moderate-severe depression, moderate-severe suffering, or both. All indices of well-being were lowest among the group of participants with moderate-severe depression and moderate-severe suffering. In addition to providing further evidence supporting a distinction between depression and suffering, our findings suggest that concurrent depression and suffering may be more disruptive to well-being than when either is present alone.

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Suffering, psychological distress, and well‐being in Indonesia: A prospective cohort study

Cited by 20 publications

References 64 publications

Review of The Evolution of Life Worth Living: Why we choose to live

Review of The Evolution of Life Worth Living: Why we choose to live

Differential effects of decisional and emotional forgiveness on distress and well-being: A three-wave study of Indonesian adults

Are depression and suffering distinct? An empirical analysis

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