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. 2018 Feb 1;13(2):e0192323.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192323. eCollection 2018.

Strengths use as a secret of happiness: Another dimension of visually impaired individuals' psychological state

Shinichiro Matsuguma  1 , Motoko Kawashima  1 , Kazuno Negishi  1 , Fumiya Sano  2 , Masaru Mimura  3 , Kazuo Tsubota  1
Affiliations

Strengths use as a secret of happiness: Another dimension of visually impaired individuals' psychological state

Shinichiro Matsuguma et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

It is well recognized that visual impairments (VI) worsen individuals' mental condition. However, little is known about the positive aspects including subjective happiness, positive emotions, and strengths. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the positive aspects of persons with VI including their subjective happiness, positive emotions, and strengths use. Positive aspects of persons with VI were measured using the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience-Balance (SPANE-B), and the Strengths Use Scale (SUS). A cross-sectional analysis was utilized to examine personal information in a Tokyo sample (N = 44). We used a simple regression analysis and found significant relationships between the SHS or SPANE-B and SUS; on the contrary, VI-related variables were not correlated with them. A multiple regression analysis confirmed that SUS was a significant factor associated with both the SHS and SPANE-B. Strengths use might be a possible protective factor from the negative effects of VI.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. The correlation between the Strengths Use Scale (SUS) and Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS).
SHS: Subjective Happiness Scale; SUS: Strengths Use Scale. SUS was strongly correlated to SHS (β = .07, p < .001).
Fig 2
Fig 2. The correlation between the Strengths Use Scale (SUS) and Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE-B).
SPANE-B: Scale of Positive and Negative Experience-Positive—Scale of Positive and Negative Experience-Negative; SUS: Strengths Use Scale. SUS was strongly correlated to SPANE-B (β = .46, p < .001).
Fig 3
Fig 3. Two dimensions of the psychological states of persons with visual impairments.
There are two dimensions of the internal state of persons with visual impairments. Previous literature focused on the horizontal dimension, which is related to negative experiences (the correlation between visual impairments and mental illness); however, this study revealed that there is another vertical dimension, which is related to positive experiences (the correlation between subjective happiness and strengths use).
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