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. 2019 May-Jun:58:83-93.
doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2019.04.002. Epub 2019 Apr 4.

Development of the State Optimism Measure

Rachel A Millstein  1 , Wei-Jean Chung  2 , Bettina B Hoeppner  2 , Julia K Boehm  3 , Sean R Legler  2 , Carol A Mastromauro  4 , Jeff C Huffman  2
Affiliations

Development of the State Optimism Measure

Rachel A Millstein et al. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2019 May-Jun.

Abstract

Background: Optimism, or positive expectations about the future, is associated with better health. It is commonly assessed as a trait, but it may change over time and circumstance. Accordingly, we developed a measure of state optimism.

Methods: An initial 29-item pool was generated based on literature reviews and expert consultations. It was administered to three samples: sample 1 was a general healthy population (n = 136), sample 2 was people with cardiac disease (n = 96), and sample 3 was persons recovering from problematic substance use (n = 265). Exploratory factor analysis and item-level descriptive statistics were used to select items to form a unidimensional State Optimism Measure (SOM). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to test fit.

Results: The selected seven SOM items demonstrated acceptable to high factor loadings on a single dominant factor (loadings: 0.64-0.93). There was high internal reliability across samples (Cronbach's alphas: 0.92-0.96), and strong convergent validity correlations in hypothesized directions. The SOM's correlations with other optimism measures indicate preliminary construct validity. CFA statistics indicated acceptable fit of the SOM model.

Conclusions: We developed a psychometrically-sound measure of state optimism that can be used in various settings. Predictive and criterion validity will be tested in future studies.

Keywords: Factor analysis; Measure development; Optimism; Psychometric properties; State; Validation.

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