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. 2023 May 30:103:adv5284.
doi: 10.2340/actadv.v103.5284.

Happiness Behind the Scenes: Associations between Heuristic Happiness and Related Dimensions in Skin Diseases

Johanna Weis  1 , Hannah Wecker  1 , Alexander Arnold  2 , Barbara Schuster  1 , Stefanie Ziehfreund  1 , Linda Tizek  1 , Sonja Mittag  1 , Tilo Biedermann  1 , Alexander Zink  3
Affiliations

Happiness Behind the Scenes: Associations between Heuristic Happiness and Related Dimensions in Skin Diseases

Johanna Weis et al. Acta Derm Venereol. .

Abstract

Positive health approaches, such as happiness, are largely unexplored in medicine, including dermatology. Taking into consideration the various happiness measures, the aims of this cross-sectional study were to assess this concept using a 1-item heuristic happiness question and its related dimensions (Satisfaction with Life, Positive and Negative Affect, Quality of Life, and Compound Psychological Capital) in outpatients with different skin diseases between December 2019 and June 2020, and to examine the link between these dimensions. Overall, 414 dermatological patients were included: 67 with psoriasis, 84 atopic eczema, 10 mastocytosis, 19 nummular eczema, 84 malignant melanoma and 150 keratinocyte carcinoma. Comparing the skin diseases, differences were observed for heuristic happiness, Positive Affect, and some domains of Quality of Life and Compound Psychological Capital. Analysing the relationship between heuristic happiness and other happiness measures, the data revealed moderate to strong correlations (r = 0.30-0.46, p< 0.001) and variations in the understanding of happiness between the skin diseases. Overall, the most important facet of happiness was Hope as a domain of Compound Psychological Capital. This study emphasizes the individual definition of heuristic happiness in patients with skin diseases. A 1-item heuristic approach may be a simple and practical method to assess the complexity and individuality of happiness.

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Conflict of interest statement

JW received an unrestricted research grant from Novartis Pharma. BS received research grants from Novartis Pharma and started working at Beiersdorf AG after finishing her work on this paper. LT has received speaker honoraria from Janssen-Jilag and received an unrestricted research grant from Novartis Pharma. TB gave advice to or got a honorarium for talks or research grant from the following companies: AbbVie, Alk-Abelló, Celgene-BMS, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Mylan, Novartis, Phadia-Thermo Fisher, p-95 for Curevac, Sanofi-Genzyme, Regeneron, Viatris. AZ has been an advisor and/or received speaker’s honoraria and/or received grants and/or participated in clinical trials of the following companies: AbbVie, Almirall, Amgen, Beiersdorf Dermo Medical, Bencard Allergie, BMS, Celgene, Eli Lilly, GSK, Janssen Cilag, Leo Pharma, Miltenyi Biotec, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Takeda Pharma, UCB Pharma. HW, SM, AA, and SZ have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Spearman’s correlations between heuristic happiness and happiness-related scales in skin diseases. SWL: satisfaction with life; PA: positive affect; NA: negative affect; QoL: quality of life; CPC: Compound Psychological Capital.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Spearman’s correlations between heuristic happiness and happiness-related scales in patients with (a) psoriasis, (b) atopic eczema (AE), (c) mastocytosis, (d) nummular eczema, (e) malignant melanoma, and (f) keratinocyte carcinoma (KC). SWL: satisfaction with life; PA: positive affect; NA: negative affect; QoL: quality of life; CPC: Compound Psychological Capital.
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    Ziehfreund S, Wecker H, Mittag S, Weis J, Tizek L, Verkhoturova V, Legat FJ, Weger W, Großschädl K, Cerpes U, Sadoghi B, Riegler M, Balato A, Di Brizzi EV, Buononato D, Babino G, Calzavara-Pinton P, Rossi MT, Rovaris S, Dimech A, Boffa MJ, Chernyshov P, Svyatenko T, Kolodzinska L, Sikora M, Torres T, Manolache L, Scala E, Biedermann T, Zink A. Ziehfreund S, et al. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2025 Mar;39(3):529-542. doi: 10.1111/jdv.20288. Epub 2024 Aug 14. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2025. PMID: 39140310 Free PMC article.

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