4858 Mental Health Report - National University of Ireland, Galway

Findings from the Compatibility and
Comparability of Mental Health and
Related Health Data Sources
Table 10 continued: EU Recommended Indicators of Generic
Morbidity
Optimism:
LOT-R
Social Support:
Oslo-3 social
support scale
Social Isolation:
Four items on
isolation
Life events:
LTE
Optimism has been characterised in general as a stable
feature of personality and a prospective predictor of
adaptation to stressful encounters.
Norms for college students: 14.33 (SD=4.28) (LOT-R)
Bypass patients 15.16 (SD04.05) (LOT-R)
Mean of LOT-R score in a sample of 25,000
Finns:16.42 (SD=3.86)
Cutpoint for optimism (>defined as ‘optimist’): 20
Ref 15
Social support is defined as availability of people whom
the individual trusts and who make one feel cared for
and valued as a person.
Total score is calculated by summarising the scores for
each item. The total score is used as categorical variable
by using the following code:
Poor social support 3-9
Moderate social support 10-12
Strong social support 13-14
Ref 16
Social isolation signifies lack of confidants and close
relationships.
Classification into ‘not isolated’ and ‘social isolated’ groups.
Positive response to one or more questions leads to
classification of being socially isolated
Ref 2
Life events can be defined as major occurrences in one’s
life that require psychological adjustment to some degree.
Cutpoint: 2 events within half a year
Ref 17
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