Optimism predicts positive health in repatriated prisoners of war.

"Positive health," defined as a state beyond the mere absence of disease, was used as a model to examine factors for enhancing health despite extreme trauma. The study examined the United States' longest detained American prisoners of war, those held in Vietnam in the 1960s through early 1970s. Positive health was measured using a physical and a psychological composite score for each individual, based on 9 physical and 9 psychological variables. Physical and psychological health was correlated with optimism obtained postrepatriation (circa 1973). Linear regressions were employed to determine which variables contributed most to health ratings. Optimism was the strongest predictor of physical health ( .33, t 2.73, p .008), followed by fewer sleep complaints ( .29, t 2.52, p .01). This model accounted for 25% of the variance. Optimism was also the strongest predictor of psychological health ( .41, t 2.87, p .006), followed by Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Psychopathic Deviate (MMPI-PD; McKinley & Hathaway, 1944) scores ( .23, t 1. 88, p .07). This model strongly suggests that optimism is a significant predictor of positive physical and psychological health, and optimism also provides long-term protective benefits. These findings and the utility of this model suggest a promising area for future research and intervention. Numerous psychological studies have assessed the impact and long-term effects of trauma on individuals, with research focusing almost exclusively on patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Tedeschi, Park, & Calhoun, 1998). This type of research supports medical practitioners in alleviating mental and physical suffering through proper diagnosis and subsequent removal of the disease. In other words, the health of the individual is based on the absence of illness with the majority of scientific research concen- trating on the removal of illness. Alternatively, research interest in the relationship between op- timism and health has grown substantially over the past several decades. The results of these studies have shifted the scientific community's focus to a new paradigm of overall well-being, designated as "positive health." This new holistic model is a concept originating from the field of positive psychology and is defined as the physical, mental, and social well-being of an indi- vidual beyond the absence of disease (Seligman, 2008). Research utilizing the positive health perspective has provided direct evidence documenting optimism's association with in- creased positive psychological health in those afflicted by extreme trauma or illness (Seligman, 2008; Segovia, Moore, Linnville, Hoyt, & Hain, 2012). In addition, optimism has been shown to reduce the risk of certain physical illnesses such as coronary heart disease and cardiovascular mortality in healthy populations. Stud- ies have also indicated optimism is associated with decreased death rates in patients with renal failure and those suffering from HIV (Chida & Steptoe, 2008). More recent research has established a relationship between optimism and reduced rates of psychiatric illness in survivors of extreme trauma. One specific study conducted by Segovia et al. (2012) examined resilience in Vietnam-era repatriated prisoners of war (RPWs) because these men spent more time in captivity than any American soldiers in history. Furthermore, these RPWs had numerous documented cases of extreme trauma, including physical and psychological torture, prolonged captivity, and malnourish- ment. In this study, Segovia et al. (2012) confirmed along with others (King, King, Schuster, Park, Moore, Kaloupek, & Keane, 2011; Park, Kaiser, Spiro, King, & King, 2012) that the following subset of predictor variables accounted for reduced rates of psy- chiatric illness: officer versus enlisted status, older age at time of capture, shorter length of solitary confinement, low antisocial/ psychopathic personality traits, and low posttraumatic stress symp- toms (PTSS) following repatriation. Moreover, Segovia et al. (2012) expanded this list of predictors to include optimism, which proved to be the strongest predictor of resilience. Optimism was also a more robust predictor of resilience than other variables such as amount of torture experienced or length of solitary confinement. Despite optimism's impressive role, the definition of "resil- ience" used in that study—which was the absence of psychiatric illness—is, in itself, a limited definition. The investigation was to expand this definition of resilience and relook at these same RPWs' current health to determine if resilience included state of