INVESTIGATION OF DISPOSITIONAL OPTIMISM, PSYCHOLOGICAL RESILIENCE, COPING STRATEGIES AND QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG BURN SURVIVORS.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship among dispositional optimism, psychological resilience, coping strategies and quality of life (QoL) among burn survivors. To find out the impact of dispositional optimism and coping on QoL among burn survivors. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Burn Unit of Pakistan Institute of Medical sciences (PIMS) Islamabad, Pakistan. Two hundred and thirty post-burn survivors, ranging in age from 18 to 64 years were selected using purposive sampling technique. Dispositional optimism scale, psychological resilience scale, QoL scale and coping strategies scales were used to measure variables. RESULTS: Out of 230 patients 123 (53.5%) were males and 107 (46.5%) were females. About 54.3% (n=125) were married. Majority (n=126; 54.8%) had flame burn. Duration of burns was up to two months in 70.9% (n=163) cases. Results revealed highly significant positive correlations between psychological resilience and dispositional optimism (r=0.807), problem-focused coping (r=0.724) and supportive coping (r=0.598) but significantly negative correlation with emotion focused coping (r= -0.559) while emotion focused coping is negatively correlated with mental QoL (r=-0.378) and supportive coping (r=-0.138). Multiple regression analysis revealed that dispositional optimism, problemfocused and supportive coping have significant impact upon the QoL (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: A significant positive relationship come out among dispositional optimism, psychological resilience and QoL in burns survivors. Dispositional optimism and coping strategies like "problem-focused" and "supportive coping" have an impact on QoL, and it could enhance the QoL in burn survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]