PSC 126 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Cortisol
Gratitude: a way of seeing
● An affirmation of goodness & a recognition that this goodness is sourced outside the
self
● Knowing, recognizing, remembering, acknowledging
● What is the role of gratitude in health care?
● Counting blessings or burdens?
○ Random assignment, placebo controlled experimental trials
○ N - 3,000 8 - 80 years
● Gratitude experiments: participants are randomly assigned to one of the following
conditions
○ A gratitude group: wrote down up to 5 things in their lives for which they were
grateful or thankful
○ A hassles group: wrote down up to 5 hassles or complaints
○ A control group: daily events
○ Participants keep journals of their moods, life appraisals, physical symptoms, 7
health behaviors over time
○ Relative to the other groups, the gratitude group showed benefits
■ Psychological (alert, energetic, enthused)
■ Physical (more exercise, better sleep)
■ Interpersonal ( more helpful and connected)
■ Effects range from 12 - 33% in magnitude
● The GQ - 6
○
● Gratitude is good medicine
○ Reductions in perceived stress (28%) and depression (16%) in health care
practitioners
○ 23% lower levels of stress hormones (cortisol)
○ Reduced feelings of hopelessness in 88% of suicidal inpatients
○ 15 - 18% more efficient sleep
○ Improved inflammatory biomarkers in HF patients
○ Reduced risk of depression in patients by 41% over a 6 month period
○ Dietary fat intake reduced 25%
○ 15% lower depression in arthritis and IBD patients
○ 25 - 33% increase in exercise
○ 38% reduced rate of smoking
○ Reduced rate of eating disorders
● Perceived benefits & attributions predicted morbidity after heart attack
○ Cardiac patients who blamed their heart attack on others were more likely to
have subsequent attack
○ Perceived benefits/ gains from initial heart attack (including becoming more
appreciative of life) was related to reduced risk for subsequent attack
● Why does gratitude work? ARC
○ Gratitude amplifies
Document Summary
An affirmation of goodness & a recognition that this goodness is sourced outside the self. N - 3,000 8 - 80 years. Gratitude experiments: participants are randomly assigned to one of the following conditions. A gratitude group: wrote down up to 5 things in their lives for which they were grateful or thankful. A hassles group: wrote down up to 5 hassles or complaints. Participants keep journals of their moods, life appraisals, physical symptoms, 7 health behaviors over time. Relative to the other groups, the gratitude group showed benefits. Effects range from 12 - 33% in magnitude. Reductions in perceived stress (28%) and depression (16%) in health care. 23% lower levels of stress hormones (cortisol) Reduced feelings of hopelessness in 88% of suicidal inpatients. Reduced risk of depression in patients by 41% over a 6 month period. 15% lower depression in arthritis and ibd patients. Perceived benefits & attributions predicted morbidity after heart attack.
