Extending B. L. Fredrickson's (1998) broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions and M. Losada's (1999) nonlinear dynamics model of team performance, the authors predict that a ratio of positive to negative affect at or above 2.9 will characterize individuals in flourishing mental health. Participants (N=188) completed an initial survey to identify flourishing mental health and then provided ...

This article summarizes the conception and diagnosis of the mental health continuum, the findings supporting the two continua model of mental health and illness, and the benefits of flourishing to individuals and society. Completely mentally healthy adults--individuals free of a 12-month mental disorder and flourishing--reported the fewest missed days of work, the fewest half-day or greater wor...

Objective: The increasing importance of the movement of positive psychology has led scientific research to explore and measure the optimal human performance or flourishing. Many researchers believe that the components of flourishing are different in sociocultural contexts, and culture is the primary factor affecting the optimal human performance. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to develop an...

Early childrearing provides a critical environmental context for development. As the authors in this book have illustrated, early life context has implications for all manner of later outcomes, including the management of aggression (see chapter 7), brain development (see chapter 2), participation in relationships (see chapter 4) and mental health (see chapter 3). In all of these chapters, the ...

BACKGROUND According to the activity restriction (AR) model, a potential explanation for the impact of chronic pain on mental illness is that pain contributes to depression by limiting usual activities. This study uses a measure of mental health (flourishing), rather than mental illness to examine associations between pain and activity restrictions. DATA AND METHODS Data from the 2011/2012 Ca...

As a science teacher I often tried to "shift" the viewing of world by my middle-school students from being very human-centric towards one that was more focused on as experienced organisms in (eco)systems we were studying, think about "level" and richness lived experiences they having. One approach used showing them scenes movie "Honey Shrunk Kids" where view human participants considerably shru...