Is Benefit Finding Good for Your Health? Pathways Linking Positive Life Changes After Stress and Physical Health Outcomes

摘要

After experiencing a stressful or traumaticevent, many individuals report positive changes in theirlives, or benefit finding. Preliminary evidence suggests thatbenefit finding may lead to improvements in physicalhealth. However, the mechanisms linking benefit finding tophysical health outcomes have not been determined. Thisarticle describes an integrative model that identifies spe-cific psychological and physiological pathways throughwhich benefit finding may affect physical health. The un-derlying premise of the model is that benefit finding leadsto more adaptive, efficient responses to future stressors,limiting exposure to stress hormones that may have dam-aging effects on long-term health.