Beyond Ryff's scale: Comprehensive measures of eudaimonic well-being in clinical populations. A systematic review.

Eudaimonic well-being that protects mental and physical health has received increasing attention. This investigation aimed to review which comprehensive instruments for measuring eudaimonic well-being were applied with clinical populations (reporting mental or physical illnesses), beyond Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale. Articles citing at least 1 of the measures of eudaimonic well-being identified by previous theoretical work were extracted from medical and psychological electronic databases and screened. Only investigations involving clinical populations were included and reviewed. An initial screening identified 5,065 articles using eudaimonic well-being measures, out of which only 28 articles encompassed clinical populations and could be included. Sixteen involved patients with mental disorders and 12 populations with medical conditions. In these articles, only 4 measures of eudaimonic well-being were used (Mental Health Continuum, Flourishing Scale, General Causality Orientations Scale, and Orientations to Happiness Subscales), out of the 12 currently available in literature. The Mental Health Continuum was the most used instrument, particularly in adults with depression, whose levels of eudaimonic well-being are impaired, but may be improved by specific interventions. Autonomy appeared to influence patients' motivation to treatment, both in mental and physical disorders. The need for a larger consensus regarding specific measures of eudaimonic well-being for clinical populations emerged. The importance of including assessment of positive functioning as an indicator of recovery in clinical domains is discussed. Key Pratictioner Message Eudaimonic well-being protects health, but few studies involved clinical samples, and no consensus on its definitions emerged. Only 4 measures of eudaimonic well-being were used in clinical populations (the Mental Health Continuum, The Flourishing Scale, the General Causality Orientations Scale, and the Orientation to Happiness Subscales), out of the 12 analyzed in the present review. Eudaimonic well-being is impaired in clinical populations and can be improved by acceptance and commitment therapy or other positive interventions, including yoga and mind/body treatments. Autonomy may play a crucial role in influencing patients' motivation to treatment. The restoration of eudaimonic well-being should be considered as a clinical indicator of recovery.