A secondary analysis examining the performance of the State Optimism Measure (SOM) compared to the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) in measuring optimism over time

Abstract

Objective: Optimism is an important factor impacting health and human functioning. Originally conceptualized as a trait, increasing evidence indicates that optimism can change over time and could be an intervention target. Measures are needed that can capture changes in optimism.

Design: In this secondary analysis, we compared the performance of a newly developed state measure, the State Optimism Measure (SOM), to the widely used trait measure, the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R), in detecting changes over time during a disruptive life event: the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

Main Outcome Measures: Participants (n = 81) were nondaily smokers participating in a smoking cessation intervention, who completed the SOM and LOT-R before and after the initial COVID-19 outbreak.

Results: Optimism declined from pre- to post-COVID-19 outbreak, as assessed by both scales (LOT-R: p=.0147,g_av=0.23; SOM: p<.0001,g_av=0.56). The change detected was greater when measured by the SOM (p<.0001). Changes in optimism were correlated with concurrent changes in perceived stress, positive affect, and negative affect.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that the SOM has a greater sensitivity to detect within-person changes in optimism than the LOT-R and highlight the SOM’s utility for longitudinal studies assessing changes in optimism.

Keywords:

• Optimism
• COVID-19 pandemic
• measurement
• mental health

Acknowledgements

We thank two anonymous reviewers for their insightful and helpful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, SH, upon reasonable request.

Data availability statement

Data are available upon request from the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a research scholar grant from the American Cancer Society (grant #RSG CPPB – 130323) to Dr. B. Hoeppner. Time for manuscript preparation was provided by National Institutes of Health grant #K23HL135277 to Dr. R. Millstein.