Sense of Coherence across the lifecourse : Findings from a systematic review 1992-2010

• Thirty years ago Aaron Antonovsky introduced the salutogenic theory of health, claiming that a strong Sense of Coherence has an impact on health and wellbeing. The SOC is a global orientation to view life as comprehensible, manageable and meaningful. This presentation report findings from an extensive research synthesis on the SOC concept 1992-2010 based on about thousand peer reviewed papers, partly published and defended in a thesis (1992-2003) and partly from an ongoing synthesis (2004-2010). The presentation focuses on the relationship between SOC and age across the life course, on health and wellbeing, on different settings such as schools, working life, and on some related concepts (empowerment, resilience, connectedness). The findings from the systematic review show the SOC to be strongly related to perceived good health, especially mental health and wellbeing. The SOC has a main, moderating or mediating role in the explanation of health. The predicting capacity of the SOC for good health is encouraging. Opposite to Antonovsky the findings show that the SOC increases across the life course, the oldest people reported the strongest SOC. A strong SOC buffers against stress in working life and in schools. Other concepts closely related to the SOC are compared and discussed.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

health

salutogen

Antonovsky

Folkhälsovetenskap

Public health science

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)