Contribution of Regulatory and Personal Resources to the Restoration of Physical Health

Abstract

Background. The restoration of physical health after complex surgical interventions is considered within the framework of a resource-based approach that allows for revealing the significant contribution of psychological resources to rehabilitation. In these circumstances, it is particularly important to study the regulatory and intrapersonal resources providing successful overcoming a difficult life situation associated with health limitations.

Objective. To assess the contribution of conscious self-regulation, psychological well-being, coping strategies, cognitive emotion regulation, character accentuations, and the phenomenon of secondary gain from illness to the restoration of patients' physical health after major joint surgery.

Sample. The study involved 130 patients (77 men, 53 women) with knee and hip joint pathologies undergoing elective surgical treatment; the mean age was 55.8 years (SD = 12.78). The assessment was carried out 1.5 months after surgery.

Methods. Physical health was assessed using the INSALL and HARRIS scales, as well as the leg support capacity indicator. Psychological characteristics were measured using the "Self-Regulation Profile Questionnaire by Morosanova — SRPQM-2020" (V.I. Morosanova, N.G. Kondratyuk), C. Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale, K. Leonhard's Character Accentuation Questionnaire, R. Lazarus's Coping Strategies Questionnaire, N. Garnefski's Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and W.J. Friedman's Secondary Gain from Illness Questionnaire. Statistical data processing included correlation, cluster and factor analyses, regression analysis with stepwise inclusion, and structural modeling.

Results. Conscious self-regulation acts as a universal regulatory resource for recovery: its specific competencies (modeling, programming, evaluation of results, flexibility) are associated with better adherence to medical recommendations and successful restoration of leg support capacity. Psychological well-being, active coping strategies, and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation are associated with better physical condition, whereas catastrophizing, feelings of helplessness, and pronounced secondary gain from illness are associated with slower rehabilitation. Character accentuations have a dual effect: when self-regulation is well developed, demonstrative accentuation performs a resource function, whereas under insufficient regulation the anxious, excitable, and dysthymic accentuations become risk factors.

Conclusions. Conscious self-regulation acts as a meta-resource for restoring health after surgery, mediating the influence of personality traits, coping strategies, and psychological well-being on physical outcomes.

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