Gerben J Westerhof
Biographic Data
| ID | 184144 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gerben J Westerhof |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gerben J |
| FAMILY NAME | Westerhof |
| SIGNATURE | WESTERHOF G J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Twente |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0993-1448 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 57 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 264 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 57 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Positivity effects in self-defining memories in men and women across adulthood: Different patterns between self-rated affect and content-coded meaning
The positivity effect (PE) refers to older adults’ selective attention and memory to positive over negative information. Older adults often rate their personal memories more positively and less negatively than younger people. However, findings are mixed when memory content is analysed. This study examined the PE using self-report and content-coded measures in self-defining memories (SDMs) and the role of gender in moderating the PE. A representat…
Change of self-schemas following mindfulness-based compassionate living for recurrent depression: A qualitative study
OBJECTIVES: Compassion-based interventions, like Mindfulness-Based Compassionate Living (MBCL), are increasingly recognized as treatments for depression. This study explores the impact of MBCL on self-schemas. METHODS: As part of an RCT on MBCL for depression, self-description interviews of approximately 3 min in duration were conducted with 24 patients before and after MBCL and were analyzed using mixed methods. Qualitative analysis used both a …
Functional modes and social well-being as a protector of mental health during Covid-19
Objective: This study investigates how well-being and adaptive coping post-inpatient schema-focused therapy (SFT) predict mental health during COVID-19 in individuals with Personality Disorders (PD), 2-8 years after treatment. Method: Using a naturalistic, prospective within-subject design, 52 PD-diagnosed participants completed assessments post-treatment and at long-term follow-up, with 20 pre-COVID and 32 during COVID. Measures included Schema …
Narrative Literacy: Perspectives from Psychological Research and Practice on Narrative Identity, Mental Health, and Well-Being
Learning Futures Consciousness: An integrative review
Exploring associations of older adults with virtual nature: A randomised factorial online survey
Loneliness and social isolation are important social determinants of wellbeing of older adults. Conversational exchanges can promote connectedness between older adults, however, conversations may not always come easy. Research shows that exposure to nature-based stimuli such as pictures and videos can stimulate social aspirations and trigger associations that could facilitate conversations, in particular when nature scenery is perceived as fascin…
Predicting non-improvement of symptoms in daily mental healthcare practice using routinely collected patient-level data: A machine learning approach
Accurately predicting treatment outcomes in a mental healthcare context remains challenging. While advanced ML algorithms offer flexibility, they showed limited additional value compared to traditional logistic regression in this study. The current study confirmed the importance of taking early change scores in both psychopathology and well-being into account for predicting longer-term outcomes in symptomatic distress
Life stories of patients with personality disorders before and after treatment: Change and stability in agency and communion
The increased agency in the reconstruction of patients' life story after psychotherapy suggests that patients improved their perceived ability to affect change in their own lives. This can be seen as an important step in the treatment of PDs towards further recovery
A conversational, small-story approach to narrative care for people with dementia living in care institutions: Strategies and challenges
The aim of the paper was to define what narrative care is and identify and discuss everyday conversational narrative care strategies regarding people living with dementia in long-term care institutional settings. To do so, we differentiate between two approaches to narrative care: a big-story approach (reflecting on life stories) and a small-story approach (enacting stories in everyday conservations). The paper is focused on the second approach, …
The added value of autobiographical reflexivity with persuasive technology for professional identities of Social Work students: A randomized controlled trial
The added value of autobiographical reflexivity and persuasive technology (PT) compared to critical reflection was examined in a blended learning course. The main outcome measure was achieving a professional identity (PI). A Randomized Control Trial (RCT) was carried out with three measurement points (baseline, post-course, follow-up) and had three conditions: critical reflection; critical reflection and autobiographical reflexivity; critical ref…
How well do nursing staff assess the wellbeing of nursing home residents? An explorative study of using single-question scales
Person-centred care requires improved documentation of nursing home resident wellbeing, e.g. by nursing staff proxy assessments. Previous studies mainly focused on proxy self-report agreement of quality of life of people with dementia, using lengthy questionnaires. This is the first study to investigate how well nursing staff assess residents’ wellbeing after training, using a single-question assessment method of happiness and engagement. We cond…
Evaluating the value of persuasive technology and the role of teachers in a blended learning course for social work students
In this study, a blended learning course, designed using a participatory design approach and Persuasive Technology (PT), was evaluated by students and teachers. The use of a participatory design and PT may help facilitate a blended learning course that motivates students and supports teachers in this relatively new field. Method: Students received the blended course as part of their regular curriculum. Subsequently, interviews with students (N = …
Analysis of the Emails From the Dutch Web-Based Intervention “Alcohol de Baas”: Assessment of Early Indications of Drop-Out in an Online Alcohol Abuse Intervention
Nowadays, traditional forms of psychotherapy are increasingly complemented by online interactions between client and counselor. In (some) web-based psychotherapeutic interventions, meetings are exclusively online through asynchronous messages. As the active ingredients of therapy are included in the exchange of several emails, this verbal exchange contains a wealth of information about the psychotherapeutic change process. Unfortunately, drop-out…
Images of Recovery: A PhotoVoice Study on Visual Narratives of Personal Recovery in Persons with Serious Mental Illness
The Emergence of Meaning From Meaningful Moments in Life
Meaningful moments are specific events in life that are felt to be of great value and significance. This empirical study presents a framework on the way a sense of meaning emerges from these moments. Out of an existing data set of narratives of meaningful moments, a purposeful sample of nine narratives was chosen from different participants, all middle-aged, higher educated, and with an interest or profession in personal development. Interviews w…
The Role of the Spiritual Meaning System in Coping with Cancer
Spirituality can support the adjustment process of people with cancer, by forming a meaning system that supports understanding of the cause and implications of the experience and that provides coping strategies. The different ways in which spiritual meaning systems might fulfill these roles were examined among 20 people who were treated for cancer with curative intent. Narrative interviews were held on average 16 months after cancer diagnosis. Th…
Applying Intervention Mapping to Improve the Applicability of Precious Memories, an Intervention for Depressive Symptoms in Nursing Home Residents
Precious memories (PM) is a life review intervention for depression in older adults with no to mild cognitive decline that has been implemented in multiple nursing homes (NHs) in the Netherlands. Previous research suggested its relevance but questioned its applicability. Therefore, this research aimed to (1) investigate the applicability of PM, and (2) increase its applicability, if necessary. Intervention mapping (IM) was used to achieve these g…
How is spirituality part of people's meaning system
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Change and stability in loneliness and friendship after an intervention for older women
In this study we examine patterns of change and stability in loneliness among 108 women who had participated in a friendship enrichment programme during the year after the programme. We distinguished seven groups of participants in which different levels of loneliness significantly declined, remained stable or increased. These were reduced to the following groups: those recovered, significantly improved and not improved. We then examined whether …
How do views on aging affect health outcomes in adulthood and late life? Explanations for an established connection
Wonderful Life: Exploring Wonder in Meaningful Moments
In this article, we bring the study of meaning together with the emerging field of study focusing on the emotions of wonder: wonder, enchantment, awe, and being moved. It is in meaningful moments that these two meet, and in our empirical study, we used the emotions of wonder as a lens to investigate meaningful moments. We applied a novel intervention, the Wonderful Life question, to elicit narratives of meaningful moments from 100 participants va…
Flourishing in the now: Initial validation of a present-eudaimonic time perspective scale
Introduction A positive focus on the present, the only time zone which we experience directly and permanently, is at least as relevant as perspectives on the past and future in a balanced time perspective and its relation to wellbeing. Yet, few instruments examining a positive present time perspective exist. Two present-directed concepts, mindfulness and flow, that are intrinsically linked to mental wellbeing were analyzed and used to formulate a…
Can We Increase Psychological Well-Being? The Effects of Interventions on Psychological Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
What Factors are Associated with Flourishing? Results from a Large Representative National Sample
Flourishing is the ultimate end-state in psychology and a key-concept in the field of positive psychology research. Flourishers are those individuals with both high levels of hedonic well-being and eudaimonic well-being. Although many researchers have focused on one or another of these domains, only a few have investigated the comprehensive state of flourishing. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of flourishing and its associ…
The Relation of Ego Integrity and Despair to Personality Traits and Mental Health
Ego integrity appears to be related to fluctuating states of mental health, whereas despair is more an expression of a general trait-like disposition of neuroticism. Implications for further research are discussed
Awareness of aging: Theoretical considerations on an emerging concept
Age Identity and Subjective Well-Being: A Comparison of the United States and Germany
Age identities play a role in more varied aspects of psychosocial adaptation in the United States than in Germany. It is concluded that the cultural context needs to be included more explicitly in gerontological theories and research
The Personal Experience of Aging, Individual Resources, and Subjective Well-Being
The personal experience of aging, the resources relevant to it, and the consequences for subjective well-being were investigated in a sample of 4034 Germans aged 40 to 85. The data revealed 3 dimensions of aging experiences as particularly relevant: (a) physical decline, (b) continuous growth, and (c) social loss. Not only being younger but also having better subjective health, higher income, less loneliness, higher education, and greater hope we…
Narrative foreclosure in later life: Preliminary considerations for a new sensitizing concept
Relatedness, autonomy, and competence in the caring relationship: The perspective of nursing home residents
Images of Recovery: A PhotoVoice Study on Visual Narratives of Personal Recovery in Persons with Serious Mental Illness
The Aging Self in a Cultural Context: The Relation of Conceptions of Aging to Identity Processes and Self-Esteem in the United States and the Netherlands
As expected, the self-enhancing function of youthful and positive aging perceptions is stronger in the liberal American system than in the social-democratic Dutch welfare system. The aging self should therefore be studied in its cultural context
Partners and others: Social provisions and loneliness among married Dutch men and women in the second half of life
The main goal of this article was to test whether the perceived availability of social provisions within and outside marriage in a representative Dutch sample of men and women in late adulthood would differ from findings from similar studies in the United States. We predicted that there would be more similarity between married men and women in self-reported social relationships, social provisions, and loneliness in the more feminine culture of Th…
Beyond Life Satisfaction: Lay Conceptions of Well-Being among Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults
Life contexts and health-related selves in old age
Systematic Review of Existential Anxiety Instruments
Existential anxiety (EA) is an expression of being occupied with ultimate concerns such as death, meaninglessness, and fundamental loneliness. Philosophers and psychologists have claimed its importance for the study of human thinking, emotion, decision making, and psychopathology. Until now research has mainly focused on death anxiety. Several death anxiety instruments have been developed and evaluated. This article is the first to review instrum…
Wisdom and Mental Health Across the Lifespan
Age trends in the components of wisdom (older adults higher in life experience but lower in openness relative to younger and middle-aged adults) help explain the curvilinear pattern showing an advantage in wisdom for middle-aged adults. The greater association between wisdom and eudaimonic well-being suggests that wise persons enhance mental health by pursuing meaningful activities
During my life so much has changed that it looks like a new world to me” A narrative perspective on migrating in time
Differential relationships in the association of the Big Five personality traits with positive mental health and psychopathology
According to the two continua model of mental health, psychopathology and positive mental health (emotional, psychological, and social well-being) are related but distinct continua. This study investigates the two continua model by examining whether psychopathology and positive mental health show differential associations with the Big Five personality traits. The paper draws on data of the representative LISS panel (CentERdata). Participants (N =…
Narrative health psychology: Once more unto the breach
In this editorial, we position narrative health psychology as a variety of narrative psychology, a form of qualitative research in health psychology, and a psychological perspective that falls under the interdisciplinary term narrative health research. The aim of this positioning is to explore what are the most important features of the proposed approach and how they are relevant. We illustrate each positioning with the scope and diversity of nar…
Filling a missing link: The influence of portrayals of older characters in television commercials on the memory performance of older adults
The portrayal of older characters in television commercials has over time become more varied and positive. This study examines how different portrayals of older characters relate to self-stereotyping, a process through which older individuals apply their beliefs about older people in general to themselves and behave accordingly. The study thereby seeks to connect, as few have previously done, cultural studies and critiques of media portrayals wit…
Mental Health Promotion as a New Goal in Public Mental Health Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Intervention Enhancing Psychological Flexibility
Objectives. We assessed whether an intervention based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and mindfulness was successful in promoting positive mental health by enhancing psychological flexibility. Methods. Participants were 93 adults with mild to moderate psychological distress. They were randomly assigned to the group intervention (n = 49) or to a waiting-list control group (n = 44). Participants completed measures before and after the in…
After the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Perceptions and Consequences of Stability and Change Among Middle-Aged and Older East and West Germans
Our findings both confirm and reject the self-systems theory of subjective change as it relates to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Studying temporal comparisons is important in understanding the effects of historical events and their timing within an individual life course
Individualism and Collectivism in the Personal Meaning System of Elderly Adults: The United States and Congo/Zaire as an Example
Two problems in cross-cultural research are the increasingly complex definitions of individualism and collectivism and the relation between culture and self. A cultural psychological perspective on the construction of meaning can address both problems. In attributing meaning to self and life, people appropriate cultural values so that even the most authentic level of experience, the self, is culturally constituted. People are expected to use diff…
The Emergence of Meaning From Meaningful Moments in Life
Meaningful moments are specific events in life that are felt to be of great value and significance. This empirical study presents a framework on the way a sense of meaning emerges from these moments. Out of an existing data set of narratives of meaningful moments, a purposeful sample of nine narratives was chosen from different participants, all middle-aged, higher educated, and with an interest or profession in personal development. Interviews w…
Wonderful Life: Exploring Wonder in Meaningful Moments
In this article, we bring the study of meaning together with the emerging field of study focusing on the emotions of wonder: wonder, enchantment, awe, and being moved. It is in meaningful moments that these two meet, and in our empirical study, we used the emotions of wonder as a lens to investigate meaningful moments. We applied a novel intervention, the Wonderful Life question, to elicit narratives of meaningful moments from 100 participants va…
Flourishing in the now: Initial validation of a present-eudaimonic time perspective scale
Introduction A positive focus on the present, the only time zone which we experience directly and permanently, is at least as relevant as perspectives on the past and future in a balanced time perspective and its relation to wellbeing. Yet, few instruments examining a positive present time perspective exist. Two present-directed concepts, mindfulness and flow, that are intrinsically linked to mental wellbeing were analyzed and used to formulate a…
The Relation of Ego Integrity and Despair to Personality Traits and Mental Health
Ego integrity appears to be related to fluctuating states of mental health, whereas despair is more an expression of a general trait-like disposition of neuroticism. Implications for further research are discussed
"Identity as "knowing your place: The narrative construction of space in a healthcare profession
The construction of space in which a story takes place can have important consequences for the evaluation of health interventions. In this article, we explore the ways professionals narratively position themselves in a situation, treating identity literally as "knowing one's place." More specifically, we explore the spatial language health professionals use to describe their work. Using descriptions of professionals in a drug habilitation organiz…
A conversational, small-story approach to narrative care for people with dementia living in care institutions: Strategies and challenges
The aim of the paper was to define what narrative care is and identify and discuss everyday conversational narrative care strategies regarding people living with dementia in long-term care institutional settings. To do so, we differentiate between two approaches to narrative care: a big-story approach (reflecting on life stories) and a small-story approach (enacting stories in everyday conservations). The paper is focused on the second approach, …
Individualism and Collectivism in the Personal Meaning System of Elderly Adults: The United States and Congo/Zaire as an Example
Two problems in cross-cultural research are the increasingly complex definitions of individualism and collectivism and the relation between culture and self. A cultural psychological perspective on the construction of meaning can address both problems. In attributing meaning to self and life, people appropriate cultural values so that even the most authentic level of experience, the self, is culturally constituted. People are expected to use diff…
The Personal Experience of Aging, Individual Resources, and Subjective Well-Being
The personal experience of aging, the resources relevant to it, and the consequences for subjective well-being were investigated in a sample of 4034 Germans aged 40 to 85. The data revealed 3 dimensions of aging experiences as particularly relevant: (a) physical decline, (b) continuous growth, and (c) social loss. Not only being younger but also having better subjective health, higher income, less loneliness, higher education, and greater hope we…
Life contexts and health-related selves in old age
Beyond Life Satisfaction: Lay Conceptions of Well-Being among Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults
“When Looking Back on My Past Life I Regret…”: Retrospective Regret in the Second Half of Life
The study investigated the frequency, themes, and attributions for significant regrets in a random probability sample of 3,917 German and Dutch nationals between the ages of 40 and 85 years. It was found that 14% did not have any regrets in spontaneous memory, and that this increased with the age of the respondents. With respect to mentioned regrets, older people, women, and those living in the former East Germany were more likely to recall exter…
Age Identity and Subjective Well-Being: A Comparison of the United States and Germany
Age identities play a role in more varied aspects of psychosocial adaptation in the United States than in Germany. It is concluded that the cultural context needs to be included more explicitly in gerontological theories and research
After the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Perceptions and Consequences of Stability and Change Among Middle-Aged and Older East and West Germans
Our findings both confirm and reject the self-systems theory of subjective change as it relates to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Studying temporal comparisons is important in understanding the effects of historical events and their timing within an individual life course
What is the problem? A Taxonomy of Life Problems and their Relation to Subjective Well-Being in Middle and Late Adulthood
The Meaning of the Past: The Perception and Appreciation of History Among Dutch Genealogists
Genealogy is a popular hobby in the Netherlands nowadays. This article presents findings from a survey of 192 members of the Dutch Genealogical Society. This research focuses on the meanings genealogists attach to the past and on the emotions and activities connected to this. Dutch genealogists associate past and history with positive matters. They perceive the past as a source of knowledge and as a beneficial contrast to the present. They show a…
Partners and others: Social provisions and loneliness among married Dutch men and women in the second half of life
The main goal of this article was to test whether the perceived availability of social provisions within and outside marriage in a representative Dutch sample of men and women in late adulthood would differ from findings from similar studies in the United States. We predicted that there would be more similarity between married men and women in self-reported social relationships, social provisions, and loneliness in the more feminine culture of Th…
Ageing in Society: European Perspectives on Gerontology
The Ageing World - Sheila Peace, Freya Dittmann-Kohli, Gerben J Westerhof and John Bond The Biology of Ageing - Rudi GJ Westendorp and Thomas BL Kirkwood Psychological Ageing - Alfons Marcoen, Peter G Coleman and Ann O'Hanlon Social Theory and Social Ageing - Chris Phillipson and Jan Baars Researching Ageing - Christina Victor, Gerben J. Westerhof and John Bond Health and Dependency in Later Life - John Bond and Gregorio Rodriguez Cabrero Social …
During my life so much has changed that it looks like a new world to me” A narrative perspective on migrating in time
Mental Illness and Mental Health: The Two Continua Model Across the Lifespan
Mental health has long been defined as the absence of psychopathologies, such as depression and anxiety. The absence of mental illness, however, is a minimal outcome from a psychological perspective on lifespan development. This article therefore focuses on mental illness as well as on three core components of positive mental health: feelings of happiness and satisfaction with life (emotional well-being), positive individual functioning in terms …
Reminiscence and mental health: A review of recent progress in theory, research and interventions
This article explores recent progress in theory, research and practical applications of reminiscence. It first describes the evidence for reminiscence as a naturally occurring process, and discusses the different functions of reminiscence and their relationships with mental health and lifespan processes. Three basic types of reminiscence that relate to mental health are specified: conversations about autobiographical memories and the use of perso…
Filling a missing link: The influence of portrayals of older characters in television commercials on the memory performance of older adults
The portrayal of older characters in television commercials has over time become more varied and positive. This study examines how different portrayals of older characters relate to self-stereotyping, a process through which older individuals apply their beliefs about older people in general to themselves and behave accordingly. The study thereby seeks to connect, as few have previously done, cultural studies and critiques of media portrayals wit…
Mental Health Promotion as a New Goal in Public Mental Health Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Intervention Enhancing Psychological Flexibility
Objectives. We assessed whether an intervention based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and mindfulness was successful in promoting positive mental health by enhancing psychological flexibility. Methods. Participants were 93 adults with mild to moderate psychological distress. They were randomly assigned to the group intervention (n = 49) or to a waiting-list control group (n = 44). Participants completed measures before and after the in…
Evaluating the psychometric properties of the mental health Continuum‐Short Form (MHC‐SF)
There is a growing consensus that mental health is not merely the absence of mental illness, but it also includes the presence of positive feelings (emotional well‐being) and positive functioning in individual life (psychological well‐being) and community life (social well‐being). We examined the structure, reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the Mental Health Continuum‐Short Form (MHC‐SF), a new self‐report questionnai…
The Aging Self in a Cultural Context: The Relation of Conceptions of Aging to Identity Processes and Self-Esteem in the United States and the Netherlands
As expected, the self-enhancing function of youthful and positive aging perceptions is stronger in the liberal American system than in the social-democratic Dutch welfare system. The aging self should therefore be studied in its cultural context
Narrative foreclosure in later life: Preliminary considerations for a new sensitizing concept
Need support and wellbeing during morning care activities: An observational study on resident–staff interaction in nursing homes
Quality of life and wellbeing in nursing homes are becoming more important in research and practice. One of the main influences on residents' wellbeing is the interaction with their professional care-givers. The purpose of this study was to explore to what extent care-givers support the residents' needs of relatedness, autonomy and competence, and how this need support is related to wellbeing. Residents and their professional care-givers of four …
Wisdom and Mental Health Across the Lifespan
Age trends in the components of wisdom (older adults higher in life experience but lower in openness relative to younger and middle-aged adults) help explain the curvilinear pattern showing an advantage in wisdom for middle-aged adults. The greater association between wisdom and eudaimonic well-being suggests that wise persons enhance mental health by pursuing meaningful activities
Relatedness, autonomy, and competence in the caring relationship: The perspective of nursing home residents
Differential relationships in the association of the Big Five personality traits with positive mental health and psychopathology
According to the two continua model of mental health, psychopathology and positive mental health (emotional, psychological, and social well-being) are related but distinct continua. This study investigates the two continua model by examining whether psychopathology and positive mental health show differential associations with the Big Five personality traits. The paper draws on data of the representative LISS panel (CentERdata). Participants (N =…
Positive psychology interventions: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies
The influence of subjective aging on health and longevity: A meta-analysis of longitudinal data.
Psychology (50 works) · Social Psychology (25 works) · Medicine (22 works) · Psychiatry (21 works) · Aging and Gerontology Research (20 works) · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction (20 works) · Developmental psychology (17 works) · Social Psychology (17 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Identity, Memory, and Therapy (14 works)