Isabel Grünenwald

Psychological well-being, i.e. “optimal psychological functioning and experience” (Ryan & Deci, 2001, p.142) is not only influenced by the absence of stressors, but also by the availability and utilization of (psychological) resources, which can improve coping with chronic stress (e.g., Hobfoll, 2002). The stress mindset and social identification are two psychological resources that have been shown to enhance well-being, health and life satisfaction (e.g., Crum et al., 2013; Steffens et al., 2017). Stress mindset refers to whether an individual perceives stress in general – not a specific stressor – as enhancing for well-being, health, productivity and growth (stress-is-enhancing mindset, SIE mindset) or as impairing for these outcomes (stress-is-debilitating mindset, SID mindset) (Crum et al., 2013). Social identification is understood as the positive emotional evaluation of the relationship to a person or group (Postmes et al., 2013). Despite a range of research findings demonstrating the positive effects of these two resources on well-being (e.g., Crum et al., 2013; Steffens et al., 2017), they have not yet been investigated jointly in the context of chronically stressed at-risk groups. To address this research gap, the present work takes an integrative resource perspective on the role of these two resources in chronically stressed at-risk groups. Since stressors can be heterogeneous, two groups were included: (1) Chronic pain patients as a group affected by somatic stressors, for whom stress reappraisal and social connectedness may represent key resources for coping with physical strain. (2) Descendants of mentally ill parents exposed to psychosocial stressors, for whom social identification and an adaptive understanding of stress may be important due to early-life adversity. This approach enables the examination of whether social identification and stress mindset function as transdiagnostic protective factors across different types of stressors. This dissertation comprises three papers. The first paper examines the role of those two resources for well-being in chronic pain patients, the second paper examines the same for descendants of mentally ill parents. In the third paper, an online intervention training those resources in chronic pain patients is designed and evaluated. In the first paper (Grünenwald et al., 2022), 465 chronic pain patients and 775 healthy controls participated in a quasi-experimental cross-sectional online survey. A SIE mindset and higher social identification were linked to more adaptive coping strategies, particularly positive reframing and active coping, which in turn were associated with higher well-being and fewer depressive symptoms within a serial mediation model. Social identification was associated with greater instrumental and emotional support coping; however, these coping behaviors were not linked to well-being or depression. Chronic pain patients reported a rather SID mindset and lower social identification compared to healthy controls. In the second paper (Grünenwald-Mattern et al., 2026), 332 adult descendants of mentally ill parents and 90 individuals with mentally healthy parents as a control group participated in a quasi-experimental cross-sectional online survey. Compared to the control group, descendants of mentally ill parents rather had a SID mindset, identified less strongly with their family, showed higher disidentification (definition of an individual as not possessing the same characteristics as the other person) and ambivalent identification (simultaneous occurrence of identification and disidentification) (Kreiner & Ashforth, 2004) with their families and reported poorer well-being across most measures. Identification with the family was – only in the at-risk group – positively related to well-being, especially when ambivalent identification was low. In the third paper (Kaluza et al., submitted for publication), a four-session multidimensional online training program for chronic pain patients integrating cognitive-behavioral techniques with social integration and stress mindset components was developed and evaluated. In a randomized controlled trial, participants were assigned to an intervention (n = 54) or a waitlist control group (n = 140). Compared to the control group, participants in the intervention group reported improvements in physical and psychological well-being on some variables, increased adaptive coping and decreased maladaptive coping. Improvements were also observed in management of social relationships and social integration, along with a shift toward a more SIE mindset. No significant changes were found for social identification or perceived social support. In summary, the results of my work suggest that the stress mindset and social identification can be understood within an integrative resource perspective on chronically stressed at-risk groups. Both appear to be underestimated psychological resources protecting well-being in such groups, like chronic pain patients or descendants of mentally ill parents – despite being confronted with unavoidable, aversive stressors. The stress mindset and social identification therefore seem to be transdiagnostic protective factors regarding diverse stressors, like somatic or psychosocial stressors. The presented work further demonstrates that although social identification itself was not directly trainable, social integration as a necessary foundation for it – as well as the stress mindset – can be trained through an online intervention, which partially improved both physical and psychological well-being in chronic pain patients. The results provide important implications for research and practice, particularly regarding secondary and tertiary prevention, which are discussed. Based on the findings, it is recommended to integrate stress mindset and social identification trainings into existing primary care and...

Background: Descendants of mentally ill parents (DMIP) make up about 22% of the population and are 2–13 times more likely to experience mental problems themselves. Preventive health interventions are needed, which should foster protective factors. Unfortunately, little is known about which variables can serve as protective factors for this at-risk group. Methods: In this quasi-experimental cross-sectional study, we compared DMIP ( n = 332) with a control group ( n = 90) with mentally healthy parents. We predicted that (1) DMIP report a lower well-being than the control group and that DMIP who experienced more sample-specific stressors report lower well-being, (2) that family identification relates to better well-being but that this relationship is moderated by ambivalent identification and disidentification and (3) that the relationship between sample-specific stressors and well-being is moderated by resilience and stress mindset. Results: Analyses show that compared to a control group, DMIP rather have a negative stress-mindset, identify less with their family, show higher disidentification and ambivalent identification with their families and report poorer well-being for most measures. DMIP who experience more sample-specific stressors report lower well-being. Identification with the family positively relates to DMIP’s well-being. This relationship was especially strong when ambivalent identification was low (for DMIP but not for the control group). The relationship between the sample-specific stressors and well-being is not moderated by resilience or the stress mindset. Conclusions: For preventive health programs, we propose to assess specific stressors and tailor interventions accordingly; to integrate modules which foster identification with the family and reduce ambivalent identification and to test if a stress mindset training benefits DMIP. Clinical trial number: Not applicable.

We predicted that chronic pain patients have a more negative stress mindset and a lower level of social identification than people without chronic pain and that this, in turn, influences well-being through less adaptive coping. 1240 participants (465 chronic pain patients; 775 people in the control group) completed a cross-sectional online-survey. Chronic pain patients had a more negative stress mindset and a lower level of social identification than people without chronic pain. However, a positive stress mindset was linked to better well-being and fewer depressive symptoms, through the use of the adaptive coping behaviors positive reframing and active coping. A higher level of social identification did not impact well-being or depression through the use of instrumental and emotional support coping, but through the more frequent use of positive reframing and active coping. For chronic pain therapy, we propose including modules that foster social identification and a positive stress mindset.