Sense of coherence (CoalaH study)

Children and adolescents with congenital heart defects (CHD) often enjoy a good health-related quality of life, despite being limited physically and/or psychologically through their disease. One possible explanation might be that these children and adolescents have learned at an early age to appreciate their own capabilities and limits in a realistic light, and adapt themselves accordingly to live with their disease. A mediating factor between their experience of disease and the development of a good health-related quality of life could be the “sense of coherence”.

The theory of the “sense of coherence” is based on the theory of salutogenesis proposed by Aaron Antonovsky.

The sense of coherence is defined as a lifestyle orientation acquired during childhood and youth, which enables individuals to perceive internal and external stress factors as comprehensible and meaningful.

A strong sense of coherence is regarded as a necessary prerequisite for good physical and psychological health. Antonovsky suggested that the development of the sense of coherence is based on “generalised resistance resources” in childhood and youth.

To evaluate whether the sense of coherence predicts changes in the self-reported health-related quality of life in adolescents with CHD. Furthermore, the study will attempt to verify whether “generalised resistance resources”, as postulated by Antonovsky, have a positive association with the sense of coherence.

For this purpose, adolescents between 14 and 17 years of age who are registered in the National Registry for Congenital Heart Defects are to be surveyed by mailed questionnaires over a period of two years.

On the basis of the results obtained, health promotion in children and adolescents with CHD will be optimised, for example by strengthening relevant generalised resistance resources.