Table 1.

Studies reporting associations between mastery and future occurrence of cardiovascular events or mortality.

Study	Participants	Design	Mastery Construct	Mastery Measure	CVD Outcome	Results/Findings	Effect Size (Cohen’s d /Hazard Ratio)
Helgeson, 2003	199 men and 99 women treated for CAD with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, ages 31-80 years	Prospective, 4-year follow-up	Personal Mastery	Cognitive Adaptation Index (which included the Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale); global and heart disease-specific measures of self- esteem, optimism, and control were aggregated into a single index score.	Occurrence of a subsequent cardiac event 4 years after initial assessment	Higher scores on the Cognitive Adaptation Index (i.e., positive outlook of the future, higher sense of mastery, and general positive regard for self) were predictive of reduced likelihood of having a cardiac event 4 years after baseline assessment. The independent association between the mastery scale and occurrence of cardiac events was not reported.	d = −.38 (for ever having been hospitalized for a cardiac reason during the 4-year follow up period)
Helgeson & Fritz, 1999	303 men and women treated for CAD with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, ages 31-80 years	Prospective, 6-month follow-up	Personal Mastery	Cognitive Adaptation Index (which included the Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale); global and heart disease-specific measures of self- esteem, optimism, and control were aggregated into a single index score.	Future occurrence of a cardiac event 6 months after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty	Higher scores on the cognitive adaptation index (i.e., positive outlook of the future, higher sense of mastery, and general positive regard for self) were predictive of reduced likelihood of having a cardiac event 6 months after baseline assessment. The independent association between the mastery scale and occurrence of cardiac events was not reported.	d = −.42
Kutner et al., 1997	349 dialysis patients, ages 60-87 years	Prospective, 7-year follow-up	Personal Mastery	Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale	Long-time survival	Higher mastery was associated with long-term survival.	d = −.07
Penninx et al, 1997	2,829 noninstitutionalized older adults, ages 55-85 years	Prospective, 29-month follow-up on average	Personal Mastery	5 of the 7 items of the Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale	Mortality	Greater mastery was associated with reduced mortality risk controlling for age, sex, chronic diseases, and other CVD risk factors.	d = −.06
Penninx et al., 2000	1002 moderately- severely disabled community- dwelling women, ages ≥ 65 year old	Prospective, 3-year follow-up	Emotional Vitality (high sense of personal mastery, being happy, and low depression and anxiety symptoms	“Emotional Vitality Scale” included 2 Pearlin and Schooler scale items: “I can do just about anything I really set my mind to” and “I often feel helpless in dealing with the problems of life”	Mortality and progression of disability	Emotionally vital women were less likely to die after 3-year follow-up. They were also less likely to develop a new disability. The independent associations between the mastery measure and these outcomes were not reported.	d = −.71
Surtees et al., 2006	20,323 men and women recruited through general practice age-sex registers, ages 40- 74 years	Prospective, up to 6-year follow-up	Personal Mastery	Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale	Mortality from all causes, CVD, and cancer	Higher mastery was associated with lower rates of all 3 types of mortality controlling for age, sex, and prevalent chronic physical disease. Lower mastery was more associated with CVD deaths than cancer deaths.	d = −.06
Surtees et al., 2010	19,067 men and women with no history of heart disease or stroke at baseline in a population-based sample, ages 41-80 years	Prospective, median 11.3 person-years of follow-up	Personal Mastery	Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale	CVD mortality	Lower mastery was associated with an increased risk of CVD mortality. This association was stronger for those who had low CVD risk at baseline.	Hazard Ratio = 1.11 95% CI=1.00-1.23

Note. CAD = coronary artery disease; CVD = cardiovascular disease