Nurses long have observed that the ability to advance or maintain wellness, and adapt to or recover from illness is a function of a phenomenon which clearly transcends commonly isolated and described physical, psychological, and social circumstances. While such concepts as hardiness, resilience, and hope have been advanced in attempt to capture this health enabling factor, they are less wholistic than what the observed phenomenon would imply. To begin to address this illusive concept, this study advanced a new construct, Positive Health, and measure, The Positive Health Index.

Positive Health is defined as "increased effectiveness in dealing with the self and the environment (interpersonal and objective) and the actualization of one's abilities and potentials". The basic theoretic assumption is that Positive Health is growth motivated in nature. The theoretic dimensions of Positive Health resulted from compilation of the ideas of theorists who viewed health positively, from physical, psychological, social, general, and behavioral perspectives.

The research design represents a classical psychometric approach using cross-sectional, descriptive methods and data. Specifically 446 randomly selected adults responded to the Positive Health Index (PHI), an abbreviated version of the Marlow Crowne Social Desirability Scale, a perceived illness measure, and sociodemographic questions.

The multidimensionality of the Positive Health construct is supported through the factorial isolation of five subscales: Psychologic: Emotional Outlook and Energetic Self-Actualization, Sociologic: Interpersonal Relationships, and Behavioral: Health Behavior and Self-Regulation. Alpha coefficient for the total PHI is.93 and.90,.91,.84,.80, and.49 on the respective subscales. Beginning construct validity is reported based on moderate correlations between the PHI and perceived illness, and low to moderate relationships between the PHI and sociodemographic and social desirability variables.

The PHI can be used to estimate individual health enabling resources, and to predict health outcomes such as recovery, adjustment, longevity, and health behaviors. Subsequent studies will further refine and clarify the construct and measure, and its clinical relevance.