Meaning of some terms:

“Meta-analysis” – a systematic review of a focused topic in the literature that provides a quantitative estimate for the effect of a treatment intervention or exposure.

“Effect size” – a quantitative measure of the magnitude of the experimenter effect; it measures the strength of the relationship between two variables on a numeric scale. The larger the effect size, the stronger the relationship between two variables.

The findings would be the most important part as your essay would depend on this. There are a few main findings for your understanding:

a. Dispositional optimism is positively associated with approach coping strategies
b. Dispositional optimism is negatively associated with avoidance coping strategies.
c. Effect sizes (strength of relationship) were larger for the distinction between approach and avoidance
coping strategies than for that between problem and emotion-focused coping.
d. Optimists may adjust their coping strategies to meet the demands of the stressors at hand
e. Optimism-coping relationship is strongest in English-speaking samples.

Analyse the extent to which you would agree with the article’s position on dispositional optimism. Apply relevant positive psychology theories and findings to support your discussion.

This means, you may agree with the article’s position (use related literature to support your claims), but to a certain extent (usually not completely). The extent you may not agree may be discussed with relevant evidence from related literature. You MUST apply Positive Psychology theories/findings to substantiate your claims/arguments.

Your discussion will include the following points:
1. The purpose of this meta-analysis
– Why was this done. See the meaning of meta-analysis to be able to understand the purpose of such a study.
2. Prior research and theory underpinning this article
– For this, since the article is somewhat outdated (for me!), you need not only refer to older article. You can refer to any related articles (current or older) to support your arguments – agree or disagree (or 50/50!!!) with the study in question. What is important is a critical analysis.
3. Evaluation of the major results
– The major results of the current findings of this study in relation to other studies. You must use related literature for this – otherwise how would you evaluate if the findings are good/less good.
4. The implications of the results, in a Singapore context, in terms of coping with the current distress of the coronavirus outbreak.
– The implication of the findings of this study – how does it help (or not help, you need to make a case) the coping style/s of Singaporeans during this period. You could even discuss different coping styles during the lockdown and now that the rules are a little relaxed.