We bring you the proceedings from the conference titled, “Health Psychology - Health and Wisdom. Health Psychology and Burnout Syndrome. Gender Differences in Health,” which took place in 2009 in Bratislava.
Editor: PhDr. Dušan Selko, CSc., MPH, Mgr. Róbert Ďurka, PhD. Foreword to the publication

Dear colleagues,
you hold in your hands the proceedings of the 4th national conference on HP, which was held on 13 May 2009 in Bratislava. The volume also includes selected contributions that were presented at the SAVEZ conference, which took place on 28–29 May 2009 in Košice. Because the year 2009 was considered a year of crisis, and especially due to the financial burden associated with participation in professional events, by mutual agreement we accepted that these were satellite events with a shared thematic focus. In light of the quality of the contributions, it would have been a pity if they did not receive a place in this volume.
In organizing this meeting, as always, the organizing team sought to provide participants with a quality program. We did not choose the central theme by chance. I was personally inspired by the lecture of the chairman of Czechoslovak HP, Professor Jaro Křivohlavý, “Wisdom and Health” at the SPZ ČMPS conference in Vernířovice in 2008.
The aim was to involve the psychological community more actively and to generate greater interest in this topic among “intellectual snobs and ignoramuses.”

The volume also contains a contribution by Assoc. Prof. PhDr. Václav Břicháček, whose health problems prevented him from attending the conference personally, but he very willingly sent an interesting and thought-provoking contribution. Unfortunately, Václav Břicháček, a great lover and friend of Slovakia, Slovak nature, and psychology, did not live to see the publication of this volume. It is an honor for us that some of the last (word and) thoughts of the “scout” of Czech and Czechoslovak psychology in recent years, especially health psychology, can be published in our proceedings.

According to economists and financiers, 2009 was a crisis year. The crisis that undoubtedly affected the entire society, healthcare, and the psychological community as such, without exception. For those interested in HP in our country, it was a breakthrough year in a positive sense. Despite economic problems and bad luck, the HP Section overcame the crisis. Ex post, when I review 2009, the rich active participation of young colleagues, especially from VS, in international events—the annual EPHS conference in Pisa, Italy—testifies to this.

On behalf of the organizing team, I express the wish that in the future we meet more frequently and in greater numbers, at least again in May 2010.

Dušan Selko

Contents

HEALTH – WISDOM – CHARACTER
Ivan Štúr

PRACTICAL WISDOM – OR THE PECULIARITIES IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HEALTH
Václav Břicháček
WISDOM AND HEALTH
Imrich Ruisel

THE PLACE OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY1
Jana Kordačová

NOTES ON CHARACTERISTICS OF SELF-DEVELOPING PERSONALITIES
Ľudovít Juráš

HUMOR IN HEALTH AND ILLNESS2 (WHAT DID NOT FIT INTO THE PREVIOUS PART AND SOMETHING ELSE)
Róbert Ďurka

EMOTIONS, WISDOM OF THE BODY, AND THE PATH OF HEALING
Viera Diešková

BURNOUT SYNDROME AND HEALTH RISK
Dušan Selko

OPPORTUNITIES FOR PREVENTING BURNOUT IN THE HEALTHCARE CONTEXT
Ľuboslav Kmeť

RESULTS OF THE EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF NURSE PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION AND ATTITUDES TOWARD BURNOUT SYNDROME
Renáta Knezović, Darina Brukkerová

EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR MENTAL HEALTH IN CASES OF CRISIS, MISFORTUNE, DISASTERS, AND TERRORIST ATTACKS – ARE WE SUFFICIENTLY PREPARED?
Hana Ščibranyová

KNOWLEDGE OF HEALTHY-LIFESTYLE INDICATORS IN DIFFERENT GROUPS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
Jitka Šimíčková-Čížková, Jaroslav Šimíček

ON GENDER DIFFERENCES IN CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH – WHAT HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN IN PRACTICE
Dušan Selko

PROGRESS OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN RISK BEHAVIOR OF SLOVAK ADOLESCENTS BETWEEN 1998 AND 2006
Lukáš Pitel and colleagues

PERCEPTION OF BODY SHAPE, WEIGHT, AND PHYSICAL EXERCISE AS DETERMINANTS OF SELF-ESTEEM
Monika Vavricová

LIVES OF WOMEN WITH BENIGN BREAST TUMOR
Gabriela Kvasničková

A QUALITATIVE VIEW OF LIFE WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Viera Cviková, Jana Kočanová

DISEASE ACTIVITY, FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY, PAIN, AND SOCIAL SUPPORT AS PREDICTOR VARIABLES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Jozef Benka and colleagues

ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A PREVENTIVE PEER PROJECT USING THE KEY COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
Lucia Demešová

WHAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH SEXUAL EXPERIENCE OF 15-YEAR-OLD SLOVAK SCHOOLCHILDREN?
Peter Kolarčik, Andrea Madarasová Gecková, Jitse P. van Dijk

SOCIO-ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES IN HEALTH IN SLOVAKIA – A SELECTION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS FROM KISH
Andrea Madarasová Gecková

ADOLESCENT COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS, FAMILY STRUCTURE, AND EXPERIENCE WITH INTOXICATION – PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF THE HBSC PROJECT
Zuzana Tomčíková and colleagues

SELF-ESTEEM AND SELF-EFFICACY IN PHYSICALLY ACTIVE AND PASSIVE ADOLESCENTS
Zuzana Veselská and colleagues

MONITORING HOSTILITY AND TYPE OF BEHAVIOR OF NURSES IN PRIMARY CARE
Martina Filická

ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY, 23. – 26. September 2009, Pisa, Italy
Peter Kolarčík

Publisher: Národný ústav srdcových a cievnych chorôb, a. s., Bratislava in the publishing house MAURO Slovakia s.r.o., Bratislava 2010, ISBN 978-80-968092-6-4

The proceedings were published with the financial support of the Národný ústav srdcových a cievnych chorôb, a. s., Bratislava.