Self-reported sitting time and physical activity: interactive associations with mental well-being and productivity in office employees

Abstract Background: Little is known about how sitting time, alone or in combination with markers of physical activity (PA), influences mental well-being and work productivity. Given the need to develop workplace PA interventions that target employees’ health related efficiency outcomes; this study examined the associations between self-reported sitting time, PA, mental well-being and work productivity in office employees. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study. Spanish university office employees (n = 557) completed a survey measuring socio-demographics, total and domain specific (work and travel) self-reported sitting time, PA (International Physical Activity Questionnaire short version), mental well-being (Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale) and work productivity (Work Limitations Questionnaire). Multivariate linear regression analyses determined associations between the main variables adjusted for gender, age, body mass index and occupation. PA levels (low, moderate and high) were introduced into the model to examine interactive associations. Results: Higher volumes of PA were related to higher mental well-being, work productivity and spending less time sitting at work, throughout the working day and travelling during the week, including the weekends (p < 0.05). Greater levels of sitting during weekends was associated with lower mental well-being (p < 0.05). Similarly, more sitting while travelling at weekends was linked to lower work productivity (p < 0.05). In highly active employees, higher sitting times on work days and occupational sitting were associated with decreased mental well-being (p < 0.05). Higher sitting times while travelling on weekend days was also linked to lower work productivity in the highly active (p < 0.05). No significant associations were observed in low active employees. Conclusions: Employees’ PA levels exerts different influences on the associations between sitting time, mental well-being and work productivity. The specific associations and the broad sweep of evidence in the current study suggest that workplace PA strategies to improve the mental well-being and productivity of all employees should focus on reducing sitting time alongside efforts to increase PA.

Competition and well-being

We study the effects of competition in a context in which people's actions can not be contractually fixed. We find that in such an environment the very presence of competition does neither increase efficiency nor does it yield any payoff gains for the short side of the market. We also find that competition has a strong negative impact on social well-being, the disposition towards others, and individually experienced well-being, the emotional state, of those on the long side of the market. We conjecture that this limits the possibilities of satisfactory interaction in the future and, hence, has negative implications for efficiency in the longer-run

On punishment and well-being

The existence of punishment opportunities has been shown to cause efficiency in public goods experiments to increase considerably. In this paper we ask whether punishment also has a downside in terms of process dissatisfaction. We conduct an experiment to study the conjecture that an environment with stronger punishment possibilities leads to higher material but lower subjective well-being. The more general motivation for our study stems from the notion that people??s subjective well-being may be affected by the institutional environment they find themselves in. Our findings show that harsher punishment possibilities lead to signficantly higher well-being, controlling for earnings and other relevant variables. People derive independent satisfaction from interacting under the protection of strong punishment possibilities. These results complement the evidence on the neural basis of altruistic punishment reported in de Quervain et al. (2004).

On the foundations of well-being economics and policy

When one wishes to implement public policies, there is a previous need of comparing different actions and valuating and evaluating them to assess their social attractiveness. Recently the concept of well-being has been proposed as a multidimensional proxy for measuring societal prosperity and progress; a key research topic is then on how we can measure and evaluate this plurality of dimensions for policy decisions. This paper defends the thesis articulated in the following points: 1. Different metrics are linked to different objectives and values. To use only one measurement unit (on the grounds of the so-called commensurability principle) for incorporating a plurality of dimensions, objectives and values, implies reductionism necessarily. 2. Point 1) can be proven as a matter of formal logic by drawing on the work of Geach about moral philosophy. This theoretical demonstration is an original contribution of this article. Here the distinction between predicative and attributive adjectives is formalised and definitions are provided. Predicative adjectives are further distinguished into absolute and relative ones. The new concepts of set commensurability and rod commensurability are introduced too. 3. The existence of a plurality of social actors, with interest in the policy being assessed, causes that social decisions involve multiple types of values, of which economic efficiency is only one. Therefore it is misleading to make social decisions based only on that one value. 4. Weak comparability of values, which is grounded on incommensurability, is proved to be the main methodological foundation of policy evaluation in the framework of well-being economics. Incommensurability does not imply incomparability; on the contrary incommensurability is the only rational way to compare societal options under a plurality of policy objectives. 5. Weak comparability can be implemented by using multi-criteria evaluation, which is a formal framework for applied consequentialism under incommensurability. Social Multi-Criteria Evaluation, in particular, allows considering both technical and social incommensurabilities simultaneously.

Food Indicators and Their Relationship with 10 to 12 Year-olds' Subjective Well-Being

This study aimed to test subjective indicators designed to analyze the role food plays in children’s lives, explore children’s personal well-being, and evaluate the relationship between these two phenomena. It was conducted on 371 children aged 10 to 12 by means of a selfadministered questionnaire. Results showed a marked interest in food on the part of children, who consider taste and health the most important indicators when it comes to eating. They demonstrated a high level of personal well-being, measured using Cummins & Lau’s adapted version of the Personal Well- Being Index–School Children (PWI-SC) (2005), overall life satisfaction (OLS) and satisfaction with various life domains (friends, family, sports, food and body). Regression models were conducted to explain satisfaction with food, taking as independent variables the interest children have in food, the importance they give to different reasons for eating, scores from the PWI-SC, OLS and satisfaction with various life domains. In the final model, it was found that OLS, health indicators, satisfaction with health from the PWI-SC and satisfaction with your body contribute to explaining satisfaction with food. The results obtained suggest that satisfaction with food is a relevant indicator in the exploration of children’s subjective well-being, calling into question the widespread belief that these aspects are of exclusive interest to adults. They also seem to reinforce the importance of including food indicators in any study aimed at exploring the well-being of the 10 to 12 year-old population.

Tindara Addabbo, Marie-Pierre Arrizabalaga, Cristina Borderías y Alastair Owens (eds.), Gender Inequalities, Households and the Production of Well-being in Modern Europe

Ressenya del llibre: 'Gender Inequalities, Households and the Production of Well-being in Modern Europe'

Bienestar en la infancia y adolescencia = Well-being in childhood and adolescence

Editorial al volum 14, número 1 del 2015 de la revista 'Psicoperspectivas : Individuo y Sociedad', dedicat al benestar en la infància i l'adolescència

Los estilos y estrategias de afrontamiento y su relación con el bienestar personal en una muestra de adolescentes

Several studies have linked coping with personal wellbeing. However, there is no research evidence analyzing this relationship in theSpanish population using Cummins’ model (1997). The aim of this study was to know the level of personal wellbeing of a sample of adolescents and to analyze the relationship between coping strategies and styles and personal well-being. With that purpose in mind, the Personal Well Being Index (PWI) and the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS) have been administered to a sample of 656 adolescents aged between 11 and 17. The results allow identifying the effect of age and gender on personal wellbeing. Those coping strategies centered on focusing on the positive, physical recreation, working hard and achieving are associated to higher personal wellbeing while self-blaming and keeping to self are with lower personal wellbeing

Psychometric Properties of the Personal Wellbeing Index in Brazilian and Chilean Adolescents Including Spirituality and Religion = Propriedades Psicométricas do Personal Wellbeing Index em Adolescentes Brasileiros e Chilenos Incluindo Espiritualidade e Religião

This study compared the 7-item Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) with two other versions which include the domains “Spirituality” and “Religion”, separately, in a sample of Brazilian (n = 1.047) and Chilean (n = 1.053) adolescents. A comparison of psychometric properties between the PWI versions was carried out through multigroup confi rmatory factor analysis showing adequate adjustments (CFI > .95, RMSEA < .08), whereas the item spirituality presented better performance. For the analysis of the differential contribution of each domain to the notion of global satisfaction, a regression on the item Overall Life Satisfaction (OLS) was applied using structural equations. It isrecommended the inclusion of the item spirituality in the original scale, considering the importance of such domain in both cultures

Measurement and explanation of socioeconomic inequality in health with longitudinal data

This paper presents a method for the measurement of changes in health inequality and income-related health inequality over time in a population.For pure health inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient) andincome-related health inequality (as measured by the concentration index),we show how measures derived from longitudinal data can be related tocross section Gini and concentration indices that have been typicallyreported in the literature to date, along with measures of health mobilityinspired by the literature on income mobility. We also show how thesemeasures of mobility can be usefully decomposed into the contributions ofdifferent covariates. We apply these methods to investigate the degree ofincome-related mobility in the GHQ measure of psychological well-being inthe first nine waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). Thisreveals that dynamics increase the absolute value of the concentrationindex of GHQ on income by 10%.

Cannabis Use in Patients with Fibromyalgia: Effect on Symptoms Relief and Health-Related Quality of Life

Background: The aim of this study was to describe the patterns of cannabis use and the associated benefits reported by patients with fibromyalgia (FM) who were consumers of this drug. In addition, the quality of life of FM patients who consumed cannabis was compared with FM subjects who were not cannabis users. Methods: Information on medicinal cannabis use was recorded on a specific questionnaire as well as perceived benefits of cannabis on a range of symptoms using standard 100-mm visual analogue scales (VAS). Cannabis users and non-users completed the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36). Results: Twenty-eight FM patients who were cannabis users and 28 non-users were included in the study. Demographics and clinical variables were similar in both groups. Cannabis users referred different duration of drug consumption; the route of administration was smoking (54%), oral (46%) and combined (43%). The amount and frequency of cannabis use were also different among patients. After 2 hours of cannabis use, VAS scores showed a statistically significant (p<0.001) reduction of pain and stiffness, enhancement of relaxation, and an increase in somnolence and feeling of well being. The mental health component summary score of the SF-36 was significantly higher (p<0.05) in cannabis users than in non-users. No significant differences were found in the other SF-36 domains, in the FIQ and the PSQI. Conclusions: The use of cannabis was associated with beneficial effects on some FM symptoms. Further studies on the usefulness of cannabinoids in FM patients as well as cannabinoid system involvement in the pathophysiology of this condition are warranted

Construcción del Cuestionario de Desarrollo Emocional de Adultos (QDE-A)

El propósito de este trabajo es presentar la construcción y aplicación del Questionari de Desarrollo Emocional para Adultos (QDE-A). Se trata de la versión catalana del Cuestionario de Desarrollo Emocional para Adultos (CDE-A). Los instrumentos disponibles para la medición de la competencia emocional son escasos y todos ellos sujetos a criticas centradas fundamentalmente en la falta de un marco teórico claro y de fundamentos empíricos firmes (Pérez, Petrides y Furnham, 2005). El QDE-A, se enmarca en la línea de investigación sobre educación emocional del GROP (Grupo de Investigación en Orientación Psicopedagógica). Se trata de un cuestionario de autoinforme basado en el marco teórico de la educación emocional desarrollado por el GROP (Bisquerra, 2000 y 2007) según el cual la competencia emocional se compone de cinco dimensiones: conciencia emocional, regulación emocional, autonomía emocional, competencias sociales y competencias para la vida y el bienestar. El QDE-A ofrece una puntuación global y otra para cada una de estas dimensiones. En este artículo se expone el proceso de elaboración para llegar a la versión definitiva que en su forma extensa consiste en una escala que dispone de 48 ítems. Los datos se basan en una muestra de 1537 adultos. La fiabilidad medida por el alfa de Cronbach es de 0,92, para la escala completa y superior a 0.70 para cada una de las dimensiones. La correlación entre cada una de las dimensiones y la puntuación total es significativa en todos los casos con un nivel de p<0.01. El QDE-A responde a la necesidad de disponer de un instrumento riguroso, adaptado a la población catalana, que permite evaluar el nivel de competencia emocional en adultos y fundamentar las intervenciones en educación emocional.

Adaptación del Índice de Bienestar Personal para adolescentes en lengua española y portuguesa

The psychometric properties of the Personal Wellbeing Index are analyzed on a Spanish and Portuguese adolescent sample. We test the reliability of the scale using Cronbach’s alpha. And complementarily we analyze the item-total correlations in the different wellbeing domains included. We execute an exploratory factor analysis (principal components) and a multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The results show that Cronbach’s alpha is 0.79 for the Chilean version and in the Brazilian version is 0.78 confirming adequate levels of reliability found in previous studies. Correlations between fields of well-being shows values ranging between 0.224 and 0.496 for Chile and from 0.24 to 0.46 for Brazil. The results are similar to those obtained in other countries. The monofactorial structure of the scale is cinfirmed, also the adjustment to the scale structure to the data of the two samples and the comparability of means of global indices. The results suggest the existence of other well-being domains that had not been considered in the original proposal of the scale

An Atkinson-Gini family of social evaluation functions

We investigate the properties of a family of social evaluation functions and inequality indices which merge the features of the family of Atkinson (1970) and S-Gini (Donaldson and Weymark (1980, 1983), Yitzhaki (1983) and Kakwani (1980)) indices. Income inequality aversion is captured by decreasing marginal utilities, and aversion to rank inequality is captured by rank-dependent ethical weights, thus providing an ethically-flexible dual basis for the assessment of inequality and equity. These ocial evaluation functions can be interpreted as average utility corrected for the illfare of relative deprivation. They can alternatively be understood as averages of altruistic well-being in a population. They moreover have a simple graphical interpretation.