Can the internet improve the well-being of the elderly?

In this paper we report on a project that aimed to evaluate the potential of the Internet to reduce social isolation amongst the elderly, and thereby, improve psychosocial functioning. Twenty residents of a retirement village volunteered to be given access to, and training in, the use of computers and the Internet. After 3 months, they exhibited little change in measures of self-esteem, positive affect, personal well-being, optimism and social connectedness. However, they reported that they found the use of the Internet to be of great benefit. Over the 12 months of the study 12 participants discontinued their involvement for a variety of reasons. After 12 months, the eight participants who remained in the study again reported a range of positive outcomes however, quantitative survey data did not confirm these findings of a generally-positive experience. This discrepancy between the qualitative (interview) data and the quantitative (survey) data suggests that impact of the Internet on the wellbeing of the elderly may be more complex than suggested, and broader than was assessed psychometrically. We make specific recommendations about the introduction of computers to elderly with care both in how participants are selected and how their well being is monitored subsequently.

Associations between fruit and vegetable intake, leisure-time physical activity, sitting time and self-rated health among older adults : cross-sectional data from the WELL study

Background
Lifestyle behaviours, such as healthy diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, are key elements of healthy ageing and important modifiable risk factors in the prevention of chronic diseases. Little is known about the relationship between these behaviours in older adults. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake, leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and sitting time (ST), and their association with self-rated health in older adults.

Methods
This cross-sectional study comprised 3,644 older adults (48% men) aged 55-65 years, who participated in the Wellbeing, Eating and Exercise for a Long Life ("WELL") study. Respondents completed a postal survey about their health and their eating and physical activity behaviours in 2010 (38% response rate). Spearman's coefficient (rho) was used to evaluate the relationship between F&V intake, LTPA and ST. Their individual and shared associations with self-rated health were examined using ordinal logistic regression models, stratified by sex and adjusted for confounders (BMI, smoking, long-term illness and socio-demographic characteristics).

Results
The correlations between F&V intake, LTPA and ST were low. F&V intake and LTPA were positively associated with self-rated health. Each additional serving of F&V or MET-hour of LTPA were associated with approximately 10% higher likelihood of reporting health as good or better among women and men. The association between ST and self-rated health was not significant in the multivariate analysis. A significant interaction was found (ST*F&V intake). The effect of F&V intake on self-rated health increased with increasing ST in women, whereas the effect decreased with increasing ST in men.

Conclusion
This study contributes to the scarce literature related to lifestyle behaviours and their association with health indicators among older adults. The findings suggest that a modest increase in F&V intake, or LTPA could have a marked effect on the health of older adults. Further research is needed to fully understand the correlates and determinants of lifestyle behaviours, particularly sitting time, in this age group.

The influence of instructor support, family support and psychological capital on the well-being of postgraduate students: a moderated mediation model

The influence of instructor support, family support and psychological capital (PsyCap) on the subjective well-being of postgraduate business students, including whether PsyCap mediates the proposed support – well-being relationship were examined in this study. It was further investigated whether family support moderates this proposed mediated relationship. Direct positive relationships between instructor support and well-being, and between PsyCap and well-being were found. It was also found that PsyCap mediates the instructor support – well-being relationship. Finally, it was found that family support moderates this mediated relationship in such a way that the relationship is stronger among students with lower levels of family support.

Volunteering and well-being : do self-esteem, optimism, and perceived control mediate the relationship?

Volunteers play a vital role in modern societies by boosting the labor force within both the public and private sectors. While the factors that may lead people to volunteer have been investigated in a number of studies, the means by which volunteering contributes to the well-being of such volunteers is poorly understood. It has been suggested through studies that focus on the absence of depression in volunteers that self-esteem and sense of control may be major determinants of the increased well-being reported by volunteers. This is consistent with the homeostatic model of subjective well-being, which proposes that self-esteem, optimism, and perceived control act as buffers that mediate the relationship between environmental experience and subjective well-being (SWB). Using personal well-being as a more positive measure of well-being than absence of depression, this study further explored the possible mediating role of self-esteem, optimism, and perceived control in the relationship between volunteer status and well-being. Participants (N = 1,219) completed a 97-item survey as part of the Australian Unity Wellbeing project. Variables measured included personal well-being, self-esteem, optimism, and a number of personality and psychological adjustment factors. Analyses revealed that perceived control and optimism, but not self-esteem, mediated the relationship between volunteer status and personal well-being.

Assessing the validity of impact pathways for child labour and well-being in social life cycle assessment

Background, aim and scope: Assuming that the goal of social life cycle assessment (SLCA) is to assess damage and benefits on its ‘area of protection’ (AoP) as accurately as possible, it follows that the impact pathways, describing the cause effect relationship between indicator and the AoP, should have a consistent theoretical foundation so the inventory results can be associated with a predictable damage or benefit to the AoP. This article uses two concrete examples from the work on SLCA to analyse to what extent this is the case in current practice. One considers whether indicators included in SLCA approaches can validly assess impacts on the well-being of the stakeholder, whereas the other example addresses whether the ‘incidence of child labour’ is a valid measure for impacts on the AoPs.

Materials and methods: The theoretical basis for the impact pathway between the relevant indicators and the AoPs is analysed drawing on research from relevant scientific fields.

Results:   The examples show a lack of valid impact pathways in both examples. The first example shows that depending on the definition of ‘well-being’, the assessment of impacts on well-being of the stakeholder cannot be performed exclusively with the type of indicators which are presently used in SLCA approaches. The second example shows that the mere fact that a child is working tells little about how this may damage or benefit the AoPs, implying that the normally used indicator; ‘incidence of child labour’ lacks validity in relation to predicting damage or benefit on the AoPs of SLCA.

Discussion: New indicators are proposed to mitigate the problem of invalid impact pathways. However, several problems arise relating to difficulties in getting data, the usability of the new indicators in management situations, and, in relation to example one, boundary setting issues.

Conclusions: The article shows that it is possible to assess the validity of the impact pathways in SLCA. It thereby point to the possibility of utilising the same framework that underpins the environmental LCA in this regard. It also shows that in relation to both of the specific examples investigated, the validity of the impact pathways may be improved by adopting other indicators, which does, however, come with a considerable ‘price’.

Recommendations and perspectives: It is argued that there is a need for analysing impact pathways of other impact categories often included in SLCA in order to establish indicators that better reflect actual damage or benefit to the AoPs.

Strong spiritual engagement and subjective well-being : a naturalistic investigation of the Thaipusam festival

The existence of a positive relationship between spiritual engagement and well-being is currently based on weak correlational evidence, generally in Western contexts. This study advances understanding through a naturalist, longitudinal study of 226 people, including Malays, Chinese, and Indians, experiencing the Hindu Thaipusam festival in Malaysia. We measured the subjective well-being of people with varying levels of engagement—from nonobservance or simply observing the festival to extreme engagement. Each person was assessed 3 months before, 2 weeks before, 2 weeks after, and 4 months after the festival. We found that the subjective well-being of those with the most extreme level of engagement was permanently higher than other groups. The well-being of those with a strong, but less extreme engagement rose at the time of the festival and remained elevated. The findings are discussed in relation to homeostatic theory of well-being and the potential benefits of spiritual engagement.

Intergenerational effects of the Holocaust : subjective well-being in the offspring of survivors

Offspring of Holocaust survivors have been the subject of much research into how traumatic events affect future generations. This study considers the effects of the Holocaust on the well-being rather than trauma of offspring of Holocaust survivors in Australia. 285 Jewish participants completed a questionnaire to measure components of subjective well-being. Analyses revealed that offspring of Holocaust survivors reported lower general positive mood than non-OHS. This result was limited to offspring of Holocaust survivors with two survivor parents. These findings imply that effects of the Holocaust are transmitted to nonclinical offspring of Holocaust survivors and that the number of survivor parents is a crucial determinant in understanding these transgenerational outcomes.

Transition to motherhood in type 1 diabetes : design of the pregnancy and postnatal well-being in transition questionnaires

Background : Life transitions are associated with high levels of stress affecting health behaviours among people with Type 1 diabetes. Transition to motherhood is a major transition with potential complications accelerated by pregnancy with risks of adverse childbirth outcomes and added anxiety and worries about pregnancy outcomes. Further, preparing and going through pregnancy requires vigilant attention to a diabetes management regimen and detailed planning of everyday activities with added stress on women. Psychological and social well-being during and after pregnancy are integral for good pregnancy outcomes for both mother and baby. The aim of this study is to establish the face and content validity of two novel measures assessing the well-being of women with type 1 diabetes in their transition to motherhood, 1) during pregnancy and 2) during the postnatal period.

Methods : The approach to the development of the Pregnancy and Postnatal Well-being in T1DM Transition questionnaires was based on a four-stage pre-testing process; systematic overview of literature, items development, piloting testing of questionnaire and refinement of questionnaire. The questionnaire was reviewed at every stage by expert clinicians, researchers and representatives from consumer groups. The cognitive debriefing approach confirmed relevance of issues and identified additional items.

Results : The literature review and interviews identified three main areas impacting on the women’s postnatal self-management; (1) psychological well-being; (2) social environment, (3) physical (maternal and fetal) well-being. The cognitive debriefing in pilot testing of the questionnaire identified that immediate postnatal period was difficult, particularly when the women were breastfeeding and felt depressed.

Conclusions : The questionnaires fill an important gap by systematically assessing the psychosocial needs of women with type 1 diabetes during pregnancy and in the immediate postnatal period. The questionnaires can be used in larger data collection to establish psychometric properties. The questionnaires potentially play a key role in prospective research to determine the self-management and psychological needs of women with type 1 diabetes transitioning to motherhood and to evaluate health education interventions.

The association between body image and psychological well-being in adult women

The findings of this thesis highlighted the role of functional aspects of body image (i.e., self-rated health/ fitness) in positively shaping the well-being of young and middle-aged women. A novel finding was the strong association found between women’s body image and how well they believed they managed their life situations.