Investigating a dynamic modular framework for subjective well-being

According to Diener (1984), the three primary components of subjective well-being (SWB) are high life satisfaction (LS), frequent positive affect (P A), and infrequent negative affect (NA). The present dissertation extends previous research and theorizing on SWB by testing an innovative framework developed by Shmotkin (2005) in which SWB is conceptualized as an agentic process that promotes and maintains positive functioning. Two key components ofShmotkin's framework were explored in a longitudinal study of university students. In Part 1, SWB was examined as an integrated system of components organized within individuals. Using cluster analysis, five distinct configurations of LS, P A, and NA were identified at each wave. Individuals' SWB configurations were moderately stable over time, with the highest and lowest stabilities observed among participants characterized by "high SWB" and "low SWB" configurations, respectively. Changes in SWB configurations in the direction of a high SWB pattern, and stability among participants already characterized by high SWB, coincided with better than expected mental, physical, and interpersonal functioning over time. More positive levels of functioning and improvements in functioning over time discriminated among SWB configurations. However, prospective effects of SWB configurations on subsequent functioning were not observed. In Part 2, subjective temporal perspective "trajectories" were examined based on individuals' ratings of their past, present, and anticipated future LS. Upward subjective LS trajectories were normative at each wave. Cross-sectional analyses revealed consistent associations between upward subjective trajectories and lower levels of LS, as well as less positive mental, physical, and interpersonal functioning. Upward subjective LS trajectories were biased both with respect to underestimation of past LS and overestimation of future LS, demonstrating their illusional nature. Further, whereas more negative retrospective bias was associated with greater current distress and dysfunction, more positive prospective bias was associated with less positive functioning in the future. Prospective relations, however, were not consistently observed. Thus, steep upward subjective LS trajectory appeared to be a form of wishful-thinking, rather than an adaptive form of selfenhancement. Major limitations and important directions for future research are considered. Implications for Shmotkin's (2005) framework, and for research on SWB more generally, also are discussed

The light and dark sides of perfectionism : implications for health and well-being

The present work presents two studies that examined the association of perfectionism, operationally defined by Hewi t t and Fl e t t ' s (1991) multidimensional mode l of perfectionism, with health and subjective well-being (SWB). The underlying question of this research was whether perfectionism could be beneficial as well as detrimental to health and well-being, as this is one of the mos t highly debated questions in the current literature. In samples of relatively healthy university students (n = 538) and community adults suffering from various chronic illnesses (n = 772), results from Study One indicated that socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) is directly associated wi th poor e r he a l th and well-being. Results further showed f rom a personcentered perspective that there is a l a rge group of individuals wi th high levels of SPP and that i t is indeed these individuals who reported the poorest health and lowe s t levels of well-being. Other-oriented perfectionism was found to be unrelated to health and SWB. Findings revealed that when perfectionism is self-imposed (i.e., self-oriented perfectionism; SOP), i t is neither healthy nor unhealthy in an absolute sense. From the variable-centered perspective, this conclusion was supported by the f a c t tha t SOP was associated wi th both positive (e.g., be t t e r mental health and highe r levels of SWB in the student sample), and nega t ive correlates (e.g., higher levels of negative affect, stress, and neuroticism in both samples). Evidence f rom the chronically-ill sample further substantiated this conclusion by showing that there may be an optimal level of SOP, because mode r a t e levels of SOP we r e found to be associated with be t t e r health and highe r levels of SWB, whereas levels tha t we r e too low or too high we r e found to be associated with poor e r health and lowe r levels of SWB. Findings f rom the person-centered approach we r e particularly informative, in that they not only demonstrated tha t unique profiles of

Turning points : meaning-making and its association with psychological well-being, academic achievement and parental relationship quality among adolescents

There is substantial research linking meaning-making ability and psychological well-being in the context of turning point events. Still, an important research question remains: whether individuals who report meaning-making and psychological well-being were already better adjusted psychologically, prior to the experience of their turning point. In addition, the role of meaning-making on academic achievement and parental relationship quality has received little empirical attention although both variables have been shown to be positively associated with positive adjustment among adolescents. This longitudinal study examined differences in psychological well-being, academic achievement, and parental relationship quality between adolescents who reported meaning-making (lessons or insights) and those who reported no meaning-making within their turning point narratives. Participants were 803 (52% female) grade 12 adolescents, 26% (N = 209) of whom had reported experiencing a turning point. Participants also completed measures on the outcome variables (psychological well-being, academic achievement, and parental relationship quality) 3 years prior, when they were in grade 9. MANOVA results indicated that, of the participants who experienced a turning point, adolescents who reported meaning-making reported significantly higher psychological wellbeing and more positive parental relationship quality than adolescents who reported no meaningmaking. Importantly, these two groups did not differ on the outcome variables prior to their experience of a turning point event when they were in grade 9. Academic achievement scores did not differ significantly between adolescents who reported meaning-making and those who reported no meaning-making. These findings highlight the importance of meaning-making in relation to positive adjustment subsequent to a turning point among adolescents.

Student Perspectives of the Context of Recess; Implications for Student Well-Being

With most students in Canada spending approximately 180 days a year in school, averaging more than six hours a day (Morrison & Kirby, 2011), Wei, Szumilas and Kutcher (2011) argue that this places educational institutions in an unique position in terms of influencing the health and well-being of students. This brings forth the need for school environments to be utilized in ways that are conducive to promoting student development. Much of the educational and developmental components embedded within the school system as well as experiences within greatly influence student’s health and well-being. A national statement was made a concerning American children’s education and mental health that is greatly applicable to the Canadian school system. It was stated that schools “must be active partners in the mental health care of our children” because of the “important interplay between emotional health and school success” (Lazarus & Sulkowski, 2011, pp. 15-16). This identifies the need to ensure that all students, as much as possible, are being provided with safe environments and sufficient support in order to encourage positive developmental trajectories of student health and well-being.

Does a structured gardening programme improve well-being In young-onset dementia? A preliminary study

Introduction: Young onset dementia (YOD) affects about 1 in 1500 people aged under 65 years in the UK. It is associated with loss of employment, independence and an increase in psychological distress. This project set out to identify the benefits of a 2 hour week) structured activity programme of gardening for people with YOD. Method: A mixed qualitative quantitative study of therapeutic gardening for people with YOD, measuring outcomes for both participants with YOD and their carers. 12 participants were recruited from a county wide older adults mental health service, based on onset of dementia being before 65 years of age(range 43-65 years). 2 dropped out and 1 died during the project. Measures included the Mini Mental State Examination, Bradford Well Being Profile, Large Allen Cognitive Level Screen and Pool Activity Level. Results: Over a one year period the carers of the people with YOD found that the project had given participants a renewed sense of purpose and increased well-being. while cognitive functioning declined. Conclusions: This study suggests that a meaningful guided activity programme can maintain or improve well-being in the presence of cognitive deterioration.

The relationship between size of living space and subjective well-being

Against a background of shrinking new homes and forebodings of “rabbit hutch Britain”, the relationship between size of living space and subjective well-being has never been more topical in the UK. Using the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and fixed effects regressions, this paper is the first to examine this relationship comprehensively. Two pathways are proposed between space and subjective well-being. First, space facilitates values and activities. Second, space signals wealth which in turn influences social status. It is proposed that wealth is a more important determinant of status for men than women, and that pathway two is therefore gendered. Part one of the paper examines the effect of a change in number of rooms per person on housing satisfaction and subjective well-being in the BHPS as a whole. Despite having a similar effect on the housing satisfaction of both genders, an increase in living space has only a (weak) positive linear effect on the life satisfaction and mental health of men. This suggests that space affects subjective well-being through pathway two, status. Part two of the paper tracks the housing satisfaction and subjective well-being over time of those individuals who move for “larger accommodation”. Consistent with various theories of adaptation, housing satisfaction increases in the year of the move; then decreases slightly before levelling out. Moving for “larger accommodation” has no positive impact on subjective well-being. Overall the results imply a weak positive relationship between size of living space and subjective well-being, but only for men.

Playing their part: the role of physical activity and sport in sustaining the health and well being of small rural communities

It is widely recognised that the health of rural Australians is poor in comparison with their urban counterparts. Similarly, the role played by physical activity in maintaining health has been well researched and is well documented. However, little appears to have been published in recent years about the links between physical activity and health in rural communities. The objective of this article was to begin to address that gap. To achieve this, the article drew on research conducted in two small rural communities in Victoria Australia, and highlighted the role that physical activity and sport played in sustaining the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities in rural areas. Taking the World Health Organisation's definition of health (a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease) as its measure, the paper highlighted the many ways in which physical activity and sport in rural communities contribute to physical health, mental wellbeing and social cohesiveness. Based this finding, the authors suggest that physical activity and sport make a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of rural people and their communities and suggest that further research is necessary to better define this apparent contribution.

Promoting the health and well being of older carers : a proactive strategy

Research has indicated that carers are concerned about their ageing status, their deteriorating health and their ability to continue to care for their dependants. Given that the health care system will become increasingly reliant on carers the health care needs of carers should be a concern for all health care professionals. This paper describes the first stage of a project designed to enhance older carers health promotion knowledge and skills and improve their health promoting behaviours. This stage investigated the mental and physical health status of older carers. It also sought information on older carers' levels of participation in health related and social activities and identification of barriers to participation in these types of activities. The results highlighted that carers responding to the survey experienced compromised physical and mental health. Many carers reported being unable to participate in social and health-type activities as they were unable to leave the care recipient. Of note, is that carers identified their own mental fragility and felt they needed further emotional support.

Health and well-being naturally: 'contact with nature' in health promotion for targeted individuals, communities and populations

Issue addressed: The increase in mental health disorders worldwide makes it important to recognise health promotion interventions that are effective, accessible and affordable. Although natural spaces are coming to be recognised as health-promoting settings for general populations, little is understood about the use of nature contact in treatment and care for individuals experiencing ill-health.

Methods: This paper provides a summary of key research findings and presents a case study examining the self reported health and well-being benefits of nature contact for a small clinical sample. The 'Spectrum of Interventions for Mental Health Problems and Mental Disorders' provides a conceptual framework for ordering current and future information relating to nature-based interventions.

Results: Evidence demonstrates that separately, physical activity, social connection, and contact with nature enhance human health and well-being. The case example illustrates how 'active', 'social' and 'adventurous' contact with nature may be combined within a treatment intervention to protect and enhance the health of individuals experiencing chronic mental, emotional and physical health difficulties.

Conclusions: 'Contact with nature' constitutes a health promotion strategy with potential application in prevention, early intervention, treatment and care. Recommendations include further research to investigate the benefits of nature contact within existing interventions, and the impacts of 'active' and 'social' nature contact within tailored interventions for targeted individuals and communities.

The health and well-being of adolescents: a school-based population study of the self-report child health questionnaire

Purpose: To evaluate a new generic measure of adolescent health status, the self-report version of the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ), and provide population-based data. Furthermore, we aimed to examine the impact of common adolescent illness and health concerns on their health and well-being.

Methods: A stratified, two-stage, random cluster sampling design was used to obtain a cross-sectional sample of subjects through schools. A written questionnaire included the 80-item 12-scale self-report CHQ and items measuring health concerns, illnesses/health conditions, and sociodemographics.

Results: A total of 2361 adolescents participated (response rate of 70%). Reliability was high: Tests of internal consistency and discriminant validity reported 90% of item-scale correlations >.4; all scales had Cronbach alpha coefficients >.7. Adolescents with illnesses/conditions or health concerns reported lower scores and larger differences for content-related scales, supporting content and construct validity. Statistically significant age and gender trends were observed for Mental Health, Self-Esteem, General Health, and Family Cohesion scales. Health status worsened as health concerns increased (X2 linear trend, p = .00) with deterioration in health of 5–20% on all scales for emotional health concerns (40% of sample).

Conclusions: The self-report CHQ is a reliable and seemingly valid measure of health and well-being for adolescent health research, although additional measures may be required where scales have high ceiling values. The significantly lower scores reported by adolescents with illness and/or health concerns lend support to the use of standardized health measures and longitudinal research to further examine the impact of adolescent comorbidities and their causal determinants.

Agreement between adolescent self-report and parent reports of health and well-being: results of an epidemiological study.

Objective To examine parent and adolescent agreement on physical, emotional, mental and social health and well-being in a representative population.
Methodology An epidemiological design was used to obtain parent–child/adolescent dyad data on comparable items and scales of a generic measure of health and well-being, the Child Health Questionnaire (parent/proxy report 50 item, self-report 80 item). Scale analysis included intraclass correlations (ICCs) to examine strength of parent–child associations and independent t-tests for differences between adolescents (with or without an illness). Where there were significant differences in scale scores, analysis of variance and two sample t-tests were used to examine the influence of social, demographic, health concern and school variables. Single items were examined for trends in response categories.
Results 2096 parent–adolescent dyads (adolescent mean age of 15.1 years, males 50%, maternal parent 83.2%, biological parent 93.5%). ICCs were strong. Overall, adolescents reported poorer emotional and social health, and clinically significant differences were observed for perceptions of general health (mean difference 8.1/100), frequency and amount of body pain (5.94/100), experience of mental health (5.14/100), and impact of health on family activities (12.43/100), which widen significantly for adolescents with illness. Social, health and school enjoyment and performance significantly widened parent–child differences.
Conclusions All adolescents were much less optimistic about their health and well-being than their parents, and were only in close agreement on aspects of health and well-being they rated highly. Adolescent reports are more likely to be sensitive to pain, mental health problems, health in general and the impact of their health on family activities.

The impact of childhood conditions and concurrent morbidities on child health and well-being

Background. Understanding the impact of illnesses and morbidities experienced by children and adolescents is essential to clinical and population health programme decision making and intervention research. This study sought to: (1) examine the population prevalence of physical and mental health conditions for children and quantify their impact on multiple dimensions of children's health and well-being; and (2) examine the cumulative effect of concurrent conditions.

Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional school-based epidemiological study of 5414 children and adolescents aged 5–18 years, and examined parental reports of child health and well-being using the parent-report Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) PF50 13 scales are scored on a 0–100 pt scale with clinically meaningful differences of five points and the presence of childhood conditions (illnesses and health problems).

Results. Asthma, dental, vision and allergies are the most commonly identified health problems for children and adolescents, followed by attention- and behaviour-related problems (asthma 17.9–23.2%, dental 11.9–22.7%, vision 7.2–14.7%, chronic allergies 8.8–13.9%, attention problems 5.1–13.8% and behaviour problems 5.7–12.0%). As the number of concurrent health problems increase, overall health and well-being decreases substantively with mean differences in CHQ scale scores of 14 points (−7.69 to −21.51) for physical health conditions, and 28 points (−5.15 to −33.81) for mental health conditions.

Conclusions. Children's health and well-being decreases linearly with increasing presence and frequency of health problems. Having three or more conditions concurrently significantly burdens children's health and well-being, particularly for family-related CHQ domains, with a greater burden experienced for mental health conditions than physical health conditions.

The effect of tai chi on psychosocial well-being : a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Objective : This systematic review aimed to critically appraise published clinical trials designed to assess the effect of Tai Chi on psychosocial well-being.

Data Sources : Databases searched included MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, HEALT, PsycINFO, CISCOM, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials of the Cochrane Library, and dissertations and conference proceedings from inception to August 2008.

Review Methods : Methodological quality was assessed using a modified Jadad scale. A total of 15 studies met the inclusion criteria (i.e. English publications of randomized controlled trials with Tai Chi as an intervention and psychological well-being as an outcome measure), of which eight were high quality trials. The psychosocial outcomes measured included anxiety (eight studies), depression (eight studies), mood (four studies), stress (two studies), general mental health three studies), anger, positive and negative effect, self-esteem, life satisfaction, social interaction and self-rated health (one study each).

Results : Tai Chi intervention was found to have a significant effect in 13 studies, especially in the management of depression and anxiety. Although the results seemed to suggest Tai Chi is effective, they should be interpreted cautiously as the quality of the trials varied substantially. Furthermore, significant findings were shown in only six high quality studies. Moreover, significant between group differences after Tai Chi intervention was demonstrated in only one high quality study (the other three significant results were observed in non-high quality studies). Two high quality studies in fact found no significant Tai Chi effects.

Conclusion : It is still premature to make any conclusive remarks on the effect of Tai Chi on psychosocial well-being.

Electronic media use and adolescent health and well-being : cross-sectional community study

Objective : To describe time adolescents spend using electronic media (television, computer, video games, and telephone); and to examine associations between self-reported health/well-being and daily time spent using electronic media overall and each type of electronic media.

Methods : Design–Cross-sectional data from the third (2005) wave of the Health of Young Victorians Study, an Australian school-based population study. Outcome Measures–Global health, health-related quality of life (HRQoL; KIDSCREEN), health status (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0; PedsQL), depression/anxiety (Kessler-10), and behavior problems (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). Exposure Measures–Duration of electronic media use averaged over 1 to 4 days recalled with the Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adolescents (MARCA) computerized time-use diary. Analysis–Linear and logistic regression; adjusted for demographic variables and body mass index z score.

Results : A total of 925 adolescents (mean ± standard deviation age, 16.1 ± 1.2 years) spent, on average, 3 hours 16 minutes per day using electronic media (television, 128 minutes per day; video games, 35; computers, 19; telephone, 13). High overall electronic media use was associated with poorer behavior, health status, and HRQoL. Associations with duration of specific media exposures were mixed; there was a favorable association between computer use (typing/Internet) and psychological distress, whereas high video game use was associated with poorer health status, HRQoL, global health, and depression/anxiety. Television and telephone durations were not associated with any outcome measure.

Conclusions : Despite television's associations with obesity, time spent in other forms of media use appear more strongly related to adolescent health and well-being. This study supports efforts to reduce high video game use and further exploration of the role of computers in health enhancement.

Subjective well-being maintenance

This thesis research examined the relationship between SWB and depression in the context of homeostasis theory. Results provide support for homeostasis as the SWB maintenance mechanism and strong support for conceptualising depression as a loss of SWB. Remarkable, results also indicate that some SWB measures outperform depression inventories in detecting depression. The portfolio uses attachment theory as a conceptual framework for understanding the contribution of attachment relationships to the development of borderline and antisocial personality pathology in children and adolescents. Four case studies are presented in illustration.