Mentoring During the College Years: A Lifelong Predictor of Life Satisfaction, Coping With Stress, and a Sense of Calling

Alcohol Use Disorders and the Use of Treatment Services Among College-Age Young Adults

This study investigates the prevalence of ‘Seeking God's Help’, its relation to time since diagnosis, and its association with Life Satisfaction for all cancer types. This study also investigates Disease-Specific Quality of Life (QoL: European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer modules) for patients with breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers. Data were obtained from the third wave of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study of Norway (HUNT-3; 2006-2008), with 2,086 cancer patients identified by the Cancer Registry of Norway and 6,258 cancer-free controls. Our results indicate a higher prevalence of ‘Seeking God's Help’ after a shorter time since diagnosis among men. No association was observed in multivariate analyses between ‘Seeking God's Help’ and ‘Life Satisfaction’ or ‘Disease-Specific QoL’ in long-term cancer survivors. Longitudinal investigations are needed to elucidate the relationship between the ‘Seeking God's Help’ variable and Life Satisfaction and Disease-Specific QoL among cancer patients in a Norwegian context.

Purpose: This study investigated beliefs about the physical education (PE) profession of Chinese preservice physical education teachers (PPETs). Methods: Chinese PPETs (N = 660) from six universities participated in the study. Data were collected using a prevalidated survey—a scale of measuring Chinese PPETs’ beliefs about the PE profession, which consists of two domains: a sense of calling and the value of the PE profession. Analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance were used to examine the differences in overall beliefs and the two subdomains by gender and year in college, respectively. Results: The overall beliefs were positive. The sense of calling and value of the PE profession varied significantly by the year in college. Senior students had the lowest score in value of the PE profession, whereas sophomores showed the lowest score in sense of calling. Conclusions: PE teacher education programs had limited effects on changing Chinese PPET beliefs about the PE profession.

Although intrinsic motivating factors play important roles in physician well-being and productivity, most studies have focused on extrinsic motivating factors such as salary and work environment. To examine the association of intrinsic motivators with physicians' career satisfaction, life satisfaction, and clinical commitment, while accounting for established extrinsic motivators as well. A nationally representative survey of 2000 US physicians, fielded October to December 2011. Outcome variables were five measures of physician well-being: career satisfaction, life satisfaction, high life meaning, commitment to direct patient care, and commitment to clinical practice. Primary explanatory variables were sense of calling, personally rewarding hours per day, meaningful, long-term relationships with patients, and burnout. Multivariate logit models with survey design provided nationally representative individual-level estimates. Among 1289 respondents, 85.8% and 86.5% were satisfied with their career and life, respectively; 88.6% had high life meaning; 54.5% and 79.5% intended to retain time in direct patient care and continue clinical practice, respectively. Sense of calling was strongly positively associated with high life meaning (odds ratio [OR] 5.14, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 2.87-9.19) and commitment to direct patient care (OR 2.50, 95% CI 1.53-4.07). Personally rewarding hours per day were most strongly associated with career satisfaction (OR 5.28, 95% CI 2.72-10.2), life satisfaction (OR 4.46, 95% CI 2.34-8.48), and commitment to clinical practice (OR 3.46, 95% CI 1.87-6.39). Long-term relationships with patients were positively associated with career and life satisfaction and high life meaning. Burnout was strongly negatively associated with all measures of physician well-being. Intrinsic motivators (e.g., calling) were associated with each measure of physician well-being (satisfaction, meaning, and commitment), but extrinsic motivators (e.g., annual income) were not associated with meaning or commitment. Understanding the effects of intrinsic motivators may help inform efforts to support physician well-being.

A sense of calling is an established predictor of both career-related and general well-being, but little is known about the mechanisms that link calling’s specific dimensions (i.e., transcendent summons, purposeful work, prosocial orientation) to criterion variables such as life satisfaction. This study investigated hypothesized pathways through which perceiving a calling’s dimensions are associated with life satisfaction among a sample of 607 undergraduate students. We used path analysis to examine a serial multiple mediation model in which relationships of calling’s dimensions with life satisfaction were mediated through career development variables (i.e., vocational identity and occupational self-efficacy) and, in turn, eudaimonic and hedonic well-being variables (i.e., meaning in life and subjective happiness). Supporting our hypotheses, transcendent summons’ link with life satisfaction was mediated through vocational identity and, in turn, meaning in life and subjective happiness. Also, in line with hypotheses, purposeful work and prosocial orientation’s associations with life satisfaction were mediated through occupational self-efficacy and, in turn, meaning in life and subjective happiness. These results illuminate mechanisms through which perceiving a calling’s dimensions may influence eudaimonic and hedonic well-being, and through these variables, life satisfaction, which future research may examine further using longitudinal methods. Further implications for research and practice are discussed.

The present study examined the role of goals in the relation between calling and life satisfaction in a diverse, adult sample. Building off the self-concordance model of goal progress, the current study explored whether career goal self-efficacy (CGSE) mediated the relation between calling and life satisfaction and whether this mediation was moderated by intrinsic, extrinsic, self-transcendence, or physical self goal aspirations. We found CGSE to partially mediate the relation between calling and life satisfaction. Additionally, self-transcendence goals and physical self goals moderated this mediation such that, for people high in calling, the mediation only existed for those with high self-transcendence goals or low physical self goals. These results suggest that people with callings may need to have self-transcendence goals and avoid physical self goals in order for the confidence in their ability to achieve career goals to mediate the relation between their sense of calling and life satisfaction. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to test if the effects of a self-directed career attitude on career and life satisfaction are mediated by a person’s sense of calling and moderated by job insecurity in a sample of Chinese employees.Design/methodology/approach– Among a sample of Chinese employees (n=263), in this paper, a moderated mediation analysis with bootstrapping was applied to test the hypotheses.Findings– The results showed that calling mediates the effects of a self-directed career attitude on career satisfaction and life satisfaction. Job insecurity moderated the effect on life satisfaction but not on career satisfaction. The effect on life satisfaction were stronger under higher levels of job insecurity.Research limitations/implications– These results suggest that a self-directed career attitude may help people develop a calling, which in turn relates to increased subjective career success and well-being. In addition, the notion of a calling may be especially important for well-being in unstable job circumstances.Originality/value– This study is the first to explore a calling and a self-directed career attitude in a sample of Chinese employees. Corresponding to contemporary China’s rapidly changing context of economy and career development, a self-directed career orientation plays an important role in Chinese employees’ calling and subjective career success.

Links between young adults’ sense of calling, career outcome expectations, and self-efficacy were examined in a sample of 855 undergraduate students from three universities in Atlantic Canada. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that participants’ presence of and search for calling accounted for a small, but significant, portion of the variance in career outcome expectations. Mediation analysis, conducted separately for each subdimension of calling, revealed that self-efficacy partially mediated the relation between purposeful work and outcome expectations, and fully mediated the relation for the calling dimensions of search for purposeful work, presence of transcendent summons, and presence of a prosocial orientation. The pattern of findings suggests that the relation between sense of calling and expectations for a successful future occupational outcome is predominantly indirect, working through influencing students’ occupational self-efficacy.

COVID-19 has fundamentally altered the world, significantly affecting people's health and quality of life. These changes may have impacted young adults' physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB). This study aims to explore lifestyle changes among young adults, particularly focusing on the relationship between physical activity, sedentary behavior, and life satisfaction before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve this, we analyzed two surveys carried out in 2018 and 2024. A total of 799 participants were recruited for this age group, with 279 in 2018 and 520 in 2024. We employed T-tests, Pearson's Chi-square tests, Mann-Whitney tests, and ordinal linear regression to uncover associations between physical activity and sitting time across the two periods, alongside various socio-demographic factors and predictors of life satisfaction. Our results reveal notable trends and changes in physical activity levels and sitting times among young adults in Hungary between 2018 and 2024. The most striking changes occurred in IPAQ (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) categorical scores, indicating a shift in activity levels across several demographic groups. The level of physical activity increased for both male and female respondents, residents of county seats and cities, as well as those living in relationships. In 2018, young Hungarian adults who maintained a balance of physical activity-including cycling, some home-based physical work, and limited sitting time-tended to report higher life satisfaction. In 2024, an interesting pattern emerged regarding leisure activities: individuals who engaged in very hard exercise during their free time reported varying levels of life satisfaction. Those who never engaged in very hard exercise or did so only once a week reported lower satisfaction compared to those who exercised daily. This finding aligns with existing research on the mental health benefits of regular intense physical activity. Furthermore, individuals whose physical activity was primarily work-related reported significantly lower life satisfaction compared to those whose physical activity was primarily leisure-related. This suggests that the context of physical activity is crucial in determining its impact on life satisfaction.

In response to the need to identify positive measures that more accurately describe physician wellness, this study seeks to assess the validity of a novel joy in practice measure using validated physician well-being measures and test its association with certain intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Secondary data analysis using a nationally representative dataset of 2000 US physicians, fielded October-December 2011. Multivariable logistic models with survey design provided nationally representative individual-level estimates. Primary outcome variables included joy in practice (enthusiasm, fulfillment, and clinical stamina in an after-hours setting). Secondary outcomes were validated measures of physician well-being such as job and life satisfaction and life meaning. Primary explanatory variables were sense of calling, number of personally rewarding hours per day, long-term relationships with patients, and burnout. The survey response rate was 64.5% (1289/2000). Physicians who demonstrated joy in practice were most likely to report high life satisfaction (odds ratio [OR] 2.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.52-4.98) and high life meaning (OR 2.62, 95% CI 1.41-4.85). Joy in practice was strongly associated with having a sense of calling (OR 10.8, 95% CI 2.21-52.8) and ≥ 7.5 personally rewarding hours per day (OR 3.75, 95% CI 1.51-9.36); meanwhile, it was negatively associated with burnout (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.14-0.51). Extrinsic factors such as specialty, practice setting, and annual income were not significantly associated with joy in practice in most regressions. The joy in practice measure shows preliminary promise as a positive marker of well-being, highlighting the need for future interventions that support physicians' intrinsic motivators and foster joy in one's practice.

The aim of this study was to measure the levels of general life satisfaction among Finnish young adults, and to clarify the way in which life satisfaction is constructed. In order to explore these aims, the following research questions were specified: (1) What is the level of general life satisfaction among young Finnish adults?, (2) Which factors in young adults’ phase of life and social surroundings are related to their life satisfaction?, (3) Is it possible to find distinct groups of young adults among whom life satisfaction can be seen as differently constructed? If so, in what way are those groups different from each other? What kinds of factors are related to group members’ life satisfaction? The data for the study were gathered via a questionnaire. The subjects consisted of 192 Finnish young adults born in 1968, living throughout the country. The results showed the level of life satisfaction among Finnish young adults to be similar to that of the Finnish population in general. The two main factors underlying life satisfaction were found to be social relation-ships and factors related to working-life contexts. In addition, the study identified five distinct groups (three groups of women, two groups of men) which differed from each other, both in their levels of life satisfaction and in the factors underlying life satisfaction. The groups varied in the importance for life satisfaction that they attached to marital partnerships, friends, health, and hobbies. The results were seen as supporting the assumption that life satisfaction is a socially constructed phenomenon.

This paper investigates the Gen Z counter-demographic of the religious nones on college and university campuses by focusing on BIPOC students and the stories that they tell about why they actively engage in evangelical campus ministries during their college years. This is carried out by being attentive to the racially segregated campus ministry context and the preponderance of “white spaces” in colleges and universities, including in campus ministries. Data for this study come from the Landscape Study of Chaplaincy and Campus Ministry (LSCCM 2019–2022) in the United States. Like other students in campus ministries, we find that BIPOC students who are “churched” with a Christian upbringing seek out campus ministries that function as a “home away from home”, where they can find authentic belonging—genuine connections and acceptance among like-minded Christians. For BIPOC students, however, this search for authentic belonging included a search for a campus ministry where they could be “safe and seen” for both their ethnoracial and Christian selves.

Mentoring During the College Years: A Lifelong Predictor of Life Satisfaction, Coping with Stress, and a Sense of Calling

Objectives This study investigated (1) whether there are differences in life satisfaction levels between young adults (YA) and older adults (OA), and (2) which factors are associated with life satisfaction in these groups. Method 279 United Kingdom (UK) participants were included (166 YA aged 19–25 years and 113 OA aged 60–94 years). Participants completed an online questionnaire examining life satisfaction and its associated factors: health status, purpose in life, social support, environment, financial well-being, and religiosity. T-tests, correlational, and regression analyses were conducted. Results Life satisfaction was significantly higher in OA than YA. The regression analyses revealed that purpose in life and mental health were the only variables which were significantly associated with life satisfaction in both YA and OA. In YA, social support and health perception were also significantly associated with life satisfaction, whilst for OA it was improved role functioning. Conclusion Techniques to increase purpose in life and improve mental health should be incorporated into life satisfaction interventions for both age groups, but addressing the distinct needs of different age groups may help to improve interventions for life satisfaction.

Cost Effectiveness of Meningococcal Serogroup B Vaccination in College-Aged Young Adults