The Pursuit of Happiness: Briefly on Positive Mental Health, Well-Being, Trauma, and Resilience

BackgroundGlobally, promoting mental health and well-being among adolescents has become a public health priority, especially for adolescents living with a physical chronic condition (CC), as research suggests they may be more at risk of developing mental health co-morbidities. Valid and reliable instruments are needed to measure and better understand mental health and mental well-being among adolescents living with a CC. To this end, we reviewed studies reporting on mental health and well-being instruments used in adolescent populations living with a chronic physical condition/disease globally.MethodsWe used a systematic review method guided by PRISMA to identify assess mental health and mental well-being instruments used in adolescents living with a CC. In this instance, mental health instruments were defined as those representing negative domains of mental health (i.e. depression and anxiety) while mental well-being instruments included positive aspects of mental health (i.e. self-concept and resilience).ResultsWe identified 22 articles, which included 31 instruments that were used to measure either mental health (n = 8) or mental well-being (n = 15) or both (n = 8) in adolescents living with a CC. Of these, thirteen studies used a Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) scale to measure mental health and/or mental well-being. The KIDSCREEN questionnaires and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were identified as being frequently used across the 22 studies. Additionally, 7 out of the 31 instruments were disease specific, with 3 focusing on adolescents with diabetes. All the instruments were developed in high income countries and adapted for use in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes (n = 7) and HIV (n = 4) were researched in 11 out of 22 studies. Only eight studies were conducted in LMIC, of which four were in Africa.ConclusionsHRQoL instruments are useful in measuring mental health and well-being in adolescents living with a CC. However, relatively few valid measures of mental health and mental well-being for adolescents living with a CC exist, which accentuates the paucity of research on mental health and mental well-being of adolescents who are living with a CC. Specific measures need to be developed in and for LMICs where cultural contexts affect mental well-being in unique ways.Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42020186707.

In 2012, the United Nations [UN] passed a resolution to proclaim March 20th of every year as the International Day of Happiness, partly in recognition of the significance of happiness to humans and the UN economic agenda (United Nations, 2024). Through this action, the UN highlights the importance of happiness to well-being, creates better awareness about the value of the "happiness-well-being paradigm" to healthy living and encourages everyone to continue to pursue it.Although the pursuit of happiness has been a prime subject of interest to humans from time immemorial, it was not until recently that scientific research started to focus on exploring the multifaceted dimensions of happiness to better understand its contributions or relationship with well-being, quality of life and meaningful living (Medvedev & Landhuis, 2018). There is evidence to suggest that academic and research work on happiness is gaining traction, especially in the field of positive psychology and psychiatry to better understand its intersection with emotional well-being, quality of life and positive psychosocial characteristics (Jeste et al., 2015). In support of the benefits of equitable mental health services on happiness and well-being, this research topic consists of a collection of articles, highlighting interesting public mental health issues and provisions among different global populations to promote happy living and health for all. Specifically, the articles included in the research topic addressed diverse issues ranging from mental health burdens in diversified settings or populations and gaps in mental health services to interventions with potential benefits on well-being, and quality of life. Amin et al. addressed the extended impacts of caregiving for individuals with chronic mental illnesses on family caregivers in Iran. While all groups of caregivers recruited into the study expressed a perceived need for various forms of support, parents or children with families with chronic mental illness indicated a greater need for support. The most affected areas of need identified by family caregivers pertain to the need for better information about the illness, especially on how to care for their relatives, access social resources, use the available support and mitigate expressed emotion. Zhong et al. highlighted the burden and gap in mental health services among individuals with people living with vision disability in China. In their work among displaced individuals in Vanuatu, Nzayisenga et al. highlight the benefits of traditional, group and professional support to addressing public mental health needs among vulnerable and displaced people post-disaster. Conversely, the other papers explored the impacts of lifestyle and physical activities on mental well-being with some interesting findings identified. For example, in a cohort of college students in China, Zhang et al. showed that lifestyle behaviours and coping styles are both predictors of mental health. Similarly, Li et al. reported that frequent physical activity was linked with improvement in happiness via enhancement of mental and overall health conditions among people interviewed in the Chinese General Social Survey. Lastly, Keyes et al. noted that attendance of life sporting events was positively associated with improvement in subjective well-being and was protective against loneliness in a large sample study of individuals in the United Kingdom.Overall, the articles published in this research topic highlight important perspectives on multiple aspects of public mental health to revisit the major contributions of mental well-being to health and wellbeing. Addressing the gaps in mental health delivery with an equitable lens and the promotion of innovative strategies are critical for attaining global health and the pursuit of wellbeing and happiness for all.

<p>本研究目的在了解正負向指標篩檢心理健康型態集群分佈情形，是否符合Keyes主張以主觀幸福感與憂鬱症狀雙指標區分的完整心理健康模式。研究設計以心理健康BMI幸福感問卷、病人健康狀況憂鬱問卷，做為正負向指標篩檢工具，架構完整心理健康模式；以問卷調查法立意取樣739份樣本，經群集分析法作統計分群。結果能區分出有意義的四群集，包括擁有高幸福低憂鬱之完整圓滿心理健康型態的「心盛型」群集（46.28%）、不完整心理健康型態三個群集:「冷靜型」（低幸福低憂鬱之不完整心理亞健康型態，31.94%）、「奮戰型」（高幸福高憂鬱之不完整心理健康型態，11.10%）、「混沌型」（低幸福高憂鬱之不完整心理健康型態，10.69%）。低憂鬱者佔全體 78.22%，其中59.17%擁有高幸福而處於完整圓滿心理健康型態；高憂鬱者佔全體21.78%，其中50.93%擁有高幸福感。驗證了幸福感、憂鬱傾向作為正負向心理健康指標，篩檢完整或不完整心理健康型態。建議:（1）高憂鬱者參照「奮戰型」這群人高幸福感來源，藉由參與社團獲得人際支持、找到工作及收入來增加自我價值感；（2）「冷靜型」不能單看低憂鬱的心理健康篩檢，需提升「友善人際支持 正念情緒平穩 認同自我價值意義」之正向心理健康BMI幸福感，以獲得完整心理健康；（3）未來研究可依據正負向心理健康指標去發展心理健康素養能力，作為心理健檢與自主管理完整心理健康之用。</p> <p> </p><p>This study aimed to understand the cluster distribution of positive and negative indicators for screening mental health patterns and whether they conform to Keyes’ claim that positive and negative indicators should be included in the complete mental health state model. The positive mental health indicators included social, emotional, and psychological well-being, which should be measured using the Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF). Negative indicators measure the level of symptoms of mental illness concurrently, serving as a complete assessment of whether the individual is in a healthy state of positive and negative mental health indicators. Keyes employed these to distinguish four clusters of people with four mental health modes, of which the incomplete mental health cluster was in the state. Even if they have a negative mental illness, they could have positive mental health and well-being. Although some people do not have negative mental illness, they cannot have positive mental health and well-being. Therefore, Taiwanese scholar Li corresponded to these three well-being developments and selected three operational mental health skills: ""Befriend-Mindfulness-Identity"" as the Mental Health BMI Well-Being Index questionnaire (mBMI). After using them to evaluate 739 people, it was evident that the scores of the above two questionnaires were significantly correlated, and the mBMI questionnaire total score and Questions B, M, and I could effectively predict the total score, social, emotional, and psychological well-being of the MHC-SF, with a total explanatory power of 30.3%. This test should be used as a simple screening for well-being and as a positive mental health screening tool. Additionally, a Depression Scale Screening Tool for Negative Mental Health Depression was combined to explore the complete mental health state model of Taiwanese people. </p> <p> Therefore, in this study, the mBMI questionnaire was selected as a simple tool to measure positive mental health well-being, and the patients’ health questionnaire for depression was used as a screening tool for negative mental health indicators. These are used as positive and negative indicators to test whether a complete or incomplete mental health state model fits. The questionnaire survey method was used to deliberately sample the data from 739 valid samples, and the cluster analysis method was used for statistical grouping to verify its suitability. According to the results of the aforementioned positive and negative indicators, four meaningful clusters were distinguished, including one complete and three incomplete mental health models. One cluster was ""Flourishing type""(46.28%) of high well-being and low depression, which belonged to the complete mental health state model. The other three clusters were incomplete mental health state models. ""Fighting type"" (31.94%) of high well-being and high depression, ""Calm type"" (11.10%) of low well-being and low depression, and ""Chaos type"" (10.69%) of low well-being and high depression could fight for high well-being. It was verified that well-being and depression could be used as positive and negative mental health indicators to screen for complete or incomplete mental health state models. When we identified people with high depression, we encouraged them to refer to the source of high well-being of the ""fighting type"" group and increase their sense of self-worth by participating in clubs to obtain interpersonal support, find jobs, and earn income. We reminded the ""calm type"" people with low depression to promote their high well-being to have a complete mental health state. Finally, we monitored positive and negative indicators of mental health using screening tools of the Mental Health BMI Well-Being Index and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to screen for complete or incomplete mental health states as a reference for promoting positive and negative mental health. The befriend-mindfulness-identity skills should be improved to promote well-being and adjust depression to achieve complete mental health.</p> <p> </p>

Thriving beyond the stethoscope: Unveiling positive mental health among medical students at a University in South Africa

Nurses suffering in silence: Addressing the stigma of mental health in nursing and healthcare.

P-1007 - Positive maternal mental health: promoting resilience and wellbeing in perinatal women

BackgroundThere is increasing international interest in the concept of mental well-being and its contribution to all aspects of human life. Demand for instruments to monitor mental well-being at a population level and evaluate mental health promotion initiatives is growing. This article describes the development and validation of a new scale, comprised only of positively worded items relating to different aspects of positive mental health: the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS).MethodsWEMWBS was developed by an expert panel drawing on current academic literature, qualitative research with focus groups, and psychometric testing of an existing scale. It was validated on a student and representative population sample. Content validity was assessed by reviewing the frequency of complete responses and the distribution of responses to each item. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the hypothesis that the scale measured a single construct. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Criterion validity was explored in terms of correlations between WEMWBS and other scales and by testing whether the scale discriminated between population groups in line with pre-specified hypotheses. Test-retest reliability was assessed at one week using intra-class correlation coefficients. Susceptibility to bias was measured using the Balanced Inventory of Desired Responding.ResultsWEMWBS showed good content validity. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the single factor hypothesis. A Cronbach's alpha score of 0.89 (student sample) and 0.91 (population sample) suggests some item redundancy in the scale. WEMWBS showed high correlations with other mental health and well-being scales and lower correlations with scales measuring overall health. Its distribution was near normal and the scale did not show ceiling effects in a population sample. It discriminated between population groups in a way that is largely consistent with the results of other population surveys. Test-retest reliability at one week was high (0.83). Social desirability bias was lower or similar to that of other comparable scales.ConclusionWEMWBS is a measure of mental well-being focusing entirely on positive aspects of mental health. As a short and psychometrically robust scale, with no ceiling effects in a population sample, it offers promise as a tool for monitoring mental well-being at a population level. Whilst WEMWBS should appeal to those evaluating mental health promotion initiatives, it is important that the scale's sensitivity to change is established before it is recommended in this context.

To date, HCI for mental health has primarily responded to challenges in the treatment of mental illness, with a focus on therapy access and engagement. However, approaches to improving and protecting people's mental wellbeing have received less attention. Prompted by recent discussions in Western Healthcare and Psychology, we argue for a more holistic approach to promoting mental health that expands the field's focus to include strategies for enhancing mental wellbeing. A closer consideration of mental wellbeing can increase the effectiveness of mental health interventions, help in preventing mental illness and relapse, and extend our knowledge as to how we can support people to flourish as individuals and enhance their quality of life more generally. Our aim is to encourage more research on positive aspects of mental health in the treatment and care provision of people with mental health problems, and to support preventive approaches. To this end, the paper provides a comprehensive definition of mental wellbeing as positive emotional, psychological and social health; presents a review of HCI literature illustrating how the field is beginning to respond to the mental wellbeing agenda; and proposes avenues for future design and research in this area.

Caitlyn Donaldson, Policy Officer at the Royal Society for Public Health, looks at positive mental wellbeing and how it is being promoted through the work of the RSPH.Mental health and wellbeing is increasingly becoming key topic for the RSPH, and we support the recent NHS Mandate for England1 which states that there needs to be parity between mental and physical health, acknowledging that there can be 'No health without mental health'2The WHO defines mental health as a state of wellbeing in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make contribution to his or her community. As in the WHO's definition of health (a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity) mental health is not just the absence of illness, but requires an additional positive 'something' to be present in the individual. Thus, the concept of an individual's mental health state is increasingly being uncoupled from mental illness, and being seen to consist of psychological, emotional and social components.The highest state of subjective wellbeing is seen by many experts as the place where emotional, psychological and social wellbeing are combined, enabling individuals to flourish.3 Thus, rather than simply focusing on preventing and treating mental illness, there is potential to actively promote positive mental health.Mental health and wellbeing impacts upon an individual's physical health, relationships, education, work and ability to reach their potential. At population level, it has consequences for the country's economy, levels of crime, drug and alcohol dependence and homelessness,4 and as Friedli states: health is also key pathway through which social inequality impacts on health.5Many of the key determinants of mental health are located within social and economic domains,6 which provides opportunity for intervention.In 2011 nef published report to address the question of how flourishing mental health could be promoted and increased.7 The result was their five ways to wellbeing: 'connect'; 'be active'; 'take notice'; 'keep learning'; and 'give'. These five ways are easily applied at individual, community, organizational and strategic levels; and evidence suggests that they are being used in many different settings to encourage improved mental wellbeing.The RSPH believes that policymakers at national and local level have responsibility to ensure that policies help address, not increase, inequalities in mental health and wellbeing. The Department of Health's mental health implementation framework8 provides an important perspective on translating policy into practical actions for improving mental health and we support the use of mental wellbeing impact assessment (MWIA), to ensure that policy, programme, service or project has maximum equitable impact on people's mental wellbeing - at individual, community or national level. We also endorse the Guidance for Commissioning Public Mental Health Services,9 which provides the rationale for spending on mental health and also explains what good quality public mental health interventions look like. …

COVID-19 has changed the daily lives of citizens around the world and exposed the vulnerability of life and the functioning of cities. The pandemic has forced citizens to adapt to new models of remote work during quarantine and access to smart technology-based services. The article aims to assess citizens' perceptions of the technological solutions provided by smart cities and, in particular, the municipality of Paphos before and after the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to evaluate their impact on citizens' mental health. The results of the study contribute to the understanding of the mental health benefits for citizens living in smart cities compared to people living in low-tech areas, revealing the potential positive effects of smart technologies, as well as the change in people's digital decision-making before and after the pandemic

BackgroundWeb-based assessments of mental health concerns hold great potential for earlier, more cost-effective, and more accurate diagnoses of psychiatric conditions than that achieved with traditional interview-based methods.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the impact of a comprehensive web-based mental health assessment on the mental health and well-being of over 2000 individuals presenting with symptoms of depression.MethodsIndividuals presenting with depressive symptoms completed a web-based assessment that screened for mood and other psychiatric conditions. After completing the assessment, the study participants received a report containing their assessment results along with personalized psychoeducation. After 6 and 12 months, participants were asked to rate the usefulness of the web-based assessment on different mental health–related outcomes and to self-report on their recent help-seeking behavior, diagnoses, medication, and lifestyle changes. In addition, general mental well-being was assessed at baseline and both follow-ups using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS).ResultsData from all participants who completed either the 6-month or the 12-month follow-up (N=2064) were analyzed. The majority of study participants rated the study as useful for their subjective mental well-being. This included talking more openly (1314/1939, 67.77%) and understanding one’s mental health problems better (1083/1939, 55.85%). Although most participants (1477/1939, 76.17%) found their assessment results useful, only a small proportion (302/2064, 14.63%) subsequently discussed them with a mental health professional, leading to only a small number of study participants receiving a new diagnosis (110/2064, 5.33%). Among those who were reviewed, new mood disorder diagnoses were predicted by the digital algorithm with high sensitivity (above 70%), and nearly half of the participants with new diagnoses also had a corresponding change in medication. Furthermore, participants’ subjective well-being significantly improved over 12 months (baseline WEMWBS score: mean 35.24, SD 8.11; 12-month WEMWBS score: mean 41.19, SD 10.59). Significant positive predictors of follow-up subjective well-being included talking more openly, exercising more, and having been reviewed by a psychiatrist.ConclusionsOur results suggest that completing a web-based mental health assessment and receiving personalized psychoeducation are associated with subjective mental health improvements, facilitated by increased self-awareness and subsequent use of self-help interventions. Integrating web-based mental health assessments within primary and/or secondary care services could benefit patients further and expedite earlier diagnosis and effective treatment.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)RR2-10.2196/18453

BackgroundBecause of wars, conflicts, persecutions, human rights violations, and humanitarian crises, about 84 million people are forcibly displaced around the world; the great majority of them live in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). People living in humanitarian settings are affected by a constellation of stressors that threaten their mental health. Psychosocial interventions for people affected by humanitarian crises may be helpful to promote positive aspects of mental health, such as mental well‐being, psychosocial functioning, coping, and quality of life. Previous reviews have focused on treatment and mixed promotion and prevention interventions. In this review, we focused on promotion of positive aspects of mental health.ObjectivesTo assess the effects of psychosocial interventions aimed at promoting mental health versus control conditions (no intervention, intervention as usual, or waiting list) in people living in LMICs affected by humanitarian crises.Search methodsWe searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, and seven other databases to January 2023. We also searched the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and ClinicalTrials.gov to identify unpublished or ongoing studies, and checked the reference lists of relevant studies and reviews.Selection criteriaRandomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing psychosocial interventions versus control conditions (no intervention, intervention as usual, or waiting list) to promote positive aspects of mental health in adults and children living in LMICs affected by humanitarian crises. We excluded studies that enrolled participants based on a positive diagnosis of mental disorder (or based on a proxy of scoring above a cut‐off score on a screening measure).Data collection and analysisWe used standard Cochrane methods. Our primary outcomes were mental well‐being, functioning, quality of life, resilience, coping, hope, and prosocial behaviour. The secondary outcome was acceptability, defined as the number of participants who dropped out of the trial for any reason. We used GRADE to assess the certainty of evidence for the outcomes of mental well‐being, functioning, and prosocial behaviour.Main resultsWe included 13 RCTs with 7917 participants. Nine RCTs were conducted on children/adolescents, and four on adults. All included interventions were delivered to groups of participants, mainly by paraprofessionals. Paraprofessional is defined as an individual who is not a mental or behavioural health service professional, but works at the first stage of contact with people who are seeking mental health care. Four RCTs were carried out in Lebanon; two in India; and single RCTs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jordan, Haiti, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the occupied Palestinian Territories (oPT), Nepal, and Tanzania. The mean study duration was 18 weeks (minimum 10, maximum 32 weeks). Trials were generally funded by grants from academic institutions or non‐governmental organisations.For children and adolescents, there was no clear difference between psychosocial interventions and control conditions in improving mental well‐being and prosocial behaviour at study endpoint (mental well‐being: standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.17 to 0.29; 3 RCTs, 3378 participants; very low‐certainty evidence; prosocial behaviour: SMD −0.25, 95% CI −0.60 to 0.10; 5 RCTs, 1633 participants; low‐certainty evidence), or at medium‐term follow‐up (mental well‐being: mean difference (MD) −0.70, 95% CI −2.39 to 0.99; 1 RCT, 258 participants; prosocial behaviour: SMD −0.48, 95% CI −1.80 to 0.83; 2 RCT, 483 participants; both very low‐certainty evidence). Interventions may improve functioning (MD −2.18, 95% CI −3.86 to −0.50; 1 RCT, 183 participants), with sustained effects at follow‐up (MD −3.33, 95% CI −5.03 to −1.63; 1 RCT, 183 participants), but evidence is very uncertain as the data came from one RCT (both very low‐certainty evidence).Psychosocial interventions may improve mental well‐being slightly in adults at study endpoint (SMD −0.29, 95% CI −0.44 to −0.14; 3 RCTs, 674 participants; low‐certainty evidence), but they may have little to no effect at follow‐up, as the evidence is uncertain and future RCTs might either confirm or disprove this finding. No RCTs measured the outcomes of functioning and prosocial behaviour in adults.Authors' conclusionsTo date, there is scant and inconclusive randomised evidence on the potential benefits of psychological and social interventions to promote mental health in people living in LMICs affected by humanitarian crises. Confidence in the findings is hampered by the scarcity of studies included in the review, the small number of participants analysed, the risk of bias in the studies, and the substantial level of heterogeneity. Evidence on the efficacy of interventions on positive mental health outcomes is too scant to determine firm practice and policy implications. This review has identified a large gap between what is known and what still needs to be addressed in the research area of mental health promotion in humanitarian settings.

Domains and levels of physical activity are linked to adult mental health and wellbeing in deprived neighbourhoods: A cross-sectional study

PurposeThis underscores individual and social implications for how mental disorders and mental well-being are constructed, conceived of and treated. Further, this paper aims to examine positive psychology’s role in supporting the advancement of a broader systemic and contextual approach to mental health. With that aim, this paper connects data on mental health and well-being with peace studies to describe the systems of value and social ecologies underpinning mental disorders, using public happiness/Felicitas Publica as a possible framework to enhance public mental health while intervening at the local level (Bruni and Zamagni, 2007; Marujo and Neto, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2021; Marujo et al., 2019).Design/methodology/approachTheoretical foundations and data on positive peace and mental well-being are described with the intention to propose a systemic, contextual, relational, communitarian, economic and sociopolitical perspective of well-being that goes beyond individual bodies and/or brains and, instead, views mental disorder and mental health as social currency (Beck, 2020).FindingsThe interventions using dialogic, conversational and community approaches are a possible path to promote peace, mental health and public happiness.Research limitations/implicationsExamining the interplay between the fields of positive psychology, mental health and cultures of peace, this work contributes to the broadening of research and subsequent intervention topics through transdisciplinary approaches while reinforcing the role of systemic and social determinants and complementing the prevalent medical model and intraindividual perspective of mental health and well-being.Practical implicationsAdopting positive psychology to address mental health through public happiness concepts and interventions opens opportunities to respond to the ebb and flow of social challenges and life-giving opportunities. Therefore, the paper intends to articulate actor-related, relational, structural and cultural dimensions while moving away from discrete technocratic and individual models and pays attention to the way their implementations are aligned with both individual and social needs.Social implicationsThe work offers an inclusive, equalitarian, politically sensitive approach to positive mental health and positive psychology, bringing forward a structural transformation and human rights-based approach perspective while rethinking the type of social and political solutions to mental health issues.Originality/valueCreating a critically constructive debate vis-à-vis the fluidity and complexity of the social world, the paper examines mental health and positive psychology simultaneously from a “hardware” (institutions, infrastructures, services, systems, etc.) and a “software” (i.e. individuals and community/societal relations).

BackgroundIt has been argued that though correlated with mental health, mental well-being is a distinct entity. Despite the wealth of literature on mental health, less is known about mental well-being. Mental health is something experienced by individuals, whereas mental well-being can be assessed at the population level. Accordingly it is important to differentiate the individual and population level factors (environmental and social) that could be associated with mental health and well-being, and as people living in deprived areas have a higher prevalence of poor mental health, these relationships should be compared across different levels of neighbourhood deprivation.MethodsA cross-sectional representative random sample of 1,209 adults from 62 Super Output Areas (SOAs) in Belfast, Northern Ireland (Feb 2010 – Jan 2011) were recruited in the PARC Study. Interview-administered questionnaires recorded data on socio-demographic characteristics, health-related behaviours, individual social capital, self-rated health, mental health (SF-8) and mental well-being (WEMWBS). Multi-variable linear regression analyses, with inclusion of clustering by SOAs, were used to explore the associations between individual and perceived community characteristics and mental health and mental well-being, and to investigate how these associations differed by the level of neighbourhood deprivation.ResultsThirty-eight and 30 % of variability in the measures of mental well-being and mental health, respectively, could be explained by individual factors and the perceived community characteristics. In the total sample and stratified by neighbourhood deprivation, age, marital status and self-rated health were associated with both mental health and well-being, with the ‘social connections’ and local area satisfaction elements of social capital also emerging as explanatory variables. An increase of +1 in EQ-5D-3 L was associated with +1SD of the population mean in both mental health and well-being. Similarly, a change from ‘very dissatisfied’ to ‘very satisfied’ for local area satisfaction would result in +8.75 for mental well-being, but only in the more affluent of areas.ConclusionsSelf-rated health was associated with both mental health and mental well-being. Of the individual social capital explanatory variables, ‘social connections’ was more important for mental well-being. Although similarities in the explanatory variables of mental health and mental well-being exist, socio-ecological interventions designed to improve them may not have equivalent impacts in rich and poor neighbourhoods.