Well-being Constructs Research Articles

Methods for Tabulating Indices of Child Well-Being and Context: An Illustration and Comparison of Performance in 13 American States

The purpose of child well-being indices is to distill large amounts of data on children in ways that can be easily communicated to and used by policy makers and the public. Several major methods for creating indices exist: (1) a standard score method that assesses differences across geographic areas, (2) a micro-data tally method that assesses the number of problems children have, and (3) an average percentage change method that assesses change from year to year (compared either to a base year or a “model” year). We review each type of index and discuss some cross-cutting issues, including the use of micro- versus macro-data, the measurement of absolute versus relative levels of well-being, and the constructs of well-being and context. We then use data from a single source, the National Survey of America’s Families, to demonstrate the usage of indices, comparing the relative performance of 13 American states. We find that states tend to be ranked similarly with regard to well-being and to the combination of well-being and context, regardless of whether one is examining the average concentration of problems per child, relative status of children across states, or change over time. We find that the states with relatively lower levels of well-being, as well as states whose children have the highest average number of problems, tend to show the greatest improvement over time in well-being. We also find that states in which children are more likely to experience multiple problems tend to be the same states in which the overall levels of well-being and the condition of children are relatively poorer. Despite the fact that the literature has referred to different types of indices commonly as “child well-being indices,” the differences both in the purpose and in the results across tabulation methods illustrate the importance of balancing the simplicity of the presentation of index results with sufficient information to enable people to understand exactly what the index is assessing. Furthermore, our results highlight the value of using multiple types of indices to contextualize findings across the indices.

Physical activity as a therapeutic modality on health -, lifestyle – and psychological well-being constructs among clergy

No Abstract. South African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance Vol. 12(4) 2006: pp.450-460

Spiritual Well-Being and Health

Data on empirical associations between religious variables and health outcomes are needed to clarify the complex interplay between religion and mental health. The aim of this study was to determine whether associations with health variables are primarily attributable to explicitly religious aspects of spiritual well-being (SWB) or to "existential" aspects that primarily reflect a sense of satisfaction or purpose in life. Three hundred forty-five pairs of twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry completed a diagnostic interview and questionnaires containing the 2-factor SWB Scale and general health items. Observed associations between SWB and health outcomes were uniquely explained by the SWB subscale of existential well-being, with much less of a unique explanatory contribution from religious well-being or "spiritual involvement." We concluded that studies of SWB and health should continue to distinguish between explicitly religious variables and others that more closely approximate the psychological construct of personal well-being.

Deconstructing spiritual well‐being: existential well‐being and HRQOL in cancer survivors

We demonstrate the utility of partitioning the spiritual well-being (SpWB) construct into spiritual and religious components using results from a study of the relationship of existential well-being to health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a sample of 237 cancer survivors. Existential and religious well-being were measured using the FACIT-Sp-12 and HRQOL was measured using the mental and physical component scores of the SF-12. In hierarchical linear regression analyses, existential well-being fully mediated religious well-being's effect on HRQOL and explained unique variance in both the mental and physical HRQOL domains, controlling for demographic, disease, and psychosocial variables previously shown to impact HRQOL. Religious well-being was not predictive of HRQOL.

Psychometric evaluation and predictive validity of Ryff's psychological well-being items in a UK birth cohort sample of women

BackgroundInvestigations of the structure of psychological well-being items are useful for advancing knowledge of what dimensions define psychological well-being in practice. Ryff has proposed a multidimensional model of psychological well-being and her questionnaire items are widely used but their latent structure and factorial validity remains contentious.MethodsWe applied latent variable models for factor analysis of ordinal/categorical data to a 42-item version of Ryff's psychological well-being scales administered to women aged 52 in a UK birth cohort study (n = 1,179). Construct (predictive) validity was examined against a measure of mental health recorded one year later.ResultsInter-factor correlations among four of the first-order psychological well-being constructs were sufficiently high (> 0.80) to warrant a parsimonious representation as a second-order general well-being dimension. Method factors for questions reflecting positive and negative item content, orthogonal to the construct factors and assumed independent of each other, improved model fit by removing nuisance variance. Predictive validity correlations between psychological well-being and a multidimensional measure of psychological distress were dominated by the contribution of environmental mastery, in keeping with earlier findings from cross-sectional studies that have correlated well-being and severity of depression.ConclusionOur preferred model included a single second-order factor, loaded by four of the six first-order factors, two method factors, and two more distinct first-order factors. Psychological well-being is negatively associated with dimensions of mental health. Further investigation of precision of measurement across the health continuum is required.

Housing Well-Being: Developing and Validating a Measure

Housing well-being refers to the home resident’s cumulative positive and negative affect associated with the purchase, preparation, ownership, use, and maintenance of the current home, and the selling of the previous home. Housing well-being is assumed to occur when the home is bought with the least amount of effort (purchase), the home is prepared for use to meet the needs of the new occupants (preparation), ownership signals status and enhances the home owner’s financial portfolio (ownership), the home serves the housing needs of the residents (use), the maintenance, renovation, and repair in the home are minimal, least costly, and effortless (maintenance), and the sale of the home is transacted with the least amount of effort and most financial gain (selling). Based on this conceptualization of housing well-being, we conducted an exploratory study to identify the sources of satisfaction related to the purchase, preparation, ownership, use, and maintenance of the current home, and the selling of the previous home. The exploratory study also helped us articulate a theoretical model describing the interrelationships among the housing well-being constructs and their consequence: the perceived quality-of-life (QOL) impact of the home. The exploratory study helped us also to develop survey measures, which in turn were validated through two additional studies involving surveys of home owners in the US and Korea.

Subjective Well-Being in Mental Health and Human Development Research Worldwide: An Introduction

In this introduction to a special issue, the author suggests that a third generation of research on subjective well-being has emerged that is focused on health and human development as the presence of well-being (i.e., health) and not merely the absence of illness, disease, and developmental deficiencies. In turn, this article describes the construct of subjective well-being, its historical ties to the aftermath of World War II and the creation of the National Institute of Mental Health, its conceptual foundations, and empirical evidence supporting the view that it consists of two theoretical traditions – hedonia and eudaimonia. The nearly 50 years of research on subjective well-being has yielded as many as 13 distinct dimensions of subjective well-being in the United States. Consequently, new directions in subjective well-being are emerging such as the study of mental health as a complete state, which suggest the need for greater scientific attention to the integration of hedonic and eudaimonic measures and theory.

Interventions to Enhance the Spiritual Aspects of Dying

In recent years, medical and allied health publications have begun to address various topics on spirituality. Scholars have posited numerous definitions of spirituality and wrestled with the notion of spiritual pain and suffering. Researchers have examined the relationship between spirituality and health and explored, among other topics, patients' perceptions of their spiritual needs, particularly at the end of life. This paper summarizes salient evidence pertaining to spirituality, dying patients, their health care providers, and family or informal caregivers. We examine the challenging issue of how to define spirituality, and provide a brief overview of the state of evidence addressing interventions that may enhance or bolster spiritual aspects of dying. There are many pressing questions that need to be addressed within the context of spiritual issues and end-of-life care. Efforts to understand more fully the constructs of spiritual well-being, transcendence, hope, meaning, and dignity, and to correlate them with variables and outcomes such as quality of life, pain control, coping with loss, and acceptance are warranted. Researchers should also frame these issues from both faith-based and secular perspectives, differing professional viewpoints, and in diverse cultural settings. In addition, longitudinal studies will enable patients' changing experiences and needs to be assessed over time. Research addressing spiritual dimensions of personhood offers an opportunity to expand the horizons of contemporary palliative care, thereby decreasing suffering and enhancing the quality of time remaining to those who are nearing death.

The Sociocultural Reality of the Asian Immigrant Elderly

SUMMARY This article discusses how traditional social group work practice, with its conscious use of group activity and its non-verbal content, can serve as a culturally compatible service model to benefit the Asian American immigrant elderly. The goals and nature of group work practice are examined in the context of addressing the demands of this population's sociocultural reality. Cultural-specific constructs of psychological well-being and forms of emotion expression are examined to support this premise. A case illustration is used to supplement the discussion.

Relationships between exercise and three components of mental well-being in corporate employees

Abstract Objectives The main purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between exercise participation and three components of mental well-being (physical self, work-related, and global) in a sample of corporate employees. As a subsidiary and exploratory question, we also examined whether these well-being components are more strongly related to structured exercise participation scores compared to total levels of physical activity. Design Cross-sectional survey. Method The participants were 312 employees from an information technology company (n=204 males and n=108 females). Structural equation modelling was used to examine links between exercise participation and the three well-being components within a hierarchical framework, featuring global well-being constructs at the apex and specific elements of well-being at lower levels. Results Support was found for the a priori model in that there were direct paths from exercise to physical self and enthusiasm at work. Furthermore, there were indirect paths between exercise and global well-being components through measures of the physical self and enthusiasm at work. The results of an alternative model using physical activity as opposed to exercise were generally similar. Conclusion The support found for the exercise and well-being model indicates that exercise is associated directly and indirectly with high well-being in various facets of employees' lives. Thus, this study extends previous research that has examined associations between exercise and isolated indicators of employee well-being. Finally, the results pertaining to physical activity suggest that workplace exercise promotion programmes should incorporate and promote lifestyle physical activity.

A review of physical activity and well-being

The World Health Organization defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. Based on this declaration the construct of well-being has been researched. Many researchers have set a clear path between physical exercise and feeling better or the connection of reduced physical activity and diminished health. Nevertheless the allusive subjective psychological construct of well-being has not been directly connected to physical activity. Despite abundance of technical evidence that supports notions of correlations between physical exercise and well-being, the scientific proof is not within our reach yet. Some of the basic reasons are the facts that the definition of well-being is unclear, not many RCT's (Randomized Control Trials) have been performed, dose related results are scarce and many articles use small populations and different methodology. Until an actual research based connection will be found between physical exercise and well-being, the authors strongly recommend physical activity as part of everyone's leisure time, since there are enough proven physical mental, and social benefits to physical activity besides well-being.

Introduction to the Special Section

Introduction to the Special Section

Personality and subjective well-being: big five correlates and demographic variables

This work examines the association between the Big Five personality dimensions, the most relevant demographic factors (sex, age and relationship status), and subjective well-being. A total of 236 nursing professionals completed the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and the Affect-Balance Scale (ABS). Regression analysis showed personality as one of the most important correlates of subjective well-being, especially through Extraversion and Neuroticism. There was a positive association between Openness to experience and the positive and negative components of affect. Likewise, the most basic demographic variables (sex, age and relationship status) are found to be differentially associated with the different elements of subjective well-being, and the explanation for these associations is highly likely to be found in the links between demographic variables and personality. In the same way as control of the effect of demographic variables is necessary for isolating the effect of personality on subjective well-being, control of personality should permit more accurate analysis of the role of demographic variables in relation to the subjective well-being construct.

Between- and within-person variation in affect and personality over days and years: How basic and applied approaches can inform one another

Distinguishing within-person from between-person variability in personality and well-being constructs is important for understanding their stability and change over varying periods, from moments to decades. Regardless of whether the variation is over days or years (or seconds to decades), it is important for researchers and practitioners alike to comprehend what it means for a person to vary from himself or herself, and what it means for one person to vary from another. The current study gives two examples of within- and between-person. The first example involves two major personality traits, extraversion and neuroticism, over a 12-year longitudinal period. The second example involves negative affect in a one-week daily diary study. Researchers should be aware of the within vs. between distinction because it is at the heart of important theoretical problems in ageing and development. Practitioners should appreciate it because it can distinguish between long-term clinical trends and short-term fluctuations.

Direct and indirect costs of fibromyalgia to patients and their families

This study investigates the cost of fibromyalgia (FM), in the US, to patients and those that support them. The authors estimate both direct and indirect costs. Direct costs include those related to payments for physician and nurse practitioner services, prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs, and nutritional supplements. Indirect costs include the time spent by patients and other caregivers as they attempt to treat their illness. Time measurements include the volunteer efforts of others whom care for the patient and travel time to appointments, including the value of lost wages. The authors create the constructs of well-being, quality of life, pain, distress, and fatigue and associate these constructs with economic loss. The study used an exploratory descriptive survey design. Questionnaires were sent to 432 members of an urban FM support group. They reported annual average direct costs to individuals of $3813, indirect costs of $720, and total costs of $4533. Well-being, pain, and severity were significantly correlated with direct and total costs. Pain and severity were associated with indirect costs, while fatigue was not correlated to any of the cost variables. Although many FM patients are able to function in society, the costs associated with their attempts at treatment are relatively expensive to both the individual and society.

The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being.

Mindfulness is an attribute of consciousness long believed to promote well-being. This research provides a theoretical and empirical examination of the role of mindfulness in psychological well-being. The development and psychometric properties of the dispositional Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) are described. Correlational, quasi-experimental, and laboratory studies then show that the MAAS measures a unique quality of consciousness that is related to a variety of well-being constructs, that differentiates mindfulness practitioners from others, and that is associated with enhanced self-awareness. An experience-sampling study shows that both dispositional and state mindfulness predict self-regulated behavior and positive emotional states. Finally, a clinical intervention study with cancer patients demonstrates that increases in mindfulness over time relate to declines in mood disturbance and stress.

A Health Intervention on Latina Spiritual Well-Being Constructs: An Evaluation

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a colonia community Latina educational intervention on the religious and existential constructs of spiritual well-being while recognizing acculturative status. Randomly assigned study participants were composed of one control (community, n = 105) and two experimental (alumni, n = 41; intervention, n = 84) groups. Data were gathered through religious and existential well-being and acculturation scales administered through one-on-one interviews. Results indicated that although all three groups were extremely low-acculturated intervention participants, religious and existential well-being scores were significantly higher than community scores and, although not statistically significant, alumni scores were also higher than community. This study supports the effectiveness of a community-centered intervention designed to promote the spiritual well-being dimension of Latinas.

A Health Intervention on Latina Spiritual Well-Being Constructs: An Evaluation

A Health Intervention on Latina Spiritual Well-Being Constructs: An Evaluation

Physical Exercise and Psychological Wellness

The relationship between regular physical exercise and psychological wellness among gym members was investigated. Regular exercise was defined as exercising for an average of thirty minutes a day at least three times per week. A wellness profile was constructed from various questionnaires chosen on the basis of their relationship with the general construct of mental health and/or psychological well-being as conceptualised in this paper and as established in previous research. Wellness profile components consisted of assessments of mood, lifestyle, satisfaction with life, sense of coherence, fortitude, stress and coping with stress. The wellness profile was administered to 106 exercisers from four local gyms in the Richards Bay area of South Africa. Respondents were given feedback, and further counselling if needed, with regard to their scores on the various components as wellness and a global wellness percentage score. The correlations among wellness components were almost all highly significant. Findings also indicated a highly significant influence of regular exercise on the various components of wellness as operationally defined by various scores on the wellness profile and the final composite wellness percentage itself. Findings provide further support for the vital role that regular exercise plays in the promotion of mental health and wellness.

Age differences in stress, social resources, and well-being in middle and older age.

The present study examines the interrelationships among the constructs of social resources, stress, and well-being in middle-aged and older adults. Two samples of 489 middle-aged adults (41-43 years) and 449 older adults (61-63 years) from the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Adult Development were compared with respect to the availability of social resources, levels of stress, and well-being. The data were used to construct separate structural equation models explaining the influence of stress and social resources on well-being in the two groups. The results indicate higher levels of health-related stress and similar levels of social resources in the older group. Structural equation models and examination of total and indirect effects confirmed that a stress-suppression model has the best fit in explaining the interrelationships between stress, social resources, and well-being. There was a strong effect of stress on well-being, no direct effect of social resources on well-being, and a mediating effect of stress on well-being. The relative contributions of stress and resources to well-being were comparable between age groups.