Decrease In Subjective Well-being Research Articles

Overweight and obesity standards and subjective well-being: Evidence from China

The adult BMI cutoffs for overweight and obesity standards set by the Working Group on Obesity in China are exerting growing influence over daily life. Using the regression discontinuity design method, this paper confirms the existence of a statistically significant discontinuity in subjective well-being at the overweight and obesity cutoffs, respectively. The overweight standard causes a significant decrease in subjective well-being (SWB) by approximate 0.10 units, and the obesity standard by 0.14 units, both sizable. Thus the standard setting has profound social, economic and welfare impacts beyond the health scope.

Change in subjective well-being over 20\u2009years at two Norwegian medical schools and factors linked to well-being today: a survey

BackgroundThere is a lack of studies on factors in the curriculum, study environment and individual differences that can promote well-being among medical students as a response to the frequent reports on the negative health effects of study demands among medical students worldwide.ObjectiveThis study investigates differences in well-being among today’s Norwegian medical students compared with students 20 years ago, the most important predictors of well-being today, and whether there have been any changes in the levels of some of these factors since the period analysed.MethodsWe analysed cross-sectional survey data among all medical students (63.9%, N = 1044/1635) at two medical faculties with different curriculums (traditional and integrated) in Norway in 2015 (STUDMED 2015). We used comparison data from a longitudinal survey among medical students from the same medical faculties in 1993 to 1999: the NORDOC project (T1 = 89%, T2 = 72% and T3 = 68%). Differences in subjective well-being and correlates by demographic, curriculum, and study environment factors among the present students were tested by t-tests and stepwise linear regression analysis.ResultsStudents today scored lower on their levels of subjective well-being than students 20 years ago. The difference was found among female and males in different study stages. The final model showed that subjective well-being today was associated with self-esteem (β = .98, p < .001) and social support from medical school friends (β = .22, p < .001), a partner (β = .08, p = .020) or other family members (β = .04, p = .041), as well as perception of medical curriculum and environment (β = −.38, p < .001), personal competence (β = −.40, p < .001), finance/accommodation (β = −.22, p < .001) and perceived exam stress (β = −.26, p < .001).ConclusionsThe results show a decrease in subjective well-being among medical students and, in particular, among female students. The faculties should pay attention to the factors identified in the study environment and curriculum associated with subjective well-being in order to promote their student’s well-being and stimulate health and academic performance.

Using Mobile Technology to Provide Personalized Reminiscence for People Living With Dementia and Their Carers: Appraisal of Outcomes From a Quasi-Experimental Study.

BackgroundDementia is an international research priority. Reminiscence is an intervention that prompts memories and has been widely used as a therapeutic approach for people living with dementia. We developed a novel iPad app to support home-based personalized reminiscence. It is crucial that technology-enabled reminiscence interventions are appraised.ObjectiveWe sought to measure the effect of technology-enabled reminiscence on mutuality (defined as the level of “closeness” between an adult living with dementia and their carer), quality of carer and patient relationship, and subjective well-being.MethodsA 19-week personalized reminiscence intervention facilitated by a program of training and a bespoke iPad app was delivered to people living with dementia and their family carers at their own homes. Participants (N=60) were recruited in dyads from a cognitive rehabilitation team affiliated with a large UK health care organization. Each dyad comprised a person living with early to moderate dementia and his or her family carer. Outcome measurement data were collected at baseline, midpoint, and intervention closure.ResultsParticipants living with dementia attained statistically significant increases in mutuality, quality of carer and patient relationship, and subjective well-being (P<.001 for all 3) from baseline to endpoint. Carers attained nonsignificant increases in mutuality and quality of carer and patient relationship and a nonsignificant decrease in subjective well-being.ConclusionsOur results indicate that individual-specific reminiscence supported by an iPad app may be efficient in the context of early to moderate dementia. A robust randomized controlled trial of technology-enabled personalized reminiscence is warranted.

Is pornography use a risk for adolescent well-being? An examination of temporal relationships in two independent panel samples.

Cross-sectional evidence suggests that pornography use is related to lower mental well-being among adolescents but it remains unclear if changes in well-being are related to the dynamics of pornography use within this population. We examined the relationship between pornography use, subjective well-being, symptoms of depressions and anxiety, and self-esteem in two independent panel samples (N = 455; N = 858) of Croatian adolescents using cross-lagged path analysis and lagged linear mixed models. After controlling for impulsiveness and family environment—factors that are unlikely to be influenced by pornography use—earlier levels of pornography use were not significantly associated with subsequent decreases in subjective well-being across gender and panel. However, pornography use was associated with increases in both self-esteem and symptoms of depression and anxiety, albeit only among adolescent women in one of the two panels. In addition, low subjective well-being was associated with a subsequent increase in pornography use, but only in female adolescents in one panel. This study’s results are not consistent with concerns about pornography use negatively contributing to male adolescents’ psychological well-being, but suggest potential antagonistic links between pornography use and specific facets of mental well-being in adolescent women. Such links should be considered tentative until verified with further research.

Impaired Sleep Mediates the Negative Effects of Training Load on Subjective Well-Being in Female Youth Athletes.

Background:Although increased training load (TL) and impaired sleep are associated with decreases in subjective well-being in adult athletes, these relationships among female youth athletes are unclear. It is unknown whether the effects of sleep and TL on well-being are independent or whether alterations in sleep mediate the effects of TL on subjective well-being.Hypothesis:Sleep and TL exert independent effects on subjective well-being among youth athletes, although alterations in sleep mediate a significant portion of the effect of TL on well-being in female youth athletes.Study Design:Prospective cohort study.Level of Evidence:Level 4.Methods:A total of 65 female soccer athletes (age range, 13-18 years) were monitored for 1 year. Daily TL was determined by session rating of perceived exertion and converted to z-scores. Every morning, participants recorded sleep duration in hours and rated stress, mood, fatigue, and soreness on a scale from −3 to +3 (worst to best). Linear mixed-effects models and mediation analysis were used to evaluate the independent effects of TL and sleep on well-being.Results:Average sleep duration was 7.9 ± 1.4 hours during the study period. In the multivariable model, TL and sleep duration were independently associated with fatigue (TL: β = −0.19, P < 0.001; sleep: β = 0.15, P < 0.001), mood (TL: β = −0.030, P = 0.014; sleep: β = 0.13, P < 0.001), stress (TL: β = −0.055, P = 0.001; sleep: β = 0.13, P < 0.001), and soreness (TL: β = −0.31, P < 0.001; sleep: β = 0.022, P = 0.042). Sleep duration mediated a significant portion of the effect of TL on mood (26.8%, P < 0.001), fatigue (12.6%, P < 0.001), and stress (24.5%, P < 0.001).Conclusion:Among female youth athletes, decreased sleep duration and increased TL are independently associated with impairments of subjective well-being. In addition, decreased sleep mediates a significant portion of the negative effect of increases in TL on subjective well-being.Clinical Relevance:Monitoring and promoting sleep among female adolescent athletes may significantly improve subjective well-being, particularly during periods of increased TL.

Increases in wellbeing in the transition to retirement for the unemployed: catching up with formerly employed persons

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the extent to which wellbeing levels change in the transition to retirement depending on transitioning from being employed, unemployed or economically inactive. Whereas transitioning from employment to unemployment has been found to cause a decrease in subjective wellbeing with more time spent in unemployment, it is not clear how transitioning from unemployment to retirement affects wellbeing levels. We use the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe to monitor the life satisfaction of respondents who retire in between two waves. We portray wellbeing scores before and after retirement and then identify the change in life satisfaction during the retirement transition using a First Difference model. Results indicate that being unemployed before retirement is associated with an increase in life satisfaction, but presents mainly a catching-up effect compared to employed persons transitioning to retirement. These results are still significant if we control for selection into unemployment and country differences. Retirement from labour market inactivity does not lead to significant changes in wellbeing. As the wellbeing of unemployed persons recovers after transitioning to retirement, especially the currently unemployed population should be supported to prevent detrimental consequences of economically unfavourable conditions and lower wellbeing.

The Reciprocal Relationship Between Passive Social Networking Site (SNS) Usage and Users’ Subjective Well-Being

Prior studies have found an inconclusive relationship between social networking site (SNS) usage and users’ subjective well-being. Passive SNS usage may be detrimental to subjective well-being, because it cannot provide social support and may evoke envy and jealousy. Conversely, it is also possible that lower subjective well-being may predict higher passive SNS usage, which can be used as a means to relieve stress. To examine this reciprocal process, a two-wave study among a sample of Chinese college students was conducted ( N = 350 at Time 1, 265 at Time 2). Data were analyzed with structural modeling. Cross-lagged analysis indicated that passive SNS usage at Time 1 predicted a decrease in subjective well-being at Time 2. Lower subjective well-being at Time 1 also predicted an increase in passive SNS usage at Time 2. These findings deepen our understanding of the complicated association between SNS usage and well-being and has implications for how to help individuals use SNS healthily.

The Impact of Rural-Urban Migration on Subjective Well-Being in South Africa

This paper quantifies the short to medium term impact of rural-urban migration on an individual’s subjective well-being in South Africa between 2008 and 2012. We work through different econometric specifications; using instrumental variables to control for endogeneity caused by shock-induced self-selection, and Propensity Score Matching to control for migration self-selection bias. We find that rural-urban migration leads to a decrease in subjective well-being by 8.3 per cent. We suspect that the decreased well-being is a result of false expectations and changing relative groups used to peg aspirations, as well as the emotional cost of being away from family and a home environment.

Gay Dads are Happier: Subjective Well-Being Among Gay and Heterosexual Fathers

ABSTRACTWith gay fatherhood increasing in numbers worldwide, and preliminary research showing that gay fathers might not experience the “parenthood paradox”—an increase in meaning in life along with a decrease in subjective well-being associated with becoming parents—it was our objective to compare gay fathers' well-being to that of heterosexual fathers. It was hypothesized that gay fathers would be higher on subjective well-being in general, and specifically on its global and cognitive aspects, but not on its affective aspects. This was based on the notion that by being parents, gay fathers may reach high subjective standards by which they compare themselves to others, which relates to their global and cognitive subjective well-being. However, both gay and heterosexual fathers experience similar daily events as parents, which should equally contribute to their affective subjective well-being. In order to test this hypothesis, 90 gay fathers were sampled from a larger sample of 317 Israeli men, and were compared with 90 individually matched heterosexual counterparts. In accordance with our hypothesis, gay fathers reported significantly higher levels of subjective well-being in comparison to heterosexual fathers, and only on its global and cognitive aspects. Possible interpretations of the findings were discussed.

Longitudinal associations between perceived age discrimination and subjective well-being: variations by age and subjective life expectancy

ABSTRACTObjectives: Perceived age discrimination can have negative effects on one's subjective well-being (SWB). The response to age discrimination might differ based on age, and based on perceived longevity, or subjective life expectancy (SLE). These differential effects have not yet been prospectively examined within adult life span samples.Method: We examined the association between perceived age discrimination at baseline (T1) and SWB at follow-up (T2), and the moderation effect of SLE. We compared differences in these effects between middle-aged and older adults. Analyses were based on participants who took part in the 2008 (T1) and 2011 (T2) assessments of the German Ageing Survey (DEAS; listwise N = 1534), a population-based representative sample of the German adult population. Participants were categorized as middle-aged (ages 40–64; n = 919) or older adults (ages 65–93; n = 615).Results: Regression analyses indicated that T1 perceived age discrimination significantly predicts lower T2 SWB among middle-aged, but not among older adults, after adjusting for covariates and T1 SWB. There is a significant interaction between age discrimination and SLE for predicting SWB, only among middle-aged participants, suggesting that age discrimination predicts decreases in SWB for those reporting higher, but not lower levels of SLE.Conclusion: People in the transition from midlife to old age, who hold higher SLE, appear to be more vulnerable to age discrimination. This may be due to the experience of age discrimination as an ‘off-time’, or unexpected event for those in midlife who have a higher expectation to live longer.

Oral Health-A Neglected Aspect of Subjective Well-Being in Later Life.

ObjectivesThis study examined whether oral health is a neglected aspect of subjective well-being (SWB) among older adults. The key research question was whether deterioration in oral health among dentate older adults living in England was associated with decreases in SWB, using measures of eudemonic, evaluative, and affective dimensions of well-being.MethodsThis secondary analysis used data from the third (2006–2007) and fifth (2010–2011) waves of respondents aged 50 and older from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). We fitted multivariable regression models to examine the effects of changes in oral impacts on daily life and edentulism (complete tooth loss) on SWB (quality of life, life satisfaction, and depressive symptomatology).ResultsA worsening in both oral health measures was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms even after adjusting for time-varying confounders including declining health, activities of daily living, and reduced social support. Becoming edentate was also associated with decreases in quality of life and life satisfaction.DiscussionA deterioration in oral health and oral health–related quality of life increases the risk of depressive symptoms among older adults and highlights the importance of oral health as a determinant of subjective well-being in later life.

Does Personality Moderate the Effects of Mindfulness Training for Medical and Psychology Students?

The majority of mindfulness research to date has reported only on the group-level effects of interventions. Therefore, there is a need to better understand who is most likely to benefit from mindfulness interventions. This study reports on moderation analyses from a two-centre randomised controlled trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) among 288 medical and psychology students. The study investigated whether baseline personality factors (neuroticism, conscientiousness and extroversion) and baseline mindfulness moderated effects on mental distress, study stress and subjective well-being measured after the intervention. An increased effect of the intervention on mental distress and subjective well-being was found in students with higher scores on neuroticism. Students with higher scores on conscientiousness showed an increased effect of mindfulness training on study stress. The training protected students against an increase in mental distress and study stress and a decrease in subjective well-being that was seen in the control group. Baseline mindfulness and extroversion did not moderate the effects of the intervention on the outcomes. The majority of the 288 medical and psychology students in the study sample were female. Female participants scored significantly higher on neuroticism and conscientiousness, and they may therefore be an important target group for mindfulness interventions among students.

Well-being in mothers of children with congenital heart defects: a 3-year follow-up

This prospective case-cohort study compared subjective well-being (SWB) among mothers whose children had various degrees of congenital heart defects (CHD) with mothers of children without CHD (controls). Nationwide CHD registry data were linked to data collected from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study at gestational week 30, 6 months, and 36 months postpartum. A total of 175 mothers of children with mild, moderate, and severe CHD were identified in a cohort of 44,144 mothers. The SWB index was operationalized by means of three subscales: a cognitive aspect, positive affect, and negative affect. Mothers of children with severe CHD reported significantly lower SWB than the controls at 6 months postpartum (p = .003), with further decrease in SWB at 36 months postpartum (p = .001). SWB levels in the mild and moderate CHD group did not deviate significantly from controls. The findings suggest a pattern in which all stressors concerning the severely ill child lead to significant deterioration of maternal well-being. Having a child with mild or moderate CHD, which is a less severe and shorter-term stressor, did not reduce mothers' well-being.

The Impact of Economic Crisis on Happiness

There is a common belief that economic crisis will lead to a decrease in subjective wellbeing. Previous studies indicate that income is correlated with happiness and unemployment with unhappiness. The relationship between increased income and happiness is well documented while the impact of decreased income has been less explored. The aim of this paper is to study how the economic downfall in Iceland, followed by reduced income and increased unemployment, affects happiness as well as to explore which groups are most vulnerable to changes in happiness and which are most resilient. The study is a longitudinal, nationally representative postal survey which assessed 5,918 individual’s aged 18–79. A total of 4,092 (77.3%) answered again in 2009. The relationship between economic factors and happiness was explored using multiple linear regression to find out how much they explain of the happiness variance and the changes in happiness, together with demographic factors, health and social relationships. Results indicate that income and unemployment did not predict happiness but financial difficulties did. A decrease in happiness was detected after the collapse. The change in happiness from 2007 to 2009 was normally distributed, 40% had the same score in both years and an equal number increased as decreased. The explored factors did not explain the changes in happiness. The economic crisis had a limited affect on happiness. Those with financial difficulties were hardest hit. Changes in happiness need to be studied further since they are not well explained by the factors which influence cross-sectional levels of happiness.

An Examination of the Relationship between Passion and Subjective Well-Being in Older Adults

Activity engagement has long been linked to improved subjective well-being (SWB) in old age. However, recent studies testing Vallerand et al.'s (2003) Dualistic Model of Passion suggest that the type of passionate activity that underlies activity engagement might influence the extent to which individuals benefit from an active lifestyle. In the present article we examined the relationship between harmonious and obsessive passionate activities and subjective well-being in older adults. Results showed that harmonious passion, through its influence on positive affect experienced during activity engagement, is associated with increases in SWB, whereas obsessive passion is associated with decreases in SWB. Engagement in passionate activities might be beneficial for older adults when a passionate activity is harmonious, but detrimental when a passionate activity is obsessive.

The Importance of Religious Orientation and Purpose in Life for Dying Well: Evidence from Three Case Studies

ABSTRACT As older adults approach the end of their lives, it is not uncommon to find a decrease in subjective well-being. However, a number of studies have indicated that elders with an intrinsic rather than extrinsic religious orientation often are able to keep a high level of subjective well-being even if they are close to death. In a previous quantitative study, only intrinsic religiosity was indirectly and positively related to subjective well-being in a sample of 103 relatively healthy older adults and 19 hospice patients (aged 61 +), mediated by shared spiritual activities and purpose in life. Extrinsic religiosity, by contrast, was indirectly and negatively related to subjective well-being. To explore in greater depth how religious orientation might influence subjective well-being at the end of life, we used the method of objective hermeneutics to examine semi-structured qualitative interviews with three older male hospice patients (aged 79, 80, and 98) on religion/spirituality and attitudes about death and dying. Results of the analyses revealed that the intrinsically religious respondent maintained his sense of cosmic purpose in life, which continued to be a source of satisfaction for him, unaffected by his terminal illness. The two extrinsically religious respondents, however, did not find solace in their religion and, hence, were unable to cope with their physical and emotional dependence and vulnerability. The findings suggest that an intrinsic religious orientation is most likely to be related to a cosmic sense of purpose in life, which facilitates subjective well-being even in the face of death.

Avoidance Personal Goals and Subjective Well-Being.

The present research comprises two studies designed to investigate both antecedents and consequences of pursuing avoidance (relative to approach) personal goals over the course of a semester-long period. Results revealed that neuroticism was positively related to the adoption of avoidance personal strivings (Study 1), and participants with low perceptions of their life skills were more likely to adopt avoidance personal projects (Study 2). Avoidance regulation proved deleterious to both retrospective and longitudinal subjective well-being (SWB), as participants with a greater proportion of avoidance goals reported lower SWB over the course of the semester and evidenced a decrease in SWB from the beginning to the end of the semester. Ancillary analyses attested to the robustness of these results across a variety of alternative predictor variables. Path analyses validated perceived progress as a mediator of the direct relationships observed.