European Quality Of Life Survey Research Articles

Unequal Autonomy: An Investigation of Individual and Societal Determinants of Individuals’ Sense of Autonomy in Europe

ABSTRACT This paper explores the social structure of individual autonomy in Europe. Drawing on the capability approach and human empowerment theory, it investigates how individuals’ sense of autonomy is structured by individual means and conversion factors as well as economic, cultural, and institutional context conditions. Using data from the European Social Survey and the European Quality of Life Survey, these relationships are analyzed for 107,070 individuals in 18 European countries and four points in time between 2006 and 2016. Multilevel analyses reveal financial security, health, and social connectedness as the most important drivers of individuals’ sense of autonomy. On the macro level, national wealth, civil liberties, and an emancipative value climate are all found to be positively linked to individuals’ sense of autonomy, albeit weakly. Considering the value individuals attach to leading an autonomous life and the beneficial effects autonomy has been shown to have on people’s well-being, these findings shed first light on the unequal distribution of autonomy and autonomy resources on the individual and macro levels. Concluding, the paper highlights the potential for future research and policy implications.

DOES SOCIAL CAPITAL ENHANCE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION? A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS OF YOUNGER AND OLDER ADULTS IN EUROPE

Abstract Political participation encompasses institutionalised activities such as attending meetings of a political organisation as well as non-institutionalised activities including contacting politicians, signing petitions or boycotting. Both forms of activities tend to be dependent upon birth cohort, political socialisation, and period effects like changes in the welfare state design. Furthermore, it is also connected with other domains of civic engagement as well as trust. Social capital theory focuses on social connections and roles fostering civic engagement, including political participation, however, the relationship between social capital and political participation might look different for different types of political activities. The aim of this study was, therefore, to test the importance of social capital for different types of political participation in younger and older adults by analysing cross-national data from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) in 2016. Data was collected in 33 European countries and includes more than 36,000 individuals aged 18 and over. Multilevel regression analysis was used to explore individual-level and country-level social capital on different measures of institutionalised and non-institutionalised political participation in younger and older adults. The results showed that a third of the sample participated in non-institutionalised activities whereas 11 percent participated in institutionalised activities. Both forms of political participation were lower among older adults as compared to younger age groups. While social capital was identified as an important predictor of political participation, it was also shown that these associations were conditioned by larger cultural, political and welfare institutional contexts.

EXCLUSION FROM MULTIDIMENSIONAL CIVIC ENGAGEMENT OF DIVERSE OLDER ADULTS: A PAN-EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract Despite decades of research on social exclusion, the understanding of the intersection between ageing and exclusion from civic engagement remains limited, both theoretically and empirically. Moreover, the research on civic engagement, including volunteering or political participation, has received unequal attention in research and the study of multidimensional civic engagement has scarcely been addressed. This symposium therefore brings together qualitative and quantitative research on multidimensional civic engagement in later life, as a part of the pan-European CIVEX-project, devoted to critically assess multidimensional civic engagement of diverse and potentially marginalized groups of older adults in a European context. The objective is to explore the main dimensions of exclusion from multidimensional civic engagement in later life and older adults’ experiences of such exclusion. Toon Vercauteren starts with a study using data from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) in 33 European countries to examine multidimensional civic engagement of older adults in Europe and its key risk and support factors. Bas Dikmans will use a life course perspective to study features of exclusion from civic engagement in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Belgium, using data collected within the international CIVEX-project. Subsequently, Fredrica Nyqvist will present results based on EQLS data on social capital and political participation in younger as well as older adults. Sandra Torres will close the symposium with a presentation on civic engagement amongst older migrants based on interview data collected in Belgium, Finland, Spain and Sweden.

What is the Relationship Between the Perceived Quality of Neighbourhood and the Self-reported Life Satisfaction in Immigrants Versus Natives in Europe?

Subjective well-being (SWB) is emerging as an important measure of individual and societal progress. Among the many individual factors associated with SWB, the quality of the neighbourhood is recently receiving growing attention as a factor shaping self-reported life satisfaction in contemporary societies. However, to the best of our knowledge, studies focusing on the perceived quality of the neighbourhood are still scant. We aim to fill this gap, comparing self-reported life satisfaction of different population groups (i.e., immigrants and natives) living in European countries, and to analyse the association between self-reported life satisfaction and the perceived quality of the neighbourhood, controlling for individual socio-demographic and human capital variables and socio-economic characteristics of the country of residence. The data are drawn from the cross-sectional European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) of 2016. Our findings reveal that first and second-generation immigrants report lower self-reported life satisfaction compared to natives. Moreover, our findings show that the positive subjective evaluation of the characteristics and services available in the immediate neighbourhood where people live is positively associated with self-reported life satisfaction. There is also a positive relationship between contacts and social networks in the neighbourhood and self-reported life satisfaction. Finally, the characteristics of the country of residence matter for both native and immigrants’ life satisfaction, with immigrants being more satisfied in countries with higher quality of life captured by country gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, life expectancy and unemployment rate.

The perceived quality, fairness of and corruption in education in Europe

ABSTRACT Although education is arguably one of the most central institutions in contemporary European societies, only recently scholars have started to study opinions that relate to the perceived legitimacy of education among the public at large. This paper contributes to this emerging literature. Based on data from the most recent wave of the European Quality of Life Survey (N = 23,073; 30 countries) we assess what individual- and country-level factors predict citizens’ satisfaction with educational quality and the perceived fairness of/corruption in education. At the individual level, we find that indicators of one’s material vs. educational position are inversely related to the perceived quality, fairness, and corruption of the education system. At the macro level, it turns out that in countries that perform better on PISA tests the perceived educational quality is higher and the perceived corruption lower. In the conclusion we elaborate on the implications of our findings.

Association Between Social Isolation and Mental Well-Being in Later Life. What is the Role of Loneliness?

In this study, we evaluate whether the association between three types of social isolation (SI) and mental well-being (MWB) is mediated by loneliness. We include a pooled sample (N = 8,525) of people aged 65 or older, participating in the 2016 European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS). MWB is assessed with the World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and SI is operationalised as living alone, having no or little contact with family members, or having no or little contact with friends and neighbours. We assess a full mediation model with loneliness as a mediator between each type of SI and MWB, which we compare with a partial mediation model and control for age, gender, urbanity, and subjective income. Estimates for the full mediation model indicate that each type of SI is associated with enhanced loneliness, which in turn is negatively associated with MWB. In addition, the total effect of each type of SI on MWB is negative, with the strongest negative path from living alone to MWB. However, when including the direct effects of each type of SI on MWB in the partial mediating model, the total effect of contact with family members on MWB loses statistical significance. The specific indirect effects of the three facets of SI on MWB remain significant and negative. These findings suggest that different aspects of SI have distinct relationships with MWB, and that absence of contact with family members influences MWB only if they activate the feeling of loneliness.

Impact of COVID-19 on health-related quality of life in the general population: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease of 2019 as an epidemic and public health emergency of international concern on January 30th, 2020. Different factors during a pandemic can contribute to low quality of life in the general population. Quality of life is considered multidimensional and subjective and is assessed by using patient reported outcome measures. The aim and objective of this review is to assess the impact of coronavirus disease of 2019 and associated factors on the Quality of Life in the general population. This review was conducted and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. A protocol was registered in the international Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews database(CRD42021269897). A comprehensive electronic search in PubMed, EBSCO Host Research Databases, MEDLINE and Google scholar search engine was conducted. A total number of 1,7000,074 articles were identified from electronic search. 25 full text articles were retained for qualitative synthesis and seventeen articles for quantitative analysis. Seven main quality of life scales were used to assess the quality of life of the general population; World Health Organization Quality of Life-bref, EuroQuality of Life-Five dimensions, Short Form, European Quality of Life Survey, coronavirus disease of 2019 Quality of Life, General Health Questionnaire12 and My Life Today Questionnaire. The mean World Health Organization Quality of Life-brief was found to be 53.38% 95% confidence interval [38.50-68.27] and EuroQuality of Life-Five dimensions was 0.89 95% confidence interval [0.69-1.07]. Several factors have been linked to the Coronavirus disease of 2019 such as sociodemographic factors, peoples living with chronic diseases, confinement and financial constraints. This review confirms that the Coronavirus disease of 2019 pandemic affected the quality of life of the general population worldwide. Several factors such as sociodemographic, peoples living with chronic diseases, confinement and financial constraints affected the quality of life.

Change in the quality of life in different countries of the world: Assessment on the EQLS database

The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) is a tool that assesses quality of life across different aspects. Monitoring the quality-of-life indicators in times of crisis and post-crisis is crucial for human resource management as the quality-of-life indicators provide valuable insights into the well-being and needs of employees. The study aimed to examine the impact of social and economic changes on the selected quality of life areas of the EU population by analyzing data from the ESQL of 2016 and 2020. It was found that the average EU life satisfaction score went down. In 2020, the EU optimism average dropped when compared to 2016. According to 2020 survey data, EU citizens found coping with life’s challenges harder than in 2016. The EU average regarding the difficulty of dealing with essential issues in life increased by 1.5% in 2020 compared to 2016. The time needed to get back to normality after some mishaps was also investigated. The EU average regarding subjective feelings of tension rose by 7.4%. In comparison to 2016, depression and downheartedness grew stronger across the EU nations and the EU average in 2020. The average value increased by 6.8%. The changes may provide insights into the effects of social and economic trends on people’s well-being across Europe. AcknowledgmentThe paper is written under the project Multiplier effects of human capital quality on economic performance and competitiveness of the Slovak economy and supported by the Grant Agency VEGA of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic [No. 1/0357/21].

Gynecologic oncology patients’ perception of physician empathy in the age of COVID-19.

e24186 Background: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic there have been major changes to the medical office experience, including universal masking. Prior studies had shown that the environmental layout1, the ability of the patients to see the physician’s face2, as well as the interactions with other office staff members3, as well as the length of the patient-physician relationship4 all played into the patient’s perception of physician empathy and that this perceived. Because establishing care during the pandemic would undercut many of these known factors, it was hypothesized that those who established care after the onset of the pandemic would have lower scores on the Jefferson scale of Physician empathy (JSPE) and European Quality of life survey (EQ-5D™). Methods: Patients of the Carole and Ray Neag Cancer Center department of Gynecologic Oncology at UConn Health were surveys at the time of their appointments. Sampling occurred between June and November of 2022. Surveys collected demographic information including age, stage of cancer, and number of visits since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020; the JSPE along with questions directly related to care during the pandemic scored the same way; the EQ-5D™; and a checkable list of changes noted in the office. The results of the “Pre-COVID” and “Post-COVID” cohorts were compared using a two-group t-test for statistical significance. An n of 30 per cohort was needed for a power of > 80%. Results: Results showed that patients who had established care prior to the pandemic (n = 29) were more likely to be seen while in remission while those who established care after the onset of the pandemic (n = 33) were more likely to be seen for postoperative surgical care or an active cancer. Patients who established care prior to the pandemic had statistically significantly lower scores on the JSPE than those who did not (6.08 +/- 2.00 vs 6.73 +/- 0.71 p = < 0.001). However, individuals who established care prior to the pandemic had statistically higher qualities of life as measured by the EQ-5D™ compared to those who established care after the onset of the pandemic (4.57 +/- 0.72 vs 4.22 +/- 0.85 p = < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in the number of changes notes (4.483 +/- 1.57 vs. 5.09 +/- 1.38 p = 0.189). Conclusions: While statistically significant differences between the cohorts were found, the overlapping standard deviations, the fact that the JSPE and EQ-5D™ went in separate directions, and the generally favorable responses lead to the conclusion that the differences were not clinically significant. This means that, contrary to research conducted prior to widespread masking and the COVID-19 pandemic, providers are still able to be perceived as empathetic and provide quality care to their patients despite the changes that have taken place in the medical office setting since the onset of the pandemic.

Can the welfare state reduce youth poverty? The determinants of material deprivation and subjective poverty among young people in Europe

As an age-group, young people are most at risk of poverty. Yet significant cross-national variation persists, which seems puzzling: the countries displaying the highest levels of youth poverty are (uncharacteristically) Nordic. How can such diversity be accounted for? Is the welfare state part of the story? First, I argue, unlike most studies, that in order to measure youth poverty it is better to use material deprivation and subjective poverty indicators, rather than income poverty. Second, I hypothesize that the welfare state has two potential routes to the alleviation of youth poverty. On the one hand, via ‘individualization’ of claims (allowing young people to claim benefits as full adult citizens), access to income support leads to lower levels of youth poverty. On the other, youth poverty levels can also be reduced through investment in young people’s human capital, in line with the ‘social investment’ strategy. These claims are confirmed by multilevel logistic regressions on three waves and across 23 European countries of the Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey.

Which teachers were most affected in terms of mental health during the strict COVID-19 lockdown in Spain?

ABSTRACT This study looks at the effect that the compulsory COVID-19 lockdown restrictions introduced by the Spanish government had on the quality of life of teachers working in the Spanish education system, i.e. those teaching at early years, primary, secondary, tertiary vocational training and university education levels. Participants completed a questionnaire that included the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) along with other questions relating to their wellbeing from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS). A total of 668 teachers responded to the questionnaire, which was generated using Microsoft Forms and distributed in an online format. The results confirm significant levels of abnormal anxiety during prolonged lockdown. We perform a multivariate analysis that shows that, whatever the level of anxiety, two variables are always significant in all the contrast models: participants felt the effects of lockdown on a personal level and found it difficult to carry out their work. The results also indicate that teachers working in primary and secondary education were those most affected by the strict, prolonged lockdown and that female teachers suffered much higher levels of anxiety than male teachers.

Interviewer Involvement in Respondent Selection Moderates the Relationship Between Response Rates and Sample Bias in Cross-National Survey Projects in Europe

Abstract Survey researchers and practitioners often assume that higher response rates are associated with a higher quality of survey data. However, the evidence for this claim in face-to-face surveys is mixed. To explain these mixed results, recent studies have proposed that interviewers’ involvement in respondent selection moderates the effect of response rates on data quality. Previous analyses based on data from the European Social Survey found that response rates are positively associated with data quality when interviewer involvement in respondent selection is minimal. However, the association between response rates and data quality is negative when interviewers are more involved in respondent selection through household frame creation or within-household selection of target persons. These studies have hypothesized that some interviewers deviate from prescribed selection procedures to select individuals with higher response propensities, which increase response rates while reducing data quality. We replicate these results with an extended dataset, including more recent European Social Survey rounds and three other European survey projects: the European Quality of Life Survey, European Values Study, and International Social Survey Programme. Based on our results, we recommend that surveys include procedures to verify respondent-selection practices into their fieldwork control procedures.

Patterns and correlates of old-age social exclusion in the Balkan states

Social exclusion (SE), or the separation of individuals and groups from mainstream society, is associated with poor health and wellbeing, yet a substantial number of older people are socially excluded. There is increasing agreement that SE is multidimensional, comprising among others social relations, material resources, and/or civic participation. However, measuring SE is still challenging as exclusion may occur in more than one dimension, whereas its sum does not reflect the content of SE. To account for these challenges, this study provides a typology of SE and describes how SE types differ from each other in terms of severity and risk factors. We concentrate on Balkan states, which are among the European countries with the highest prevalence of SE. Data come from the European Quality of Life Survey (N = 3030, age 50 +). Latent Class Analysis revealed four SE types: low SE risk (50%), material exclusion (23%), material and social exclusion (4%), and multidimensional exclusion (23%). A higher number of dimensions from which a person is excluded are associated with more severe outcomes. Multinomial regression further revealed that lower levels of education, lower subjective health, and lower social trust increase the risks of any SE type. Younger age, unemployment, and not having a partner are associated with specific SE types. This study is in line with the limited evidence that different types of SE exist. Policies designed to reduce SE should take account of the different SE types and specific associated risk factors in order to enhance the impact of interventions to reduce social exclusion.

Loneliness in Europe before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

ObjectiveThe purpose of the study is to examine the prevalence of loneliness in Europe in 2016 and during the first months – April-July 2020 – of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to assess whether the risk factors associated with loneliness have changed after the outbreak of the pandemic. MethodThe analysis is based on two cross-country surveys, namely the 2016 European Quality of Life Survey and the 2020 Living, Working and COVID-19 Online Survey. ResultsThe COVID-19 pandemic has magnified already worrying levels of loneliness in Europe. Young adults have been the most severely hit by social distancing measures. Living alone has made social distancing measures more painful. Health and financial status are strong associates of loneliness, irrespective of the time period. ConclusionThis analysis will help anticipate the potential consequences that forced social isolation might have triggered in the population and identify populations more vulnerable to loneliness. Further monitoring is important to assess whether the registered increase in loneliness is transient or chronic and to design targeted loneliness interventions.

Why is greater income inequality associated with lower life satisfaction and poorer health? Evidence from the European Quality of Life Survey, 2012

ABSTRACT Greater income inequality is associated with lower average wellbeing. There are multiple possible explanations for this pattern. We use data from the European Quality of Life Survey 2012 (27,571 respondents from 28 countries) to evaluate the contributions of different causal pathways to associations between national income inequality and wellbeing. In unadjusted analyses, greater income inequality was associated with lower life satisfaction and poorer self-rated health. For life satisfaction, 43% of the association was attributable to individual income effects, and 41% to worse public services (especially access to healthcare). The association between income inequality and self-rated health was mainly (68%) due to individual income effects. For life satisfaction but not self-rated health, we found some evidence of costs of inequality that fall on those with high incomes. We conclude that the negative associations between income inequality and wellbeing across European countries are substantially, but not entirely, due to individual income effects.

Increase in the quality of methodological documentation of cross-national pan-European multi-wave surveys over the last 40 years – a research note

ABSTRACT Social research methodologists have postulated that the transparency of survey procedures and data processing is mandatory for assessing the Total Survey Error. Recent analyses of data from cross-national surveys have demonstrated an increase in the quality of documentation reports over time and significant differences in documentation quality between the projects. This research note replicates previous results with an extended set of documentation-related quality indicators describing the degree of completeness of information at the consecutive steps of the survey cycle. It also extends earlier findings by indicating no significant relationship between the quality of the survey documentation and the quality of the survey itself. We analysed a meta-data set of survey characteristics, studying all available up-to-date methodological reports of 1,145 national surveys from four large-scale multi-wave projects: the European Quality of Life Survey (2003–2016), European Social Survey (2002–2018), European Values Study (1981–2017), and International Social Survey Programme (1985–2018).

Improving quality of life by promoting patient-provider communication and optimizing social support using a digital health platform.

e13622 Background: The patient experience, including symptom burden, is often disease-specific and dependent on host factors, the environment, and the tumor itself. Patients with a previous diagnosis of breast cancer are often subjected to multiple and aggressive treatment modalities compounding the already existing symptom burden related to the disease. Digital health can potentially increase patient engagement, close communication gaps between patients and providers, improve providers’ ability to stratify patient populations and adapt services, enable patients and families to access convenient and cost-effective care, and improve decision-making by patients and providers. The primary purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate if the use of a digital health platform can improve quality of life in patients with breast cancer. Methods: Patients with diagnosis of breast cancer were enrolled in a nonblinded, randomized, controlled trial of a digital health platform in self-reporting and monitoring of cancer and cancer-treatment related symptoms compared with usual care. All participants were asked to register in an online mobile application called CancerLife. This novel cancer social network experience provides patients social support through their care journey while at the same time collects patient-reported outcomes displayed inside reports that they can share with their providers. CancerLife automatically randomized each participant and assigned them to the experimental or control arms. The control arm received usual care provided for in the clinics. This group did not have access to the social network, reports or any other intervention or digital tools associated with CancerLife. Participants were asked to self-report their quality of life using the European Quality of Life Survey (EQ-5) every three weeks. Participants in the treatment arm were asked use the CancerLife at least 1 times per week for up to 24 weeks. Participants were also asked to share their print-out report directly with their care team and were instructed to email the report to their care team via their patient portal. Welch’s Two Sample t-test was performed to measure any statistical difference in the mean scores within each group for each time period. Results: CancerLife users had significant improvements in their scores at 9, 12, and 18 weeks; the improvement at 15 weeks was not significant. By contrast, the control group did not have significant improvements in their scores in any of the time periods. Conclusions: Breast cancer patients who were users of CancerLife’s app have more improvement in their Quality-of-Life Scores than randomly assigned non-users. The improvements seen with the use of CancerLife center on two things: improving communication from patient to physician about symptoms and offering patients social support which creates emotional resiliency. Clinical trial information: NCT03094741.

Economic and Social Interactions in Business Students during COVID-19 Confinement: Relationship with Sleep Disturbance.

The objective of the study was to observe the effect of sleep on students in the first week (Point 1) of strict confinement and to analyze its evolution after one and two months (Point 2) of strict confinement during COVID-19. The evolution of sleep, in association with affected income status, family relations, and the death or infection of a family member or friend by COVID-19 was examined. Students responded to a survey that included questions relating to sleep quality and general well-being from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS). Sleep disturbance increased over strict confinement but was substantially more and with greater intensity in the case of students not living with family members. The results show that loss of family income, loss of a family member or friend, and having a friend or family member infected affected sleep quality negatively at Point 1. However, at Point 2, confinement itself affected students sleep, as well as the variables analyzed. Domestic harmony was a positive correlation for better sleep health. The study is important for managing coping policies and diagnosis.

Cross-national data on informal caregivers of older people with long-term care needs in the European population: time for a more coordinated and comparable approach.

To promote long-term care policies for older adults, accurate mapping of the often invisible and insufficiently recognized role of their informal caregivers is needed. This paper measures the prevalence of informal caregivers in the European population, illustrates current difficulties in gathering unequivocal information on this topic and deals with the scientific and policy implications of the problem. Using the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) and the Study on Health and Ageing in Europe (SHARE), the current difficulties in gathering unequivocal information on this topic are illustrated. In most countries, the share of informal caregivers varies, sometimes markedly, among the three surveys. As for the sex of caregivers, while confirming the well-known higher prevalence of caregivers among women than among men, large variations emerge across the three surveys in most countries in respect of the two sexes. The takeaway message of the paper is that it is urgent to promote international concerted action in gathering comprehensive informal caregiving information and/or exploring in greater depth the different intercultural understandings of informal care itself.

The Welfare States and Happiness Inequalities in Europe

Income distribution is a widely used measure of inequality, but in the assessment of welfare it is deemed to be insufficient. When measuring inequality in the distribution of welfare, subjective evaluations such as happiness and life satisfaction should also be taken into account. The purpose of this study was to analyze happiness inequalities in different welfare states in Europe. Overall happiness inequality, as well as happiness inequalities between different socioeconomic groups in these countries , were explored. Furthermore, this study analyzed how these inequalities changed over time. The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) data set was used for the analysis. Independent sample t-test and one way ANOVA were also used. All analyses were done using the IBM SPSS 22 program. It was found that social democratic welfare states which consistently rank at the top of happiness rankings had the lowest overall happiness inequalities. Happiness inequalities among different sociodemographic population groups were also low in these countries. On the contrary, post-socialist welfare states had the highest happiness inequalities. Compared to employed people the unemployed were significantly unhappy in corporatist countries. Post-socialist and southern European welfare states stood out as having high happiness inequalities between those with good and poor health and between the young and elderly.