Subjective Well-being Outcomes Research Articles

International and internal migration and the subjective wellbeing of wives left behind in Ghana

AbstractHusbands' labour migration has ramifications for significant family members, particularly wives left behind. However, limited studies have been conducted to examine the impacts of husbands' migration on women left behind married to international and internal migrants. Drawing on a purposive sampling survey of 298 Ghanaian women (international = 129 and internal = 169) in the Volta Region, we assessed their subjective wellbeing using three dimensions: self‐reported health, self‐reported satisfaction with life, and self‐reported happiness. The results from t‐tests show that on average, international women left behind have higher perceived health (3.72), perceived happiness (3.82) and satisfaction with life (3.19). Results from the multivariable binary logistic regression analyses reveal that while no variables predict self‐reported health for international women left behind, high frequency of communication is statistically associated with internal women left behind self‐assessed health. International women left behind who lived in nuclear households and internal women left behind who reported high wealth quintiles were both statistically associated with satisfaction with life, respectively. While demographic factors (age and duration of marriage) were significant predictors of happiness for international women left behind, neighbourhood type and frequency of communication predicted happiness for internal women left behind. The differences in variables predicting each of the subjective wellbeing dimensions demonstrate the concept's multidimensionality. It also highlights factors influencing subjective wellbeing outcomes of women left behind are not solely due to their husbands' migration. The policy implications of this study are highlighted.

Interest in anime and manga: relationship with (mental) health, social disconnectedness, social joy and subjective well-being

Abstract Aim Our aim was to examine the association between interest in anime and manga and their relationship with (mental) health (in terms of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, health-related quality of life, symptoms of hikikomori), social disconnectedness (in terms of preference for solitude, loneliness, objective social isolation, and perceived social isolation), subjective well-being (in terms of ikigai, life satisfaction, and happiness) and joy (frequency of laughter, and frequency of hugs). Subjects and methods Data were taken from a large sample of the general German adult population aged 18–74 years (n = 4,738 individuals, average age: 46.4 years). Established tools were used to quantify the outcomes. Multiple linear and ordered logistic regressions were used, as appropriate. Results Regressions showed that a higher interest in anime was associated with several adverse mental health and some social disconnectedness outcomes. Contrarily, a higher interest in anime was associated with favorable subjective well-being outcomes, and favorable joy outcomes. Similarly, regressions showed that a higher interest in manga was associated with several adverse (mental) health and some social disconnectedness outcomes. Contrary, it is associated with lower objective social isolation. Moreover, it is not significantly associated with subjective well-being outcomes, but significantly associated with the joy outcome frequency of hugs. Conclusion A higher interest in manga and anime was associated both with negative and positive outcomes. Particularly a higher interest in anime was associated with more favorable subjective well-being scores, laughing and hugging. In this respect, this topic needs to be approached in a very nuanced way.

Is the fulfilment of objective wellbeing reflected in subjective wellbeing? A case study of vulnerable communities in Volta Delta, Ghana

There is growing interest in the measurement and conceptualisation of wellbeing due to its increasing importance within policy outcomes; however, the understanding of how different wellbeing outcomes associate within sustainability research is limited. This paper uses household survey data from the vulnerable Volta Delta, South Ghana, as a case study to illustrate the different philosophical approaches and measures of wellbeing, and the potential impact upon policy interventions. The frequent use of objective wellbeing measures, such as monetary poverty, within development policy is challenged as to whether it sufficiently reflects overall wellbeing. For example, objective monetary measures may not incorporate the intangible components of wellbeing, which can alternatively be captured within individuals’ self-evaluated, subjective wellbeing. This study first outlines the conceptual and methodological choices required when measuring wellbeing, before drawing on ideas of objective and subjective wellbeing to examine whether these concepts from different disciplines align or oppose one another. Contrasting theories within the literature justify this focus. By testing for associations between objective and subjective wellbeing outcomes, this study highlights how the methodological and conceptual choices made when measuring wellbeing can result in differing conclusions. Despite statistically significant associations being found amongst some wellbeing measures, results which show opposing outcomes highlight how subjective and objective wellbeing are not entirely interchangeable. Our study concludes there is a benefit to incorporating both objective and subjective measures in research and development targets across multiple scales to more-comprehensibly capture, and improve our understanding of, human wellbeing in vulnerable locations.

Adolescent Perspectives on Distance Learning and Schools’ Impact on Subjective well-being

Aim of this study is to see how youths and adolescents (12–17 years) have experienced their education during lockdowns in 2021, and how school affects subjective well-being (SWB). Grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, it explores the interconnectedness of social environments and subjective well-being. Data were collected through a survey in Germany, capturing subjective well-being, social resources, and educational outcomes before and during times of school closures (2019 and 2021). The present study evaluates responses from two towns, two years and more than 1700 adolescents in total. Quantitative analyses reveal positive associations between academic success, supportive environments, perceived affluence, and well-being. Findings highlight which dimensions of supportive environments are driving youth well-being and underscore the importance of school as central piece in adolescent life. School as a supportive environment plays a major role in adolescent lives and has a lot of potential to compensate for structural disadvantages affecting SWB.

Adolescents’ Subjective Well-Being: The Unique Contribution of Fathers

BackgroundCaregiver relationships are associated with adolescent subjective well-being. Yet, little is known about the contributions of father-adolescent relationship quality to well-being including perseverance, connectedness, and happiness or the specific contributions of father-adolescent relationship quality to these outcomes after accounting for covariates.ObjectiveThis study aimed to understand how father-adolescent relationships and school connectedness interact with one another when positive adolescent functioning are the outcomes.MethodsAdolescents (N = 2,509; Mage = 15.5; 51.8% male; Black and African American (47.9%), Hispanic (24.8%), and white (17.7%) participating in the FFCWBS provided cross-sectional data. A series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine direct associations between father-adolescent relationship quality and each of the three adolescent subjective well-being outcomes (perseverance, connectedness, and happiness), and to evaluate the moderating role of adolescent biological sex in these associations. Covariates included race, household income, father’s residential status, the adolescent’s relationship with the mother and school connectedness.ResultsRegressions showed that father-adolescent relationship quality was significantly associated with each well-being outcome beyond the contributions of demographics, mother-adolescent relationships, and school connectedness, and had similar associations with the outcomes by sex.ConclusionsOur conclusions highlight the priority of including and retaining fathers in research and interventions.

Social protection for transformative resilience: do programmes really address underlying causes of vulnerability of subsistence farmers to climate change?

ABSTRACT Conventional social protection programmes that fail to intentionally consider climate change effects in their design and delivery are criticised for not addressing the root causes of vulnerability to climate change, particularly for rural livelihoods. Increasingly, we see a shift to adaptive social protection programming to address climate vulnerability, which incorporates transformative objectives. However, there is a dearth of research into the transformative effects of adaptive approaches. Addressing this gap, we employ a “rights-based approach” to assess how adaptive social protection affords greater transformative resilience and wellbeing outcomes over conventional social protection programming. Taking Bangladesh as our case, empirical data show that although social protection programming incorporates some transformative elements, their impacts in terms of subjective resilience and wellbeing outcomes are limited. These limited outcomes result from prevailing clientelism, inadequate benefits paid to participants, lack of beneficiary participation in decision-making, and failure to address unequal gender norms and power relations. These failures are intentionally obscured through the performative practice of corrupted reporting. We conclude by proposing social protection features that are expected to promote more equitable, inclusive and just pathways to sustainably reduce climate induced vulnerability of subsistence farmers.

What Mental Health and Wellbeing Interventions Work for Which Children and Young People in Care? Systematic Review of Potential Outcome Inequities

AbstractChildren and young people with care-experience (e.g. foster, kinship and residential care) report poorer mental health and wellbeing than the general population. Despite an emerging evidence-base for intervention, it is not clear if current approaches create, exacerbate or mitigate outcome inequities between different types of participants. We conducted a systematic review of international interventions targeting mental health, subjective wellbeing and suicide-related outcomes amongst care-experienced children and young people aged up to 25 years old. The review included a narrative synthesis of intervention inequities, exploring if they were more or less effective for different participant groups. Eight interventions, with 14 study reports, presented relevant data. Overall, there was no clear evidence that intervention participation could lead to inequitable impacts, being more or less effective for different groups. However, there was some tentative indication that individuals with lower exposure to maltreatment, fewer care placements, and increased baseline mental health problems, might be more responsive to intervention than other participants. There was limited evidence for wellbeing and no data availability for suicide. Future intervention evaluation should focus on assessing if there is potential to create, sustain or exacerbate inequities, and how approaches may be designed to mitigate this risk.

Opposing objective and subjective wellbeing outcomes within an environmentally vulnerable delta: a case study of Volta Delta, Ghana.

Despite a growing interest in the measurement and conceptualization of wellbeing, the integration within sustainability research, and the understanding of how different wellbeing outcomes relate, is limited. Many studies focus on singular, often objectively measured, outcomes, without acknowledging the breadth of available measures. This approach can result in crucial subjective information, which can be explored to understand actors' behaviors and responses, being omitted from research and policy. This study explores objective and subjective wellbeing outcomes, and how they relate, within an environmentally vulnerable context. Wellbeing and environmental services are intrinsically interlinked, therefore, appropriate policy solutions are required to address human needs and pressures on supporting ecosystems. This paper uses binary logistic regression modelling, and qualitative participatory rural appraisal methods, to understand the environmental conditions, including climatic hazards and landscape characteristics, associated with households experiencing different objective/subjective wellbeing outcomes within Volta Delta, Ghana. The mixed method approach highlights a differing relationship between inland agricultural areas impacted by drought and erosion, and coastal/riverine, peri-urban landscapes exposed to flooding and salinization. Agricultural areas associate with "poor but happy" outcomes, whereas peri-urban landscapes associate with being "non-poor but unhappy." Drawing on existing literature, and both quantitative and qualitative results, these varying outcomes are hypothesized to be driven by differences in livelihood vulnerability, relative comparisons to others, responses to climatic hazards, and individualistic/collective wellbeing conceptualizations. Our study concludes that environmental conditions influence objective and subjective wellbeing through different mechanisms. Sustainable development research should incorporate both objective and subjective measures when implementing and monitoring policy to more comprehensibly capture, and improve, wellbeing in environmentally vulnerable locations.

Exploring the Interplay between Religion, Health, and Subjective Well-Being in Turkey

Religion, a primary part of human life, has long been granted as an influential drive shaping individuals' beliefs, values, and behaviors. It permeates numerous aspects of life, granting support, guidance, and a sense of purpose to billions of adherents around the world. This paper investigates the intricate link between subjective well-being and religion by focusing on the influence of religious beliefs and practices on happiness, life satisfaction, and subjective health outcomes. While previous findings have provided inconsistent evidence about this relationship, most of it has been conducted in Western and Judeo-Christian contexts. Even though there are few studies addressing religion and subjective well-being in Turkey this study presents a different perspective by surveying national-level data from Turkey. Existing literature on religion and subjective well-being presents a divided narrative; while some studies suggest that religion positively affects well-being, others claim that it has negative or neutral effects. However, this paper enhances the existing literature by exploring these relationships within the framework of Islamic beliefs and practices examining how religious beliefs and practices influence subjective well-being outcomes in the Muslim framework. The study analyzes subjective well-being, including happiness and life satisfaction, in both cognitive and emotional dimensions. It also explores the connections between religion and subjective mental and physical health investigating the possible moderating effect of religion on Subjective wellbeing and health outcomes. First, it explores the moderating role of religion in the association of subjective well-being and subjective health. In addition, from an Islamic viewpoint, this study focuses on the multiple dimensions of religiosity in a Muslim-populated nation where religious membership and participation concepts vary from Western Christian societies. Islamic beliefs emphasize the importance of living a disciplined and devoted life by focusing on inner virtues and moral behavior. Islam advances a perception of happiness that transcends hedonism and highlights eudaimonic well-being by prioritizing the hereafter over worldly pleasures. The impact of religion on the well-being of Turkey, which has a unique cultural and political structure, is complex. This dichotomy of being secular and religious at the same time allows for significant religious differences, making Turkey an interesting subject of study. The research uses a series of hypotheses exploring the links between religion, happiness, life satisfaction, and health. Its aim is to reveal the relationships between these variables and to determine how religiosity directs these relationships. In addition, the research also investigates how subjective well-being results differ depending on the level of religiosity in Turkey. The data of this study are based on the well-known World Values Survey (WVS) 2012. Three dependent variables were used in the study: happiness, life satisfaction, and subjective health. Three religious determinants measure religious beliefs and practices, and a set of control variables accounts for sociodemographic factors. The findings of this study will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the complex interaction between religion and health and well-being in different cultural and religious settings. The results present a series of multinomial logistic regression models designed to explore the relationships between independent variables and dependent outcomes. These models discover complex patterns in the data and offer insights into direct and indirect effects, as well as the moderating role of religion in mental health outcomes.

Commuting and its spillover effects on subjective well-being: Evidence from China

The relationship between commuting and subjective well-being has long been studied in the transportation field. However, few studies have examined the complex relationship between commuting characteristics that affect subjective well-being, nor have they focused on the spillover effects of commuting on other life domains. To fill these gaps, we built a structural equation model using large-scale survey data across 29 provinces in China to explore the mechanisms by which commuting characteristics affect subjective well-being. The results suggest that the complex relationship between commuting mode, time, and cost reduces the differences in commuters’ subjective well-being across different commuting modes. Commuting distance affects commuting choices and indirectly produces different subjective well-being outcomes. The impact of commuting spills over into the health, work, and community domains, affecting subjective well-being. Based on these findings, we provided policy recommendations for urban and transportation planning in Chinese cities.

Association between friendship quality and subjective wellbeing in adolescents: a cross-sectional observational study

BackgroundFriendships play a vital role in the social lives of teenagers, and friendship quality can substantially impact the adolescents’ overall health and wellbeing. This study aimed to investigate the association between friendship quality and subjective wellbeing in Northern Irish adolescents. MethodsIn this cross-sectional observational study, we used data from the second wave of the Wellbeing in Schools Survey, conducted in Northern Ireland from April 2 to May 31, 2018. This survey used a clustering sampling method and included students aged 15–19 years. The survey was approved by the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work's Research Ethics Committee, with pupil opt-in and parental opt-out consents. Participants from the survey's initial wave in 2016 were considered eligible. Data on friendship quality and classroom friendships were gathered. Subjective wellbeing was assessed using the 7-item Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. Metrics for psychological wellbeing (6 items), mood (7 items), and friendship quality (6 items) were taken from the KIDSCREEN-52 questionnaire. All items were rated on a 1–5 point Likert scale. We examined the association between friendship network quality and subjective wellbeing outcomes through social network analysis and network autocorrelation modelling. FindingsOf 1542 students invited, 1189 (77%) from 83 schools responded to the friendship network queries. Slightly more than half of these participants were female (609 [51%] girls and 580 [49%] boys), and the median age was 16 years (range 14–19, IQR 16–16). The median overall friendship score stood at 20 (IQR 18–26, with possible scores ranging from 6 to 30). Adjusted network autocorrelation models indicated that higher friendship quality scores were significantly associated with improved psychological wellbeing (β=0·3448, p<0·0001), subjective wellbeing (β=0·3075, p<0·0001), and a reduction in negative mood (β=–0·1934, p<0·0001). InterpretationThe study found that friendship quality had a significant association with mood, psychological wellbeing, and subjective wellbeing in adolescents. The results emphasise the value of fostering positive social relationships among adolescents, with a particular focus on the quality of their friendships. Next stages of this research include longitudinal analysis to test these associations more robustly. FundingTaibah University.

Synergistic impacts of online and offline social participation on older adults’ subjective well-being: evidence from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

ABSTRACT This study investigates the synergistic impacts of online and offline social participation on older adults’ subjective well-being outcomes. By drawing on the socio-emotional selectivity perspective, we conduct a cohort analysis using the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging data and find that while online participation alone may increase loneliness, engaging in offline participation will make online participation beneficial. Loneliness serves as a mediating mechanism such that engaging in both online and offline social participation can indirectly enhance satisfaction with life by reducing loneliness. We further find a significant moderating effect of social support, which mitigates the negative impact of loneliness on life satisfaction.

Relationships between sport and exercise participation and subjective well-being among adults with physical disabilities: Is participation quality more important than participation quantity?

Sport and exercise participation are associated with small, albeit positive changes in subjective well-being (SWB). Recent theorizing has emphasized the importance of distinguishing between performance aspects (i.e., frequency, intensity, time engaged) and the experiential aspects of sport and exercise participation among people with disabilities. This study assessed the relative contributions of time spent participating in sport and exercise (a performance measure) versus measures of participation experiences, in explaining variance in SWB. Participants were 535 adults with physical disabilities, recruited through a nation-wide survey, who participated in sport (n = 271; 62% male; 44 ± 14 years) or exercise (n = 264; 42% male; 57 ± 14 years). They completed measures of minutes/week of sport or exercise participation, experiential aspects of participation, and SWB (overall life satisfaction, satisfaction with physical, psychological and social life-domains, and positive/negative affect). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed minutes/week of sport did not explain significant variance in any SWB measure, but sport participation experiences explained significant variance (9.2%–20.9%) in all SWB measures (p < 0.05). Similarly, minutes/week of exercise explained significant variance only in physical life-domain satisfaction (ΔR2 = 2.6%, p = 0.026), but exercise participation experiences explained significant variance (4.8%–10.7%) in all SWB measures (p < 0.05). Experiences of belonging and mastery were particularly strong, consistent predictors across SWB outcomes. These results suggest participation experiences better explain relationships between sport and exercise participation and SWB than time spent performing sport and exercise. Findings have implications for designing future studies to test the effects of sport and exercise on SWB, and developing theories and interventions to explain and maximize the use of sport and exercise to improve SWB in adults with disabilities.

Investigating the effects of rurality on stress, subjective well-being, and weight-related outcomes

PurposeRates of obesity are significantly higher for those living in a rural versus urban setting. High levels of stress and low levels of subjective well-being (SWB) have been linked to poor weight-related behaviors and outcomes, but it is unclear if these relationships differ as a function of rurality. This study investigated the extent to which living in a rural versus urban county ("rurality") moderated associations between stress / subjective wellbeing (predictors) and diet quality, dietary intake of added sugars, physical activity, and BMI (outcomes). MethodsParticipants were recruited from urban (n = 355) and rural (n = 347) counties in Washington State and self-reported psychological, demographic, and food frequency questionnaires while physical activity behavior was measured objectively. FindingsAfter controlling for relevant covariates, levels of stress were positively associated with added sugar intake for those living in the urban county while this relationship was non-significant for those residing in the rural county. Similarly, SWB was negatively associated with added sugar intake, but only for urban residents. County of residence was also found to moderate the relationship between SWB and BMI. Higher SWB was inversely associated with BMI for those living in the urban county while no relationship was observed for rural county residents. ConclusionsThese findings support the hypothesis that the relationships between stress / SWB and weight function differentially based on the rurality of the residing county. This work adds to the growing body of literature highlighting the role stress and SWB play in the rural obesity disparity.

Working from home and subjective wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of pre-COVID-19 commuting distance and mode choices

Working from home (WFH) was prevalent among previous daily commuters during the COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to continue in post-COVID-19 society. By using WFH enforced by the UK government during the pandemic as a real-world experiment, our study investigates the relationship between switching from commuting to WFH, and subjective wellbeing (SWB). Particular interest lies in determining the extent to which this relationship depends on homeworkers' commuting behaviours prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. The data we used is from a COVID-19 panel survey on UK workers who were born in 1970. Results from the between-individual analysis and fixed-effect analysis show that the transition to WFH was not indicative of life satisfaction but it was conducive to affective wellbeing in the short term. This positive effect on affective wellbeing became insignificant after specific experiences of WFH were taken into account; that is, positive homeworking experiences were a result of strong social support, healthy daily lifestyles and stable financial circumstances during the pandemic. Crucially, the impact of switching to WFH on SWB was moderated by the pre-pandemic commuting behaviour. Previous long-distance commuters (one-way commuting distance >30 miles) reported better affective wellbeing when they could work from home, while commuters who had frequently walked or cycled to work had worse SWB outcomes after switching to WFH.

The role of combat exposure on drinking behavior and subjective well-being: A Rubin Causal Model approach.

Investigating the role of combat exposure on behavioral outcomes has been limited due to ethical and logistical constraints. Using a large data set from UK BioBank of U.K. citizens (n = 157,161), we created hypothetical randomized experiments, with treatment conditions for combat exposure or no combat exposure matched for relevant covariates and compared differences in combat exposure groups on a broad range of alcohol-related and subjective well-being outcomes. Additionally, using a randomization-based approach, we calculated 95% Fisherian intervals for constant treatment effects consistent with the matched data and the hypothetical combat exposure intervention. Results suggest that combat exposure plays a role in several negative outcomes related to alcohol behavior and subjective well-being, such as increased typical daily alcohol consumption (estimated average causal effect [ACE] = 0.0545, Fisher p-value = .0119) and less general health happiness (estimated ACE = -0.1077, Fisher p-value < 1/100,000). This study expands our current understanding of the role of combat exposure on many alcohol and subjective well-being-related measures. We also show that the Rubin Causal Model provides a rigorous and valid approach to better understand myriad other issues in psychological science. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Adolescent Anxiety, Depression and Flourishing before and During COVID-19 and the Predictive Role of Baseline Psychological Capital (PsyCap) on Student Mental Health and Subjective Wellbeing During the Pandemic.

Studies indicate the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in rises in adolescent mental health symptoms globally, although the impact of the pandemic on subjective wellbeing is under-researched in this population. Psychological capital (PsyCap), a cluster of four positive psychological constructs comprising hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism (HERO), has demonstrated preventative and promotive qualities on mental health symptoms and subjective wellbeing outcomes with adult populations (employees, university students). However, PsyCap's influence on these outcomes in young people is unclear. The present exploratory study investigated changes in self-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms (measured via the RCADS-SV) and subjective wellbeing (measured by the Flourishing Scale) from pre-pandemic levels to 3 months into the pandemic and explored gender differences at each time point in a sample of Australian Year 10 students (N = 56, Mage = 14.93 years, SD = 0.50, 51.8% male). The longitudinal predictive role of baseline PsyCap on follow-up assessments of anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms and flourishing were also examined. There were no significant changes in levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms between the timepoints, but flourishing significantly declined from T1 to T2. Baseline PsyCap was not a significant predictor of T2 anxiety and depressive symptoms but was a significant predictor of T2 flourishing. Further, different baseline HERO constructs predicted T2 mental health symptoms and flourishing. Future larger studies building on the current preliminary findings investigating the roles of student PsyCap, mental health and subjective wellbeing are warranted to better understand these constructs in the COVID-19 era and beyond.

Applying an ecosystem services framework on nature and mental health to recreational blue space visits across 18 countries

The effects of ‘nature’ on mental health and subjective well-being have yet to be consistently integrated into ecosystem service models and frameworks. To address this gap, we used data on subjective mental well-being from an 18-country survey to test a conceptual model integrating mental health with ecosystem services, initially proposed by Bratman et al. We analysed a range of individual and contextual factors in the context of 14,998 recreational visits to blue spaces, outdoor environments which prominently feature water. Consistent with the conceptual model, subjective mental well-being outcomes were dependent upon on a complex interplay of environmental type and quality, visit characteristics, and individual factors. These results have implications for public health and environmental management, as they may help identify the bluespace locations, environmental features, and key activities, that are most likely to impact well-being, but also potentially affect recreational demand on fragile aquatic ecosystems.

Developing the HERO within: Evaluation of a brief intervention for increasing Psychological Capital (PsyCap) in Australian female students during the final year of school in the first year of COVID-19

Academic stress is linked to adolescent distress and perfectionism during the final years at school, with girls being at greater risk. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was an additional stressor that impacted student learning on a global scale. The present study examines the effectiveness of an intervention targeting Psychological Capital (PsyCap), comprising hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism (HERO) to increase these HERO resources and assess its impact on mental health symptoms and subjective wellbeing outcomes among a cohort of Year 12 students (n = 82, Mage = 17.09, SD = 0.28, 99% identifying as female) from a girls school during the first year of the pandemic. Primary outcomes of anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and flourishing and secondary outcomes of HERO variables and perfectionism were examined. There were no significant changes in primary outcomes. Significant changes in efficacy, optimism, omnibus PsyCap (HERO combined) and perfectionism were found at post-intervention. Findings indicate the intervention targeting HERO constructs may be promising for developing HERO capabilities in youth and reducing common areas of concern for students (e.g., perfectionism). Future research directions addressing limitations are discussed.

Changes in subjective well-being predict changes in U.S. presidential, Senate, &amp; House of Representatives election outcomes

Free and fair elections enable the nation’s citizens to elect candidates whom they believe best represent their interests. When deciding who to vote for, individuals may consider a host of factors that ultimately improve their subjective well-being. Using data from the Gallup Sharecare Well-being Index (N = 3,208,924), we examined whether changes in subjective well-being predicted U.S. presidential, Senate, and House of Representatives election outcomes from 2010 to 2020. We tested this effect at county (n = 1,652–3,061), metropolitan statistical area (n = 191–363), state (n = 50), and district (n = 389–427) levels. Pre-registered multilevel models supported the notion that regions with growing discontent tended to have larger increases in non-incumbent vote shares. Establishing a link between subjective well-being and electoral outcomes has the potential to realign policymakers’ priorities with what truly matters to their constituents, thereby facilitating the promotion of population well-being.