Perceptions Of Well-being Research Articles

Culture and well-being among sworn officers: an empirical examination

PurposeThis study aims to bridge the police culture and the police employee well-being literature by demonstrating significant linkages between the two.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examined the effects of culture on the well-being of officers in one police agency in the western United States during the summer of 2020. Using individual-level data, the authors model the association between officer perceptions of occupational culture and personal well-being for 125 sworn employees.FindingsThe results indicate that, for individual sworn officers, their adherence to elements of culture is related to well-being; specifically, burnout (BO) exhaustion, BO disengagement, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Additionally, the cultural attitudes of administration, and citizens in the population, are both consistent predictors of officer well-being.Originality/valueThis study provides an important linkage between the police culture and police well-being literature, which to date has been given limited attention.

Perceptions of police use of surveillance cameras in Ghana; does procedural justice matter?

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the effect of perception of police use of surveillance cameras (POP-S), perception of police legitimacy (POP-L) and community well-being. The study further explores the mediating effect of procedural justice between POP-S and police legitimacy.Design/methodology/approachA convenience sampling technique was used in the selection of 388 participants, who answered questions relating to police use of surveillance cameras, legitimacy, procedural justice and community well-being. Structural equation modeling was used to test the effects of the hypothesized paths.FindingsThe findings showed that POP-L was positively related to community well-being. In addition, procedural fairness partially mediates between POP-S and police legitimacy.Research limitations/implicationsThe study sample was limited to only motorists within the city of Accra. Hence, the study does not consider other potential offenses that may be uncovered by police-deployed surveillance cameras.Practical implicationsThe study optimizes the relevance of technology use in contemporary policing for the elimination of road traffic carnage.Originality/valueIn this research, the academic scope of technology-based policing was scholarly advanced by drawing links between police use of surveillance cameras, police legitimacy, procedural justice and community well-being within the context of emerging economies.

A Psychosocial Intervention for Supporting Informal Caregivers of Older People With Alzheimer Disease: Protocol for the InnFamiglia Randomized Controlled Trial.

Dementia is a neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by impaired cognitive functions associated with psychological and behavioral disorders. The informal caregiver has a central role in the life of the person with dementia. Committing a large part of the day to caring for the assisted person inevitably has an effect on the caregiver's life. The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of a psychosocial intervention dedicated to a group of informal caregivers of patients with Alzheimer disease. The intervention will be guided by a trained psychologist who will facilitate the participants' expression of their emotional states, as compared to a traditional self-help group. The intervention described in this paper was designed and developed for the project INNovazione sociale e tecnologica per le FAMIGLIE che assistono malati affetti da Alzheimer (InnFamiglia). The study is designed as a randomized controlled trial (RCT). The RCT includes an experimental group, in which the participants will undertake the psychosocial intervention, and a control group, where participants will receive support according to traditional self-help methodology. Interventions for both groups will last 4 months and will be comprised of 16 sessions. Participant recruitment, enrollment, and data collection began in 2021. Enrollment continued until September 2022, at which time the last group began the intervention. Data collection will be completed by December 2022, and data analysis will be completed by March 2023. The study findings will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and will be presented at scientific meetings. Summaries of the results will also be made available to investigators for dissemination within their clinics. We hypothesize that the experimental group will be more effective in managing caregiver burden and coping strategies and that this will improve the perception of well-being, anxiety, and depression among caregivers. Our study aims to compare two groups receiving different interventions: a self-help group and a psychosocial group with elements of emotional support. This study may also give us more information about the most appropriate ways to support and help caregivers of people with dementia. DERR1-10.2196/37496.

Characterising Psycho-Physiological Responses and Relationships during a Military Field Training Exercise.

Sixty-two Combat Engineer trainees (59 male, 3 female; age: 25.2 ± 7.2 years) wore an ActiGraph GT9X to monitor daily energy expenditure, physical activity, and sleep. Rating of perceived exertion (RPE), sleep quality, and fatigue were measured daily, subjective well-being was reported days 1, 5, 9, 13 and 15. Multi-level models were used for the analysis. Well-being was affected by a combination of variables including workload, subjective sleep quality, sleep duration, and sleep efficiency. RPE and subjective sleep quality were consistently significant parameters within the models of best fit. Perceptions of well-being were lower during the field training when physical workload increased, and sleep decreased. Energy expenditure was comparatively low, while daily sleep duration was consistent with field training literature. Subjective assessments of workload and sleep quality were consistently effective in explaining variations in well-being and represent an efficient approach to monitor training status of personnel.

Construction and validation of a perceived financial well-being scale (PFWBS)

PurposeThe aim of the study is to build and validate a perceived financial well-being scale (PFWBS).Design/methodology/approachA total of 34 items were developed on a five-point Likert scale. Validation involved two phases and four steps. In the qualitative phase, interviews, validation by specialists and the pre-test were carried out. In the quantitative phase, a sample of 1,020 cases was used in the exploratory stage and another sample of 2,293 individuals in the confirmatory validation stage.FindingsThe PFWBS is composed of 23 items distributed in four dimensions (financial security, financial tranquility, financial freedom and satisfaction with financial management) that identify the perception of financial well-being of the consumers of financial products.Practical implicationsThe authors propose a methodological framework that allows researchers, managers and policy makers to use the indicator to assess citizens' perception of financial well-being.Social implicationsThe PFWBS can be useful in evaluating the results of different public policies, such as income transfer programs and financial education policies. It can also serve as a parameter for the financial system to assess the perception of its customers, helping to evaluate products and services.Originality/valueFinancial well-being lacks valid measurement scales in the literature. This study advances by creating a scale for the assessment of the perception of financial well-being, which can be applied in different contexts.

The Moderator Effect of Organizational Mattering on the Association between Employees' Quality of Work Life and Subjective Well-Being during the Pandemic Period

The purpose of this research, which was conducted with quantitative method and correlational design, is to examine the moderator role of organizational members' perception of success and organizational mattering in the relationship between the quality of work life, which is an important concept in terms of organizational behavior, and the subjective well-being of members of an organization. It is a cross-sectional study. Research data were collected from 183 respondents, mostly health sector workers, using the convenience method. As a result, a strong and meaningful relationship was found between the quality of work life, organizational importance, and employees' perception of happiness. It has been an important finding that the level of quality of work life strengthens the perception of subjective well-being as predicted in Turkey as well as the perception of organizational mattering moderates the link between QWL and SWB. The concept of mattering is probably used for the first time in an academic study, and it does need to be examined on a national scale. Keywords: Quality of work life, achievement and organizational mattering, subjective well-being, regression analyses, role of moderating variable, Turkish business world DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/14-22-09 Publication date: November 30 th 2022

Job-Related Affective Well-Being Perception of the Personnel of AFAD

Ülkemizde ve dünya da her geçen gün artan afet sayısı ve çeşitliliği, yaşanan afetlerin büyüklüğü, çalışanların değişen iş anlayışları ve tecrübe eksikliği gibi nedenlerden dolayı AFAD çalışanlarının iş yükü artmakta ve işe ilişkin görüşleri de değişiklik göstermektedir. Türkiye’de Afet ve Acil Durum Yönetimi Başkanlığı: afet öncesi, anı ve sonrasında sayısız önemli görevi üstlenen ülkenin tek yetkin ve yetkili teşkilatıdır. AFAD personelleri, afet anında afetzedeleri sakinleştirme, yönlendirme ve kurtarmanın yanında insani yardım faaliyetlerinin yürütülmesi gibi duyuşsal iyilik algılarının etkilendiği çok sayıda tecrübeye sahiptirler. Bu nedenle araştırmanın amacı AFAD çalışanlarının performanslarında ve verimliliklerinde önemli bir yere sahip olan işe ilişkin duyuşsal iyilik algılarında pozitif yönde bir değişim olup olmadığının incelenmesidir. Araştırma kapsamında veriler 120 AFAD çalışanının gönüllü katılımı ile toplanmıştır. Veri toplama aracı olarak demografik bilgi toplama formu ve İşe İlişkin Duyuşsal İyilik Algısı Ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Ölçeğin tüm alt boyut puanlarına bakıldığında yaş, çocuk sayısı ve kurumda çalışma yılına göre istatistiki olarak anlamlı farklılık gösterdiği ortaya çıkmıştır. AFAD çalışanlarının katılımı ile yaptığımız çalışma, seçilen örneklem ve ölçme araçlarının artırılmasıyla geliştirilecek çalışmalara ışık tutacaktır. Gelecek çalışmalarda afet ve acil durumlarda kritik görevler üstlenen AFAD çalışanlarının tamamına ulaşılmasının, görev alan diğer kamu kurumlarında çalışan personellerin, Kızılay ve ilgili sivil toplum kuruluşları çalışanlarının dâhil edilmesinin daha kapsamlı bulgulara ulaşılmasına katkısı olacağı düşünülmektedir. Sonuçlar literatür bulguları ışığında tartışılmıştır.

DESCRIPTION OF A SCHOOL SPORTS TRAINING PROGRAM FOR NOVICE GYMNASTS: THE LOAD DISTRIBUTION AND WELLBEING RESPONSES

The description of the training program structure and the measurement of dose-response for novice gymnasts at the scholarly level is still not elucidated in the literature. The study aimed to describe a rhythmic gymnastics training program for novices and to examine their perceptions of training load and wellbeing. Eight Brazilian gymnasts (10.6±0.5 years old), from a specific school, participated in a training program that lasted 26 weeks, and was separated into general preparation (1), specific preparation (2), intensification (3), tapering (4), competitive (5), and transitioning (6) phases. In each session, wellbeing and the internal training load (ITL) were measured by a Likert scale. The comparison of wellbeing and ITL during the program was performed by repeated-measure tests, with a significance of p< 0.05. A significant difference in ITL amongst the phases was found (x2= 110, p<0.001), with Phases 3, 4, and 5 presenting higher values compared to 2 and 6. Phase 6 had lower ITL compared to 2. Higher values of wellbeing were described during the program, however, Phase 6 presented a significantly higher score compared to Phases 2 and 5 (x2= 12.0, p=0.018). In conclusion, the rhythmic gymnastics training program developed for novice scholar participants seems to be adequate in terms of structure and training load distribution. In addition to the gymnasts reporting higher overall wellbeing during the program, attention should be paid to the competitive week, to avoid a decrease in wellbeing and possible negative effects on the gymnasts’ performance.

Https://ethnobotanyjournal.org/index.php/era/article/view/4183

Background: The literature gathers several pieces of evidence on the use of medicinal plants for disease treatment, showing that local knowledge about medicinal plants is a relevant reservoir of information for local health treatment. However, a direct positive correlation between this local knowledge and the perception of well-being is still unknown, as well as the potential impacts of this correlation on humans’ quality of life. In this study, we hypothesized that the local knowledge of medicinal plants positively impacts well-being. Methods: The study was conducted in six communities inside the Catimbau National Park, Northeastern Brazil, dependent on using plants to treat diseases. Local knowledge about medicinal plants and self-reporting well-being were collected by free listing and semi-structured interviews, respectively. The well-being index of each participant was calculated by summing the scores of their answers for seven questions that covered individual aspects and food and financial security. A generalized linear model was conducted to assess the relationship between the knowledge of ethnospecies and the well-being index of participants. Results: Participants cited an average of 10.06 ethnospecies and 8.18 therapeutic targets. The mean score of the well-being index was 22.22. We found no association between the local knowledge of medicinal plants and the well-being index. Conclusion: The local knowledge of medicinal plants is not a determining factor of local human well-being. Keywords: happiness, ecosystem services, ethnobotany.

A Qualitative Exploration of UK Leisure Horse Owners' Perceptions of Equine Wellbeing.

Human assessment of equine wellbeing is fundamental to ensuring the optimal care of domestic horses. However, terminology associated with wellbeing is still not fully defined and there are currently no validated quality of life (QoL) assessment tools. Furthermore, little is known about what equine wellbeing or QoL means to horse owners, or how their beliefs impact on the management decisions they make for their horse. This study sought to establish how UK leisure horse owners use wellbeing-related terminology by exploring their accounts within a focus group setting. Four online focus group discussions (FGD) were held and qualitative data were collected. FGDs involved a semi-structured discussion, followed by a group activity to compare seven equine wellbeing-related terms of interest introduced by the facilitator. The collected data were analysed using a constructivist grounded theory approach, and also by content analysis, to examine the frequency and subjective meaning of the terms of interest. The results showed that horse owners did not clearly delineate between different terms, rather, they used the terms in the context of their own assessments of their horse. The meanings assigned to what owners experienced with their horse were individual and subjective, shaped by past experiences, relationships with their animal, and peers or social groups. This individualised construction of equine wellbeing impacted on the meaning conveyed when using wellbeing-related terminology. In this study, we extend the literature on equine wellbeing terminology usage, and highlight differences between the academic literature and the real-world experiences of horse owners.

Living with a vestibular disorder during the Covid-19 pandemic: An online survey study.

People with vestibular disorders experience symptoms which put them at risk of reduced wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic. To assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on vestibular symptoms, access to healthcare and daily activities amongst people living with a vestibular disorder. An online survey was completed by 124 people in the UK with a vestibular disorder. The survey incorporated the Vertigo Symptom Scale-Short Form and questions regarding health status, healthcare received, daily activities and employment during Covid-19. The Covid-19 pandemic affected perceptions of wellbeing. 54.1% rated their health as worse now than before the pandemic. Vertigo, unsteadiness, dizziness, tinnitus, loss of concentration/memory, and headaches were the most exacerbated symptoms. Respondents reported changes to their daily activities including reduced social contact (83%) and exercise (54.3%). Some experienced healthcare delays or received a remote appointment. Remote care was perceived as convenient, but barriers included difficulty communicating, trouble concentrating and perceived unsuitability for initial appointments. Unintended benefits of the pandemic included less social pressure, avoiding busy environments, and engaging in self-care. The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are diverse. Clinical services should be mindful that Covid-19 can exacerbate vestibular and allied neuropsychiatric symptoms that require acute, multi-disciplinary intervention, but not lose sight of the potential benefit and cost saving associated with promoting self-management and delivering remote care, especially post-diagnosis.

Authenticity Mediates the Relationship between Risk Perception of COVID-19 and Subjective Well-Being: A Daily Diary Study

The present research investigated whether risk perception of COVID-19 relates to subjective well-being and the mediating role of authenticity in this association. We conducted a 12-day daily diary study with 133 undergraduates (Mage = 19.9 years, SD = 1.27 years; 64 females). Participants self-reported risk perception of COVID-19, authenticity, and subjective well-being every day. Results revealed that (1) risk perception of COVID-19 was negatively related to subjective well-being at the interindividual level; (2) authenticity mediated the relationship between risk perception of COVID-19 and subjective well-being at the interindividual level but not at the intraindividual level. In general, findings suggested that risk perception of COVID-19 is negatively related to subjective well-being only at the interindividual level, and authenticity plays a mediating role in this relationship. The finding suggested that keeping authenticity is a good strategy for avoiding the disruption caused by COVID-19. Longitudinal studies on samples with a broader age range, larger sample size, and extended sociodemographic background, as well as experimental studies, should be conducted to explore the causal relationship among interested variables that the current research has not detected.

Stress-related psychosocial risk factors among police officers working on Rape and Serious Sexual Offences

This study describes police attitudes and perceptions of health and wellbeing among police officers who work on Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) cases. A mixed-methods approach was deployed including a cross-sectional online survey of RASSO officers and a qualitative study involving in-depth interviews in one English Police Force Area. Findings show that organisational policies have little salience. There is an entrenched culture of continuing to work despite being unwell, to provide operational support for colleagues. There is a need to develop specific strategies that reduce the stress for a team or unit-level for this cohort of police officers.

Visual placebo-like effects on subjective assessment of room acoustics: Sound absorption in classrooms

When studying occupants' environmental perception of well-being in indoor spaces, subjective questionnaires are most often used to evaluate indoor comfort domains. When estimating parameters which can be influenced in some way by certain visual aspects, researchers may question if the obtained results could be affected by other issues. In particular, certain aesthetic aspects, such as indoor furnishing or room shape may have impact on occupants’ perceptions.For this reason, this paper focuses on determining the influence of the visual aspect on occupants’ perception of indoor acoustics. Classrooms were chosen as an example of an enclosed environment; we modified the indoor acoustics of a real classroom twice, inserting false and real sound absorbing panels featuring an identical external layout. Following this, using questionnaires, the indoor acoustics perceived by students were analyzed. Results clearly demonstrate that the sight of false absorbers is sufficient to provide the same perceived acoustics as real absorbers. Since only the visual aspect is varied, a placebo-like effect is assessed. Therefore, this issue can bias results when using surveys as a scientific approach in experimental studies.

Canadian Hospital Pharmacists' Perceptions of Workplace Preparedness and Personal Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Little is known about hospital pharmacists' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, as studies to date have focused on community pharmacy practices. To determine hospital pharmacists' perceptions of their workplace preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic and to measure their mental well-being with the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS). Pharmacists working in Canadian hospital inpatient settings during the COVID-19 pandemic were invited to participate in a 2-part online survey. Part A was a 46-item survey containing statements related to directions and support from leadership, personal protective equipment practices, work environment, and emotions. Part B assessed respondents' mental well-being using the validated 14-item WEMWBS. Responses to both parts of the survey were based on Likert scales. The survey was open from July to September 2020. Descriptive analyses were applied. A total of 432 hospital pharmacists consented to participate in the study. Most respondents were women (337/432, 78%), and most were 25 to 44 years old (293/432, 68%). Most respondents were confident that their workplace and pharmacy department were effectively managing patient demand (314/389, 81%) and the pandemic more generally (263/394, 67%). They also felt that their workplace teams were working well together (314/386, 81%). Interestingly, 22% (86/391) of the respondents did not agree that they had received training for COVID-19 infection prevention and control practices. The mean WEMWBS score was 48.9 (standard deviation 8.6), which indicated average mental well-being. After the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, respondents perceived their hospitals and departments as being able to manage the pandemic and reported average mental well-being. Ensuring that all hospital pharmacists receive training for effective COVID-19 infection prevention and control practices is crucial. How their perceptions and well-being have changed since the time of the survey is unknown.

Teachers’ Work-Related Well-Being in Times of COVID-19: The Effects of Technostress and Online Teaching

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the first measures implemented in Italy was the transition from frontal teaching to online teaching. The sudden need to use technologies to perform their job has added a source of stress to teachers’ work: so-called technostress. The difficulties experienced in this transition may also have affected the perception of work-related well-being, although other variables, such as the perception of the meaningfulness of work, could alleviate this sense of uneasiness. The study aims to examine the relationships between technostress, online teaching, pleasure in working, and meaningful work perceptions among 219 teachers from different school grades through a moderated mediation model. The results confirm negative associations between technostress and pleasure in working, although this relationship varies according to the levels of perceived meaningfulness. Analyzing the factors related to teachers’ perceptions of their work, both in general and during the pandemic situation, is useful for tracing new coping strategies and planning interventions to implement new teaching methods. Further implications concerning the protective role of meaningful work are discussed.

‘Greenness’ in the Eye of the Beholder: Comparing Perceptions of Sustainability and Well-being Between Artificial and Natural Turfgrass

Turfgrass lawns are a central component in urban green space and provide a variety of ecosystem services. Traditionally, natural turfgrass lawns can have substantial input requirements (e.g., water, herbicides), which if not managed properly can have harmful ecological effects. A proposed solution that has already been adopted in many cities are artificial turfgrass lawns which do not require some of the traditional inputs of natural lawns. However, understanding perceptions of the sustainability and well-being benefits between these two surfaces are unknown. We surveyed adults in the United States in order to understand perceptions of sustainability and well-being between artificial and natural turfgrass lawns. The survey utilized a pre-post design which presented participants with photos and information about each surface type with questions related to sustainability and well-being before and after the information was presented. Overall, participants perceived natural turfgrass lawns as more sustainable and better for human health and well-being than artificial turfgrass lawns. More work needs to be done to understand the specific reasons behind such perceptions and if perceptions change when in direct contact with the two lawn surfaces.

People's Perception of Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study in Japan.

This study aims to examine people’s perception of well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan and quantitatively clarify key factors towards realizing evidence-based policymaking. In March 2022, 400 participants responded to a survey conducted through Rakuten Insight. The authors applied an ordinal logistic regression (OLR), followed by principal component analysis (PCA), to create a new compound indicator (CI) to represent people’s perception of well-being during the pandemic in addition to ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with a forward-backward stepwise selection method, where the dependent variable is the principal component score of the first principal component (PC1), while the independent variables are the same as the abovementioned OLR. Consequently, while analyzing OLR, some independent variables showed statistical significance, while the CI provided an option to grasp people’s perception of well-being. Furthermore, family structure was statistically significant in all cases of OLR and OLS. Moreover, in terms of the standardized coefficients (beta) of OLS, the family structure had the greatest impact on the CI. Based on the study results, the authors advocate that the Japanese government should pay more attention to single-person households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Invisible Co-Worker Among Us: Understanding Childhood Trauma and Workplace Well-Being

This work intended to investigate potential correlations between past experienced personal trauma to the everyday experience of workplace well-being. The authors explored traumatic childhood stories using the Philadelphia extended version of the original Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) survey. Connections to these experiences were sought in a broad range of populations using snowball sampling. Participants (N = 406) were asked to answer the ACEs survey and questions on their current perception of workplace well-being using the Eudaimonic Workplace Well-Being Scale (EWWS). Results indicated a strong correlation that was statistically significant. An increase in the number of ACEs aligned with a lower perception of well-being within the workplace. This is the first study of its kind to connect clinical childhood trauma experience with current adult workplace experience of well-being. Findings suggest enhanced focus should be placed on engaged awareness and action-oriented treatment of mental health in the workplace.

Parents' nonstandard work schedules and parents' perception of adolescent social and emotional wellbeing

Objective: We investigated the association between joint parents' work schedules and parent-reported adolescent mental health and test parental time for adolescents and parenting style as mediators. Background: Increasing evidence shows that parents' evening/night/irregular work schedules have a negative impact on children’s physical and mental health. Few studies examine adolescents and joint parental work schedules. Method: We analysed one wave of the Australian Raine Study data, focusing on adolescents who were followed up at ages 16-17 and lived in dual earner-households (N=607). Adolescent mental health was measured in the Child Behavioural Checklist (morbidity, internalising behaviour, externalising behaviour, anxiety/depression). Parental work schedules were defined as: both parents work standard daytime schedules (reference), both parents work evening/night/irregular shifts; fathers work evening/night/irregular shifts - mothers day schedules, mothers work evening/night/irregular shifts - fathers daytime schedules. We estimated a linear regression model with robust standard errors and log transformation of the dependent variables. Results: Compared to the reference group, when one or both parents worked evening/night/irregular schedules, there was a significant increase in parent-reported total morbidity, externalizing behaviour and anxiety/depression in adolescents. Fathers’ only evening/night/irregular schedules was associated with a significant increase in parent-reported total morbidity and externalizing behaviour. Inconsistent parenting partially mediated this association. Mothers’ only evening/night/irregular schedules was not significantly associated with parent-reported adolescent mental health. Conclusion: Our findings underscore the importance of fathers' work-family balance with implications for adolescent mental health.