Psychological Health Benefits Research Articles

Psychological Mechanisms Predicting Wellbeing in Pet Owners: Rogers’ Core Conditions versus Bowlby’s Attachment

ABSTRACTWhile pet ownership may confer physical and psychological health benefits, existing research presents inconsistent findings, and the psychological mechanisms through which health benefits might be conferred are unknown. Exploring human–pet relationships from the perspectives of Bowlby’s attachment theory, namely “attachment-related anxiety” and “attachment-related avoidance,” and Rogers’ core conditions including “unconditional positive regard” and “empathy” may highlight the psychological mechanisms involved. This study compared quality of life (QOL) and psychopathology in pet owners with those without pets. In the pet owners, we additionally assessed pet attachment, and perceived empathy, unconditionality, and congruence in the human–pet relationships. We then compared the relative value of Bowlby’s attachment versus Rogers’ core conditions in human– pet relationships as predictors of wellbeing in pet owners. Overall, pet owners and non-pet owners did not significantly differ in terms of QOL or psychopathology. However, in pet owners, secure pet attachments were associated with lower psychological distress and psychopathology, and those perceiving higher levels of Rogers’ core conditions from their pets had higher QOL. Bowlby’s pet attachment insecurity predicted psychological distress and psychopathology, while Rogers’ total core conditions in pets were significantly predictive of QOL of owners. Differences in wellbeing may not be reliably discernable between pet owners and non-pet owners, as wellbeing is related not to pet ownership alone but to qualities of individual human–pet relationships. The results provide new information about psychological mechanisms through which human–pet interactions are conferred, and support for the applicability of both Bowlby’s and Rogers’ concepts.

Healthy Lifestyle Through Home Gardening: The Art of Sharing.

This article offers a solution to promoting healthy lifestyle through home gardening and how gardening activities create social capital through social interactions among family members and people within communities, through sharing. This article begins by reviewing general social, psychological, and physical health benefits of home gardening followed by barriers associated with starting a garden that include lack of time, scarce resources, insufficient knowledge and skills, and inadequate space. This article argues that beyond the skills and knowledge, inspiration is the key in creating and sustaining a home garden. Through the idea of networking with families in a community and building these social relationships, it increases more opportunities to inspire and be inspired, fosters a greater sense of joy in gardening, encourages a chain reaction of sharing, and connects people together. As people share, it creates a pattern of social interactions and reciprocity among those who share and the recipients within the network that will then lead to increased social relationships, trust, and a social norm of sharing. Sharing itself also creates an opportunity for others to share back because in some situations, people do not know how to initiate the sharing process or have difficulty doing so. The article ends with a discussion on promoting a sustainable, active, and healthy lifestyle by engaging children in the process of gardening and sharing geminated plants/produce with their peers and other families, hence fostering a lifelong appreciation and consumption of plants they grow, learn, share, and heal together in the process.

The Psychological Health and Wellbeing Benefits of Organised Sports and Physical Activities among Nigerian Prisoners

Imprisonment is a major factor responsible for personality disorders characterized by increased stress, depression, anxieties and chronic restlessness among inmates. The study investigates the impacts of active involvement in sports on the perceived psychological health by inmates of Ilesa Prison Yard in Osun State of Nigeria. The research is an experimental study through which the respondents were exposed to pretest instrument, intervention and the posttest questionnaire. This study held for 10 weeks during which a total number of 140 inmates were selected as respondents. The psychological wellbeing instrument of the Quality of Life scale (WHOQOL-BREF)of the World Health Organization (WHO) was modified and used in the investigation. The collected data were analyzed with both the inferential and descriptive statistics. The study showed positive impact of athletics (r=0.576), badminton (r=.544), table-tennis (r=.773), volleyball (r=.497) on the self-reported psychological health by male prisoners. The result is found significant at (P<0.05). In conclusion, it was postulated that participation in sport activities present positive impact on the perceived psychological health among the male prisoners in Nigerian prison yard, in Ilesa, Osun State of Nigeria.

Loneliness, Depression, and Physical Activity in Older Adults: The Therapeutic Role of Human–Animal Interactions

ABSTRACTThe global population of older persons is projected in 2050 to reach approximately 2.1 billion. As people age, feelings of loneliness, depression, and physical inactivity often occur due to a multitude of reasons. These feelings may manifest and cause adverse health outcomes. With the predicted increase of older adults worldwide, the prevalence of loneliness, depression, and physical inactivity may also worsen over time if unattended. Since older adults are subject to psychological and physical changes as they age, it is important to find creative ways to address the health needs of this growing population. Therefore, interventions are needed to prevent or decrease the psychological and physical challenges that older adults face. This paper examines existing literature on human–animal interactions (HAIs) in the lives of older adults in relation to concepts such as loneliness, depression, and physical activity. The psychological and physical health benefits of animals for older adults include decreased loneliness and depression, improved cardiovascular health, and increased physical activity. There is mounting evidence supporting the therapeutic psychological and physical health benefits of animals in the lives of older adults. However, there are practical and financial implications that must be considered. Methodological considerations and future directions for human–animal interaction research with older adults are also discussed.

Psychological and social outcomes of sport participation for older adults: a systematic review

AbstractSport participation is well known to promote health outcomes for children and adolescents. Nevertheless, there is insufficient evidence about the psychological and social outcomes of sport participation for older adults. This article provides the results of a systematic review of the psychological and social outcomes of sport participation for older adults. A systematic review of seven electronic databases was conducted and a total of 21 studies published that attended to psychological and/or social health benefits from sport participation of older adults (50 years old and over) were included. The outcomes of older adults’ sport participation included life satisfaction, depression, anxiety, stress, mood state, hedonistic values, socialisation, competition, and personal psychological outcomes such as personal empowerment, self-confidence, self-esteem and resistance to the negative view of ageing. Future studies are needed to conceptualise and operationalise the different levels of involvement of sport participation.

A qualitative study of LoveYourBrain Yoga: a group-based yoga with psychoeducation intervention to facilitate community integration for people with traumatic brain injury and their caregivers

Purpose: To explore participants’ experiences in a group-based yoga with psychoeducation intervention designed to facilitate community integration for people with traumatic brain injury and their caregivers.Materials and methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 people with traumatic brain injury and three caregivers who had completed LoveYourBrain Yoga, a 6-session, manualized, group-based yoga intervention that incorporates breathing exercises, yoga, meditation, and psychoeducation. Interviews were analyzed using content analysis.Results: We identified seven themes: ease of participation, belonging, sustaining community connection, physical health, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and resilience. All participants valued the community-based yoga studio environment and multifaceted structure of the program. Participants reported improvements in strength, balance, flexibility, and attention control, and a greater sense of belonging, community connection, and ability to move forward with their lives. Participants reported ongoing use of tools (e.g., breathing exercises) to cope with negative emotions and stress. About half of participants sustained relationships built during LoveYourBrain Yoga and felt more capable of accessing other activities in their community.Conclusions: LoveYourBrain Yoga successfully promoted community integration for people with traumatic brain injury. It also facilitated diverse and meaningful physical, psychological, and social health benefits, which suggest that it may be an effective mode of community-based rehabilitation.Implications for rehabilitationTraumatic brain injury survivors often struggle to participate in their community, the ultimate goal of rehabilitationYoga is a holistic therapy with many benefits, yet is not accessible to the traumatic brain injury population at the community levelParticipants in a community-based yoga with psychoeducation intervention in six states experienced diverse and meaningful physical, psychological, and social health benefitsGroup-based yoga with psychoeducation may be an effective mode of community integration and community-based rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury survivors

The Relationship between Social Cohesion and Urban Green Space: An Avenue for Health Promotion.

Social cohesion involves the interpersonal dynamics and sense of connection among people. Increased social cohesion can be associated with various physical and psychological health benefits. The presence of urban green spaces can encourage positive social interactions that cultivate social cohesion in ways that enhance health and well-being. Urban green spaces have also been linked to positive health behaviors and outcomes including increased physical activity and social engagement. Understanding the relationship between social cohesion and urban green space is important for informing holistic approaches to health. In this article, we discuss how positive interactions in urban green space can catalyze social cohesion, social capital and critical health-promoting behaviors that may enhance psychological health and well-being. We also summarize the strengths and limitations of previous studies and suggest directions for future research.

How do we get adults and older adults to do more physical activity and is it worth it?

It is widely known that physical activity provides strong physical, psychological and cognitive health benefits, with over 20 different conditions showing prevention and treatment effects,1 including mortality reductions comparable with drug treatments in heart failure and stroke.2 Economic effects are important, with physical inactivity responsible for approximately 13.4 million disability-adjusted life-years worldwide, over $100 billion in healthcare expenditure in the US,3 and £0.9 billion in the UK,1 annually. Yet, despite this, around 40% of UK adults report being insufficiently active for health, worse with increasing age and socio-economic deprivation.1 Objectively measured findings are much worse, only 5% achieve guidelines by accelerometry, compared to 50% by self-report.

The psychological health benefits of accepting negative emotions and thoughts: Laboratory, diary, and longitudinal evidence.

Individuals differ in the degree to which they tend to habitually accept their emotions and thoughts without judging them-a process here referred to as habitual acceptance. Acceptance has been linked with greater psychological health, which we propose may be due to the role acceptance plays in negative emotional responses to stressors: acceptance helps keep individuals from reacting to-and thus exacerbating-their negative mental experiences. Over time, experiencing lower negative emotion should promote psychological health. To test these hypotheses, Study 1 (N = 1,003) verified that habitually accepting mental experiences broadly predicted psychological health (psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and depressive and anxiety symptoms), even when controlling for potentially related constructs (reappraisal, rumination, and other mindfulness facets including observing, describing, acting with awareness, and nonreactivity). Next, in a laboratory study (Study 2, N = 156), habitual acceptance predicted lower negative (but not positive) emotional responses to a standardized stressor. Finally, in a longitudinal design (Study 3, N = 222), acceptance predicted lower negative (but not positive) emotion experienced during daily stressors that, in turn, accounted for the link between acceptance and psychological health 6 months later. This link between acceptance and psychological health was unique to accepting mental experiences and was not observed for accepting situations. Additionally, we ruled out potential confounding effects of gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and life stress severity. Overall, these results suggest that individuals who accept rather than judge their mental experiences may attain better psychological health, in part because acceptance helps them experience less negative emotion in response to stressors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Older Adults Using Our Voice Citizen Science to Create Change in Their Neighborhood Environment.

Physical activity, primarily comprised of walking in older adults, confers benefits for psychological health and mental well-being, functional status outcomes and social outcomes. In many communities, however, access to physical activity opportunities are limited, especially for older adults. This exploratory study engaged a small sample (N = 8) of adults aged 65 or older as citizen scientists to assess and then work to improve their communities. Using a uniquely designed mobile application (the Stanford Healthy Neighborhood Discovery Tool), participants recorded a total of 83 geocoded photos and audio narratives of physical environment features that served to help or hinder physical activity in and around their community center. In a facilitated process the citizen scientists then discussed, coded and synthesized their data. The citizen scientists then leveraged their findings to advocate with local decision-makers for specific community improvements to promote physical activity. These changes focused on: parks/playgrounds, footpaths, and traffic related safety/parking. Project results suggest that the Our Voice approach can be an effective strategy for the global goals of advancing rights and increasing self-determination among older adults.

Cancer Patients' Long-term Experiences of Participating in a Comprehensive Lifestyle Intervention Study While Receiving Chemotherapy

Lifestyle interventions seem promising with regard to cancer patients' potential for physical and psychological health benefits and as an empowerment tool. Nevertheless, there is a lack of knowledge concerning cancer patients' longer-term experiences of participating in comprehensive lifestyle interventions. The aim of this study was to explore cancer patients' long-term experiences of participating in a 12-month individualized comprehensive lifestyle intervention study focusing on physical activity, diet, smoking cessation, and stress management while receiving curative or palliative chemotherapy. A qualitative design with semistructured interviews of 7 curative and 7 palliative cancer patients was conducted 12 months after inclusion in lifestyle intervention. Data were analyzed following a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. Two main themes emerged: (1) awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle during cancer treatment and (2) individual follow-up; it's good to have someone to talk to. Participation in a 12-month comprehensive lifestyle intervention is both feasible and desirable in curative and palliative patients. However, although the curative participants' motivation and perceived ability to adhere to lifestyle recommendations increased during the intervention period, the palliative participants' perceived ability to adhere decreased even though they were overall highly motivated. Our findings encourage the future implementation of lifestyle interventions during cancer treatment, even in cancer patients with advanced disease. However, when implementing lifestyle interventions, healthcare professionals must keep the patients' motivation, perceived ability to adhere to lifestyle recommendations, and individual needs in mind.

Nature as a Commodity: What's Good for Human Health Might Not Be Good for Ecosystem Health.

Are you getting enough Vitamin N? Richard Louv (2008) coined this term in his book “Last Child in the Woods,” in response to growing evidence that suggests humans are increasingly disinterested with, and disconnected from the natural world. Concurrent with the literature on the extent of disconnection (Miller, 2005; Soga et al., 2016; van Heezik and Hight, 2017) is an ever-expanding body of literature documenting the many psychological, physical, and spiritual health benefits derived from nature contact (Keniger et al., 2013; Bratman et al., 2015; Martyn and Brymer, 2016; Frumkin et al., 2017)

New frontiers in understanding the benefits of self-compassion

There has recently been an exponential increase in research into the psychological health benefits of self-compassion. Since the first two studies on the topic were published by Neff (2003a, 2003b)...

Use of parks by older persons and perceived health benefits: A developing country context

This paper seeks to contribute to the growing literature on how neighborhood amenities such as parks relate with active ageing. It draws attention to this relationship in the context of developing country - India where with changing demographics, population ageing is emerging as a major challenge. It builds on empirical evidences from a neighborhood park in the city of Pune - a metropolis of 3.5 million people in western India. Employing a mixed research approach, the paper explains how a neighborhood park plays a significant role in promoting healthy living among older persons by offering various perceived health benefits. Although various physical characteristics of park encourage physical activities, it is found that social connections such as groups formed in the park encourage regular participation in physical activities and thereby provide psychological health benefits and social support for older users. The paper argues for considering the important role of parks in fostering social participation critical for active ageing while designing cities that are friendly and supportive to ageing populations.

Beyond Green: Environmental Building Technologies for Social and Economic Equity

Affordability and sustainability are buzzwords of the construction debate today – and building with wood may be an answer to both. Not only that; it also has psychological and physical health benefits for the buildings' eventual users. Pollyanna Rhee, a PhD candidate in history and theory of architecture at New York's Columbia University, looks at how architects and initiatives around the world – from North America to Europe to Australia – are using this material for low‐cost housing, notably in the form of sturdy cross‐laminated timber (CLT).

Differences in Brain Structure and Function Among Yoga Practitioners and Controls.

Background: Yoga is a mind-body based physical activity that has demonstrated a variety of physiological, psychological and cognitive health benefits. Although yoga practice has shown to improve cognitive performance, few studies have examined the underlying neurological correlates.Objective: The current study aimed to determine the differences in gray matter volume of the hippocampus, thalamus and caudate nucleus and brain activation during the Sternberg working memory task.Method: Participants were 13 experienced yoga practitioners (mean age = 35.8), defined as having more than 3 years of regular yoga practice, and 13 age- and sex-matched controls (mean age = 35.7). All participants completed a 6-min walk test to assess fitness, psychosocial and demographic questionnaires; and underwent magnetic resonance imaging to assess gray matter volume and brain activation.Results: There were no group differences on demographic measures of income, education and on estimated VO2max or physical activity levels. Gray matter volume differences were observed in the left hippocampus, showing greater volume in experienced yoga practitioners compared to controls (p = 0.017). The functional MRI results revealed less activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in yoga practitioners compared to controls during the encoding phase of the Sternberg task (p < 0.05). Reaction time and accuracy on the task did not differ between the groups.Conclusions: Our results suggest an association between regular long-term yoga practice and differential structure and function of specific brain regions involved in executive function, specifically working memory, which has previously shown to improve with yoga practice. Future studies need to examine intervention effects of yoga and explore its potential to maintain and improve cognitive health across the lifespan through longitudinal and intervention studies.

Pain and Injury in Elite Adolescent Irish Dancers: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Dance is an extremely popular activity among adolescents and has a range of associated physical and psychological health benefits. However, pain and injury in young elite dancers is pervasive, and the underlying risk factors are poorly understood. This study investigated the incidence of pain and injury in elite adolescent Irish dancers and examined a range of potentially associated biopsychosocial risk factors. Thirty-seven championship level Irish dancers completed baseline questionnaires recording any episode of pain or injury over the previous 12 months. Additionally, dancers provided information regarding their dance practices, general health, sleep, eating habits, and a range of psychological factors including mood, catastrophizing, passion for dance, and achievement motivation. A baseline physical screening protocol including assessment of balance, fitness, flexibility, endurance, and functional movement was conducted. Subjects were separated into a "more pain and injury (MPI)" group (N = 17) or "less pain and injury (LPI)" group (N = 20) based on their reported pain and injury history over the previous year. Statistical analysis was conducted using independent samples ttest, the Mann-Whitney U test for skewed variables, and the test of independence for categorical variables as appropriate. Eighty-four percent of subjects recorded at least one pain or injury during the previous year. The lower limb, particularly the foot and ankle, was most commonly affected. Factors significantly associated with pain and injury included having an unusual number of troublesome body parts (p = 0.002), often or always dancing in pain (p = 0.033), and high levels of anger or hostility (p = 0.045). This study demonstrates that elite adolescent Irish dance is associated with a substantial risk of pain and injury that appears to be greater than that incurred by young dancers from other genres. Proposed explanations include inappropriate technique progression, unique choreographic features, and an overly arduous calendar of competitive events. A prospective study nearing completion will help clarify causal factors in these dancers.

‘I don’t want to die. That’s not why I do it at all’: multifaceted motivation, psychological health, and personal development in BASE jumping

ABSTRACTThis study explored a veteran female BASE jumper's experiences in relation to (a) participation phases, motivations and emotions; (b) risk perceptions and psychological management strategies; (c) psychological effects of accidents and fatalities on risk appraisals and her protective frame; and (d) psychological health and personal development benefits of extreme sport participation. Interview data revealed multifaceted motivations for BASE jumping that evolved over time. Emotion induction and pleasant psychological experiences associated with BASE jumping contributed to psychological health, well-being and personal development, while coping with negative experiences and dynamic risk perceptions fostered mental strength and resilience. Continued participation following negative experiences highlighted the importance of protective frames in facilitating positive extreme sport experiences. Findings suggested that BASE jumping motivations and experiences may be more complex and multifaceted than currently conceptualized, and that extreme sport has the potential to promote psychological health and personal development in ways that are often overlooked.

The physical and psychological health benefits of positive emotional writing: Investigating the moderating role of Type D (distressed) personality.

ObjectivesType D personality is associated with psychological and physical ill‐health. However, there has been limited investigation of the role of Type D personality in interventions designed to enhance well‐being. This study investigated associations between Type D personality and the efficacy of positive emotional writing for reducing stress, anxiety, and physical symptoms.DesignA between‐subjects longitudinal design was employed.MethodParticipants (N = 71, M age = 28.2, SD age = 12.4) completed self‐report measures of Type D personality, physical symptoms, perceived stress, and trait anxiety, before completing either (1) positive emotional writing or (2) a non‐emotive control writing task, for 20 min per day over three consecutive days. State anxiety was measured immediately before and after each writing session, and self‐report questionnaires were again administered 4 weeks post‐writing.ResultsParticipants in the positive emotional writing condition showed significantly greater reductions in (1) state anxiety and (2) both trait anxiety and perceived stress over the 4‐week follow‐up period, compared to the control group. While these effects were not moderated by Type D personality, a decrease in trait anxiety was particularly evident in participants who reported both high levels of social inhibition and low negative affectivity. Linguistic analysis of the writing diaries showed that Type D personality was positively associated with swear word use, but not any other linguistic categories.ConclusionThese findings support the efficacy of positive emotional writing for alleviating stress and anxiety, but not perceived physical symptoms. Swearing may be a coping strategy employed by high Type D individuals. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Type D (distressed) personality is characterized by high levels of both negative affectivity and social inhibition, and has been associated with adverse physical and psychological health.Positive emotional writing is known to reduce subjectively reported physical symptoms and increase positive affect. What does this study add? Positive emotional writing was shown to attenuate (1) state anxiety immediately post‐writing, and (2) trait anxiety and perceived stress 4 weeks post‐writing.The findings demonstrate that positive writing might be a useful intervention for attenuating the adverse psychological effects of Type D personality in the general population.Type D personality was associated with more frequent use of swear words, which may be a coping mechanism used by high Type D individuals.

The Feasibility of a Novel School Peer-Led Mentoring Model to Improve the Physical Activity Levels and Sedentary Time of Adolescent Girls: The Girls Peer Activity (G-PACT) Project.

Regular physical activity (PA) is associated with numerous physical and psychological health benefits. Adolescents, specifically girls, are at risk of physical inactivity. To date, there is limited research on PA interventions involving peers, which could encourage more adolescent girls to engage in PA. The investigation aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a novel school three-tier peer-led mentoring model designed to improve PA levels and reduce sedentary time (ST) of adolescent girls. Two-hundred and forty-nine Year 9 adolescent girls (13–15 years old) from three UK secondary schools were invited to participate in a peer-led mentoring intervention (Girls Peer Activity (G-PACT) project). The peer-led mentoring model was delivered in all three schools. Two of the schools received an additional after-school PA component. PA and ST were assessed through wrist-worn accelerometry. Girls who received an exercise class after-school component significantly increased their whole day moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) (3.2 min, p = 0.009, d = 0.33). Girls who received no after-school component significantly decreased their MVPA (3.5 min, p = 0.016, d = 0.36) and increased their ST (17.2 min, p = 0.006, d = 0.43). The G-PACT intervention demonstrated feasibility of recruitment and data collection procedures for adolescent girls. The peer-led mentoring model shows promise for impacting girls’ MVPA levels when combined with an after-school club PA opportunity.