State Of Psychological Well-being Research Articles

Intimate Relationships during COVID-19 across the Genders: An Examination of the Interactions of Digital Dating, Sexual Behavior, and Mental Health

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in economic hardship, psychological stress, anxiety, and depression in a significant proportion of the global population. However, the bidirectional effects of social isolation and pre-existing or developed psychological stress could inform sexual behaviors and affect digital dating outcomes. Additionally, it is unknown whether intimate behaviors and relationships have been equally affected across the genders during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to contrast the course of intimate relationships pre-and post-COVID-19, with a focus on diverse genders, digital dating, mental health, and behavior. A review of the dating landscape during COVID-19 is developed in this study, encompassing themes including diverse genders, sexual orientation, demographic characteristics, sexual behavior, the state of psychological wellbeing, and interactions with digital dating apps. The authors reviewed the trends and challenges of digital romance. Dating before and during the pandemic is explored, discussing how COVID-19 experiences may inform future romantic partnerships. Mobile dating applications saw a surge in downloads and usage across popular platforms, including Tinder (3 billion swipes in March 2020) and Ok Cupid (700% increase in dates), with the top 20 dating apps gaining 1.5 million daily users. Cross-sectionally, being younger, single, and having higher levels of stress was a predictor of higher dating-app usage during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Risky sexual behavior and having multiple sexual partners were reduced during social distancing as there was an increased worry of contracting the virus. Heightened incidents of domestic/intimate partner abuse have caught the headlines in several countries. COVID-19 during lockdown has also posed barriers to accessing support and help from sexual and mental health services.

State of Psychological Well-being and Self-Care Patterns Among Paramedic Trainees During the First Wave of COVID-19

Introduction: Several studies suggest that health workers and medical students suffer from psychological problems during the pandemic. Paramedic trainees were doing duty at the hospital round the clock as other trainee health care workers during the first wave of COVID-19, but there was no published study regarding mental health issues of paramedic trainees till the date in Nepal. This study aims to assess their well-being to full fill the gap. Methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study design carried out with 280 paramedics. The study period was September - October 2020. Depression, anxiety and stress scale – 21 (DASS 21) and self - care assessment worksheet was used to collect the data after getting permission from the concerned authors. Results: The point prevalence of psychological problems as defined by DASS-21 was 117 (45.3%). Specifically, DASS-21 sub-scales-defined caseness was: Depression 31 (12.0%), anxiety 55 (21.3%) and stress 31 (12.0%), where 218 (80%) of participants were not taking any self-help care-related training to enhance their coping skills to date. Chi-square (χ2) test found that there was a significant association between emotional self-care and severity of depression (P = 0.001), anxiety (P = 0.03) and stress (P = 0.04). Conclusions: A significant number of paramedic trainees suffered from depression, anxiety and stress during the first wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Therefore, psychological interventions like stress management, positive coping skills, and self-care training may be beneficial to help them cope with the situation.

Occupational stress and psychological wellbeing during COVID 19: Mediating role of positive psychological capital.

The COVID 19 pandemic has challenged the humankind’s livelihood, physical health, mental health, employment, and economy. Lockdowns, quarantines, online teaching, and learning have become new normal. Negativities have been spread across the globe and society by the pandemic. The negative effects caused a confused mindset, fear, anxiety, stress, and other psychological complications amongst the people especially among the Health Care Workers (HCWs), children, elderly people, and Frontline Workers (FLWs). This research work examines the levels of Occupational Stress (OS), and psychological well-being (PWB) of HCWs and police personnel during the pandemic and the relationship between OS and PWB. Further, the study analyzed the role of Positive Psychological Capital (PPC) as a mediator and Emotional Quotient (EQ) as a moderator in the relationship between OS and PWB. Positive Psychological Capital (PPC) characteristics of the respondents such as having faith in one's ability, and performance, willingness to succeed or attain the goals framed, ability to bounce back from the hard times, and their optimism about the future have helped them to tackle the stress caused by the pandemic and to maintain a better state of psychological wellbeing in the fight against the pandemic.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING AND WORK MOTIVATION AMONG STAFF NURSES IN GOVERNMENTAL HOSPITALS IN PORT SAID

Background: Nurses are a main group of health service providers, but they have to face physical and psychological problems such as permanent confrontation with the patient, being exposed to health hazards. Nurses need to be motivated to accomplish their tasks, provide quality care. Motivation at work was found to be closely linked with job satisfaction and psychological well-being. Aim: the aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between psychological wellbeing and work motivation among staff nurses in Governmental Hospitals in Port Said. Subject and Methods: The current study utilized a descriptive correlational design. The study population included all staff nurses with total number 274 at inpatient units working in four hospitals namely (Port Said general hospital, Elnasr hospital, Elzohor Central hospital and Port Fouad general hospital), used two tools: Ryff Psychological Wellbeing Scale (Ryff Scale), Work Preference Inventory scale, a personal and job characteristics questionnaire sheet was added. Results: The high percentage of nurses participate in this study were females 94.2%, less than three quarter of studied staff nurses had high level of the total psychological well-being (71.5%), the majority of the studied staff nurses had highly total scores of work motivation (77.4%).Conclusions: there is a significant correlation between psychological wellbeing and work motivation among staff nurses in governmental hospitals at Port Said. Recommendations: Nurses should improve their psychological wellbeing state. In addition, nurses' managers should motivate nurses through increase incentives, appreciate and acknowledge all nurses working in hospitals.

Представление о психологическом иммунитете в отечественной психологии

Introduction. Numerous multidisciplinary studies examine non-physical types of immunity in recent years. By analogy with physical immunity, psychological immunity provides the comprehensive protection of the human psyche in extreme stressful situations and also in everyday activities. Psychological immunity can potentially become the phenomenon that may combine disparate views of defense mechanisms of the human psyche. Therefore, it seems reasonable to introduce and develop this concept.
 Theoretical Basis. The concept of psychological immunity was first introduced by A. Olah. He defined it as a mental phenomenon that brings together all the adaptive resources of an individual. Previous research has demonstrated that psychological immunity is a widely accepted concept with clear conceptual and theoretical grounds and practical tools for diagnosis, development, and correction. The development of the concept of psychological immunity aroused our interest in Russian researches in this field.
 Results. Russian researchers agree that psychological immunity is a personality trait that contributes to the preservation of an individual’s adaptive state when exposed to adverse factors through the use of resources. These resources are not only psychological defenses and coping strategies, but also self-regulation, reflection, consciousness, meaningfulness, coherence, etc. Very few but diverse previous studies of psychological immunity have outlined its content-related, structural, and functional concept.
 Discussion. Psychological immunity is a mental phenomenon that helps to maintain the state of psychological well-being and psychological safety. The functions of psychological immunity are identical to those of physical immunity and include monitoring the functional state, memorizing the impact, reducing the intensity of re-experiencing, maintaining the state of psychological well-being, and facilitating negative experience. Aversion (as a reaction to potentially unpleasant phenomena) and anxiety (as a reaction to potentially dangerous phenomena) are the mechanisms that trigger a psychoimmune response.

Bagged support vector machines for emotion recognition from speech

Speech emotion recognition, a highly promising and exciting problem in the field of Human Computer Interaction, has been studied and analyzed over several decades. It concerns the task of recognizing a speaker’s emotions from their speech recordings. Recognizing emotions from speech can go a long way in determining a person’s physical and psychological state of well-being. In this work we performed emotion classification on three corpora — the Berlin EmoDB, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur Simulated Emotion Hindi Speech Corpus (IITKGP-SEHSC), and the Ryerson Audio-Visual Database of Emotional Speech and Song (RAVDESS). A combination of spectral features was extracted from them which was further processed and reduced to the required feature set. Ensemble learning has been proven to give superior performance compared to single estimators. We propose a bagged ensemble comprising of support vector machines with a Gaussian kernel as a viable algorithm for the problem at hand. We report the results obtained on the three datasets mentioned above.

The Correlation of Perceived Discrimination and Psychological Well-Being among the Manjo Ethnic Minority in Kaffa Zone, Ethiopia.

The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being of Manjo ethnic minority in Kaffa zone, Ethiopia. One hundred and forty nine (149) study participants from the Manjo ethnic minority were randomly selected and filled out the perceived discrimination and psychological well-being questionnaire scales. Pearson Product moment correlation was computed to determine the strength and direction of relationship between their perception of discrimination by others and the psychological well-being report. Perceived discrimination is a variability of thought that results from an act of segregation and distancing of an individual or group of individuals mainly because of bias and prejudice. The psychological well-being variable was measured by six dimensions, which are named as autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relationship with others, purpose in life and self-acceptance of individuals. The result of the study showed the presence of a strong and significant negative correlation between the Manjos’ perception of discrimination they experience from other ethnic groups and the corresponding psychological well-being state.

Influence of rising temperatures and heat waves on mental health outcomes: An alarming public health concern

Background: An accumulating body of research studies have presented effects of climate change on human health. The current state of climate change supports the notion of elevated incidences of heat waves in future. The understanding of role of increasing temperatures and heat waves on altered mental health conditions stands crucial, in light of wide spectrum of effects warming climate imparts on mental health and well-being status.
 Methodology: Research studies with findings related to increasing temperatures, mental health and behavioural alterations, and psychopathological outcomes are highlighted in this review. Articles were searched using Google Scholar from the year 2005 to 2018 by entering keywords; increasing temperature and mental health, heat waves and mental health, heat waves and behavioural disorders, climate change and mental health, and, global warming and mental health. Studies were also selected from reference lists of the articles emerging out from these keywords provided. Newspaper articles and reports with details of heat waves in Pakistan are also included.
 Results: Extreme heat exposure event is found to result in adverse mental, mood and behavioural consequences; including anxiety, aggression, and violence. Heat waves are found to potentiate risk for hospital admission, also due to mental disorders. Heat-associated mental health alterations may be attributed to compromised thermoregulation, pre-existing mental illness, old age, substance abuse and prescription medications effects, and up-regulation in release of stress hormones.
 Conclusion: Keeping in view the impact of warming climate on mental and behavioural disorders, it appears significantly important to promote research aiming to decipher heat-induced mental health outcomes. In particular, studies are encouraged to be carried out to understand effects of increasing temperatures and heat waves on impaired mental health and psychological well-being state, develop heat-associated mental health mass awareness campaigns, and plan mental health response actions in Pakistan, which currently remain under-represented.

The Role of Psychological Well-being on University EFL Learners’ Attributional Patterns

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between learners’ state of psychological well-being and their attributional patterns in learning English as a foreign language. The sample consists of 96 university students studying English literature and language teaching in Ferdowsi University of Mashad, 42 of whom were male and 54 female whose age ranged from18 to 26 years old. The participants completed Attribution Theory for Foreign Language Learners Questionnaire and Ryff Scale of Psychological Well-being in one session. The correlational study indicated positive and significant correlations between psychological well-being subscales and all the attribution patterns except for the association between Personal growth and Language policy which was non-significant. The results of regression analyses demonstrated that some of psychological well-being subscales could predict some of the factors learners ascribe their success or failure to. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2016.v6n1p189

Mental Health among Internet Addicts and Non Addict Peoples Behaviour

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between Mental Health among Internet Addicts and Non Addicts with reference to types of Internet effect and Gender. While almost everyone has experienced mental health at some point in their lives, most do not develop long-term problems with mental health. Mental health it is the Latin world “anger” it means “strangle” it use to present period changing from individual values -morale, idea, alienation, competition and achievement. WHO (World Health Organization),defined mental health is “A state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”. WHO stresses that mental health “is not just the absence of mental disorder”. According to Medilexicon’s medical dictionary, defined mental health is “emotional, behavioral, and social maturity or normality; the absence of a mental or behavioral disorder; a state of psychological well-being in which one has achieved a satisfactory integration of one’s instinctual drives acceptable to both 4 oneself and one’s social milieu; an appropriate balance of love, work, and leisure pursuits”. The present studies used to variables namely (A) Types of Addicts (B) types of Gender examine the effect of mental health. The scales used Mental Health Inventory (1992) Constructed & standardized by Dr D. J. Bhatt. The scale consisted in five factors. A research Data/sample size 480 was collected from Internet Addicts and Non Addicts people of Ahmadabad district of Gujarat State. Hence, this gives rise to a 2 x 2 factorial research design for the analysis of the data. The ANOVAs, was re-sorted in order to get the results. There is no significant effect of Internet Addicts and Non Addicts people with regard to mental health. There is significant effect of gender (male and female) on mental health.

Effect of music on the stress and anxiety scores of students attending medical college.

Introduction: Music has been associated with miraculous powers since the ancient times. Many studies have shown the beneficial effects of music on alleviating certain ailments. Psychological stress is a risk factor for many disorders. Medical students are prone to developing stress due to the exhaustive schedules and the competitive zeal. The present study was conducted to evaluate the soothing effects of music if any on medical students. Methods: The study group comprised of sixty apparently healthy medical students who were enrolled after written informed consent. The study group was then randomised into two sub groups in which one group was exposed to music while the other was made to refrain from any kind of music. The stress levels were evaluated by validated questionnaires anxiety and psychological state of well-being and serum cortisol levels. Results: A significant improvement of anxiety and psychological state of well-being was observed in the group exposed to music as compared to the controls. The serum cortisol levels were also lower in the subgroup exposed to music. Conclusion: The relaxing properties of music as demonstrated in our study can be utilized for dealing with the stress that is highly prevalent in the medical fraternity. Introduction of a few sessions of music can be a simple, non-invasive, costeffective intervention for dealing with stress.

Quality of Life from an Evolutionary Perspective

Quality of Life (QoL) is a multi-dimensional concept that includes: a) the long-term sustainability of the earth; b) good health, education, welfare; and c) the psychological state of wellbeing. This article, which introduces a special issue on QoL from an evolutionary perspective, shows how modern evolutionary science provides a “toolkit” for studying all aspects of QoL.

The Impact of Cosmetic Plastic Surgery on Body Image and Psychological Well-Being: A Preliminary Study

Background: The relationship between body image and cosmetic surgery represents a new generation of research on the psychological aspects of cosmetic surgery. Objective: This preliminary study intends to investigate the role of distress relating to body image in conditioning the levels of post-operatory patient benefit both the impact of cosmetic surgery on the state of psychological well-being and body image through the analysis of the differences between the pre and post-operative stages. Methods: The study lasted 12 months and it occurred in two stages, a pre-operative stage (N=85) and a post-operative stage (N=85). The patients, subjected to different aesthetic operations, were administered the Body Uneasiness Test, Psychological General Well-Being Index - Short version in both the stages and the Glasgow Benefit Inventory in the post-operative phase. Results: The post-operative patient benefit was conditioned by the existence of clinically significant distress related to body image in the pre-operative stage, in accordance with the degree of severity; the operation had a positive impact on both the state of distress linked to psychological well-being and that relating to body image but, in the latter case, the improvement of distress depends on severity; all the patients with a body image disorder in the pre-operative stage continued to show this even after 12 months. Conclusions: A careful assessment of body image and its disorders in the stage before the operation may allow the identification of patients who may be dissatisfied by the outcome of the operation.

Thriving in Transitions: A Research-Based Approach to College Student Success ed. by Laurie Schreiner, Michelle Louis, Denise Nelson (review)

Reviewed by: Thriving in Transitions: A Research-Based Approach to College Student Success ed. by Laurie Schreiner, Michelle Louis, Denise Nelson Amy Barnes Thriving in Transitions: A Research-Based Approach to College Student Success. Laurie Schreiner, Michelle Louis, and Denise Nelson (Editors). Columbia, South Carolina: National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 2012, 216pages, $35.00 (softcover) An increasing number of students are coming to our campuses with mental health concerns today (Kadison & DiGeronimo, 2004). Until recently, the majority of research has focused on diagnosing the problems that students are facing and generating solutions that are often reactive and address only what is wrong with students. Instead, why not learn from highly successful, engaged students about why they are resilient to the stress of college and [End Page 220] incorporate those findings into a proactive approach to mental health and well-being? In this engaging book edited by Laurie Schreiner, Michelle Louis, and Denise Nelson, the authors of each chapter present findings on the perspectives of successful students and provide student affairs administrators with tangible recommendations for how to encourage more students to “thrive” on our campuses. Thriving students are those who are “vitally engaged in the college endeavor—intellectually, socially, and emotionally” (p. 4). This concept, rooted in positive psychology and a strengths-based approach to student development, is a state of psychological well-being in which students are likely to achieve success in life as well as in areas important to college persistence, academic engagement, and positive interpersonal relationships. The Thriving Quotient, a 35-item instrument created as a result of research that explored successful students’ perceptions of experiences, and used in the studies highlighted in this book, measures aspects of students’ academic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal engagement and well-being. Thriving in Transition: A Research-Based Approach to College Student Success is a compilation of research in which the Thriving Quotient is used to measure positive student functioning with data coming from a large-scale research effort called The Thriving Project. In the spring of 2009, undergraduates at 27 public and private colleges and universities around the nation completed the Thriving Quotient. The resulting data was analyzed for specific populations during times of transition and the findings and recommendations are presented in this book in order to assist higher education faculty and professionals in designing interventions that support student thriving. The book’s emphasis on transition periods is particularly useful to practitioners because of the additional stress that students often experience during these times of change. As the editors note, “If students can successfully cope through times of transition by approaching these changes, equipped with the ability to see challenges as opportunities for growth and learning, they will be more likely to thrive in other aspects of their lives” (p. 9). In this volume with an introduction by Jillian Kinzie, the editors have organized the chapters to progress through an introduction to strengths development and then onto a series of nine chapters highlighting specific transition periods students encounter in college. The book concludes with a summary of recommendations for practitioners. The first chapter, written by Schreiner, provides the framework for the book in describing the nature of transitions and introducing thriving as an expanded view of student success. The second chapter, written by Louis and Schreiner, introduces the reader to a strengths-based perspective that advocates leveraging the positive qualities of individuals in order to enhance success. According to the strengths-based perspective, helping students realize their positive potential and natural strengths results in behavioral changes which empower individuals to flourish rather than just survive. By developing students’ strengths, you are “energizing them to become engaged in the learning experience, to invest the effort necessary to success, and to connect with others in positive ways” (p. 21). The subsequent chapters, written by the editors along with additional authors Deb Vetter, Kristin Parades-Collins, Rishi Sriram, Sharyn Slavin Miller, Tamera L. Pullins, Troy L Seppelt, Eric McIntosh, and Eileen Hulme, highlight the specific research that utilized the Thriving Quotient as it relates to students who are experiencing transitions in college. Some of these transitions are part of the timeline of the college experience (first...

Análisis de la relación entre las actitudes hacia la vejez y el envejecimiento y los índices de bienestar en una muestra de personas mayores

IntroductionIn the last stage of their life cycle, old people can enjoy a satisfactory ageing thanks to the improvement of their quality of life. The present study analyses the links between 2 relevant variables at this life stage: the attitudes of the elderly towards their own ageing and their own physical and psychological state of well-being. Material and methodThe sample consisted of people over the age of 50 without cognitive impairment and with functional independence in their daily life (N=117). The analyses include descriptive statistical data, gender differences and correlation matrices. ResultsThe results of this study indicate that the positive attitude factors towards the old age and the ageing are related to the physical and psychological well-being, whilst negative attitude factors lead to a general state of malaise. The population sample showed a relative satisfaction with their life, as well as a low physical and psychological malaise. ConclusionsThe results of this study reflect the significance of positive attitudes in the well-being of old people, with a direct impact on their quality of life.

Resilience and Refugees: From Individualised Trauma to Post Traumatic Growth

Resilience and Refugees: From Individualised Trauma to Post Traumatic Growth

Daytime Sleepiness, Diabetes, and Psychological Well-Being

Nominal group technique was used with persons with type 2 diabetes to identify and rank the severity of problems associated with being sleepy. Participants were adults who were subjectively sleepy according to the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Daytime sleepiness was associated with a general decrease in motivation to engage in activities that are important to the management of diabetes. Because decreased motivation may have a negative influence on psychological well-being, it is important that health care providers assess not only for how well their patients' diabetes is being controlled, but also for sleep disturbances and the patients' general state of psychological well-being.

Functional status in the elderly with insomnia

Insomnia causes psychological distress in the elderly. Besides primary insomnia (PI), illness, medications and psychosocial factors contribute to development of sleep disorders. Although elderly insomniacs usually complain of poorer daytime functioning, it is unknown whether the disorder affects capacity to carry out activities. To assess the relationship in the elderly between PI, level of physical functioning, depression and anxiety symptoms, state of psychological well-being and consumption of psychopharmaceuticals. Cross-sectional, observational study. Populational. About 424 non-institutionalized elderly patients. Subjects were interviewed at public Health Centres or at home. They were considered to have PI if DSM-IV criteria were met. The remaining variables measured were: depression and anxiety symptoms (The Goldberg's Depression and Anxiety Scale), cognitive state (Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire), physical functioning (The Katz Index and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale), life satisfaction (The Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale), health problems, consumption of pharmaceuticals and sociodemographic variables. About 34.2% of the elderly admitted to having problems with sleep, but only 20.3% (CI: 95%: 16.5-24.1) fulfilled the criteria for PI. The existence of an anxiety disorder, a score below the 50th percentile on The Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (lower life satisfaction) and consumption of psychopharmaceuticals were variables associated with insomnia. Amongst the most common illnesses reported, only diabetes appeared with significantly higher frequency in the elderly with insomnia (24.4% vs. 14.7%) (p < 0.05). No statistically significant association was found between insomnia and level of dependence in carrying out basic or instrumental activities. Approximately one fifth of the non-institutionalized elderly meet the criteria for PI. Those affected present a poorer state of psychological and social well-being, although level of autonomy for conducting basic and instrumental activities does not appear to be modified by the disorder. The existence of an anxiety disorder, low life satisfaction and consumption of psychopharmaceuticals constitute variables associated with PI in the population we studied.

Pursuit of psychological well-being (ikigai) and the evolution of self-understanding in the context of caregiving in Japan.

Using the Japanese concept of ikigai, which describes a certain state of psychological well-being, this study explores how Japanese family caregivers of elderly parents with dementia pursue, maintain, or attempt to regain their psychological well-being in the face of the hardship of caregiving. Using constant comparative methodology, twenty-six Japanese women who were caring for an elderly demented parent or parent-in-law were interviewed. Based on the analysis of interview data, we define ikigai as certain life experiences and/or the positive emotion felt through those experiences that allow the caregiver to judge her life as good and meaningful, and to feel that it is worthwhile to continue living. Caregivers use various different means to pursue their ikigai depending on the context of care. The types of their pursuit of ikigai are examined in varying contexts of caregiving. Because the data suggest that ikigai experience influences how the caregivers' self-understanding changes over time, the notion of ikigai is further explored in relation to the construct of self-understanding.