Subjective Mental Health Research Articles

Marriage, parenthood and social network: Subjective well-being and mental health in old age

Parenthood, marital status and social networks have been shown to relate to the well-being and mental health of older people. Using a large sample of respondents aged 50 and older from 16 European countries, we identify the associations of well-being and mental health with family status. Making use of detailed social network data of the respondents, we also identify how different social support networks correlate with the well-being and health indicators. We observe positive associations for all network types, over and beyond any direct associations of family status with well-being. Results suggest that non-residential children are important providers of social support for their parents at older age.

Suicidal Ideation, Suicidal Attempts, and Self-Harm in the UK Armed Forces.

In the UK military, suicide is infrequent and studies of self-harm behavior in this population are rare. To compare lifetime self-harm rates estimated on three occasions between 2004 and 2016 and to explore the associates of lifetime self-harm. Three phases of a UK AF cohort study (n=10,272, 9,990, and 8,581, respectively) provided data. Telephone interviews assessed associates of self-harm among cohort members who reported subjective mental health problems in the past 3years (n=1,448). Validated measures of mental health and related stigmatization, social support, and help-seeking were obtained. Lifetime self-harm increased significantly (p<.001) from 1.8% among serving personnel and 3.8% among veterans in 2004/06 to 1.9% and 4.5% in 2007/09 and to 4.2% and 6.6% in 2014/16 in the two groups, respectively. Veterans were consistently significantly more likely to report lifetime self-harm than serving personnel. Significant determinants of lifetime self-harm included current mental disorder symptoms, stigmatization, poor social support, suicidal ideation, and seeking help from formal medical sources. Self-harm has increased over time in the UK serving and veteran community. Suicide prevention should focus on ameliorating mental disorder by encouraging engagement with health care, reducing negative views of mental illness, and fostering social support.

Developmental Stage of Onset, Poly-Victimization, and Persistence of Childhood Victimization: Impact on Adult Well-Being in a Rural Community-Based Study.

The current study examines the persistence of victimization and poly-victimization (i.e., count of multiple types of victimization) across various stages of development (ages 0-5, 6-12, and 13-18) and the related impact on adult well-being. Participants were 2,098 adults from the Appalachian region of three Southern states. Eighty-two percent of participants reported at least one type of victimization during childhood. Among adult victims, 22.6% reported one victimization in one developmental stage (i.e., one stage, but no poly-victimization), 45.8% reported one victimization in more than one stage (i.e., persistent victimization, but no poly-victimization), 20.5% reported multiple types of victimization in one stage (i.e., poly-victimization), and 11.2% reported multiple types of victimization at more than one stage (i.e., persistent poly-victimization). Results indicated a linear decline in subjective well-being, mental health, and number of healthy days as victimization becomes more persistent across childhood and more diverse in types (i.e., poly-victimization). Study findings provide support for models of victimization that take both developmental trajectories and poly-victimization into account.

Mental Health, Help-Seeking Behaviour and Social Support in the UK Armed Forces by Gender

Background: Little is known about gender differences in mental health, related help-seeking behavior and social support in UK military personnel. Methods: 1714 UK military serving personnel and ex-service veterans were randomly selected if, in a cohort study, they endorsed experiencing a subjective stress, emotional, alcohol or mental health problem in the previous three years. Following exclusions, the final sample size was 1448 (participation rate 84.5%; women n = 219). Structured telephone interviews assessed anxiety, depression, PTSD symptoms, alcohol use, help-seeking and social support occurring both currently and in the past three years. Outcomes were assessed using weighted unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression analyses. Results: Mental health problems assessed at interview were broadly similar for men and women; for both genders, levels of social support were high. One-fifth of respondents screened positive for probable mental disorder or alcohol misuse; although rates of mental disorder symptoms did not differ by gender, women were significantly less likely than men to report alcohol misuse. Women were significantly more likely to have sought help from formal medical sources but significantly less likely to access informal support such as friends, family or unit welfare sources; reasons for seeking formal medical support were similar for men and women except for problem recognition and acting on advice from others, which were both significantly more common among women. Conclusion: For military personnel with a history of mental ill-health, women should make greater use of informal support networks while for men, engagement with formal medical help sources should be encouraged.

Beliefs about Tic Disorders and Tourette's Syndrome in South Korea: An Online Panel Survey.

Objectives:This study investigates lay beliefs about the etiology and treatments of tic disorder and Tourette’s syndrome, as well as identifying sociodemographic and personality variables affecting these beliefs among South Koreans.Methods:In total, 673 participants (mean age 41.77±12.03 years) completed an online survey regarding their beliefs about tic disorder and Tourette’s syndrome. The factors related to their lay beliefs about the disorders were analyzed, and the correlates were investigated.Results:Results indicated that lay people in South Korea held strong beliefs that the causes of tic disorder and Tourette’s syndrome lie within the parenting/psychological and neurological/biological categories, compared to the dietary/environmental one. Among the sociodemographic variables, sex, age, and levels of subjective mental health knowledge were primarily associated with the aforementioned beliefs. Familiarity with tic disorder and Tourette’s syndrome was also associated with these beliefs. Among the personality traits investigated, extraversion and conscientiousness had significant influences on the beliefs people had about tic disorder and Tourette’s syndrome.Conclusion:The results suggest that both policy makers and mental health service providers should adopt a strategic approach for developing and implementing health education interventions about tic disorder and Tourette’s syndrome because individual sociodemographic variables, familiarity with the disorders, and personality traits are all associated with the beliefs about these disorders.

Effects of occupational status on social adjustment after laryngectomy in patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer

PurposeThis study was performed to examine the relationship of social adjustment with occupation and life changes in patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer, from before laryngectomy to 1 year after hospital discharge.MethodsThe subjects were 27 patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer who were admitted to hospital for laryngectomy and provided informed consent for participation in the study. The patients answered questionnaire surveys before surgery, and 3, 6, and 12 months after hospital discharge. Regarding social adjustment, social functioning (SF) and mental health (MH) in SF-36V2 were used as dependent variables, and time, occupation status, age, family structure, and sex as independent variables. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to examine the main effect, and second- and third-order interactions were also examined.ResultsThe age of the subjects was 62.9 ± 6.4 years and about 30% had an occupation. Loss of voice was the reason for 30% leaving work. In an examination of the main effects of the four variables, only age was significant regarding SF, and SF was favorable in subjects aged ≥ 64 years old. Regarding MH, age and family structure were significant, and MH was higher in older subjects who lived alone. The interaction between time and the other 3 variables was not significant. Only time/age/occupation was significant for MH. Regarding SF, a weak interaction was suggested, but it was not significant.ConclusionOlder subjects showed better social adjustment, and those who lived alone had better MH. These findings may have been due to a reduced environmental influence. MH of subjects with an occupation decreased more at 3 months or later after hospital discharge, compared to those without an occupation. Especially for younger patients, development of new approaches is required to allow families and colleagues of patients to understand the difficulties of patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer.

Physical Health, Mental Health, and Fear of Crime Among College Students: A Consideration of Sex Differences.

This article examines how physical health and mental health affect college students' fear of crime. Few studies have examined the influence of fear of crime on both objective and subjective measures of physical and mental health and-to our knowledge-none has examined how health measures vary by sex in the United States. In addition, most of the existing research targets older individuals, rather than college students. Using the ACHA-NCHA data set (American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment), we expand the fear of crime literature by examining both subjective and objective physical and mental health measures among college-aged men and women.

Social Capital and Mental Health in Rural and Urban China: A Composite Hypothesis Approach.

The objective of this study is to follow the composite theory approach to analyze the effect of social capital on self-rated mental health in rural and urban China. Our nationally representative sample includes 10,968 respondents from 130 county-level communities. Two-level random-coefficient linear regressions, which model individual and community variations in subjective mental health, were estimated by taking the hierarchical structure of the dataset into account. We found that a significant proportion of the total variations in self-rated mental health were explained at the community level. We also found an association between low contextual civic trust and poor self-rated mental health after adjusting for individual social capital and individual socioeconomic-demographic variables. The study also revealed that: (1) in rural areas a positive relationship between civic and political trust and mental health existed both at the individual and the community level, respectively; and (2) in urban areas, only political trust at the individual level contributed to better mental health. In addition, the individual and community level political participation exhibited a positive impact on mental health measures in both rural and urban China. The individual level civic participation was positively associated to the outcome variable. However, the community-level civic participation seemed to negatively impact mental health in urban area. Our findings emphasize the importance of both individual and community-level healthcare interventions in China. Finally, this study also found that human capital covariates remained important predictors of self-rated mental health status even after controlling social capital both at individual and community levels. This study suggested that the composite thesis could provide a more convincing narrative than other theories in explaining the effects of both human and social capital on health.

Semantic measures: Using natural language processing to measure, differentiate, and describe psychological constructs.

Psychological constructs, such as emotions, thoughts, and attitudes are often measured by asking individuals to reply to questions using closed-ended numerical rating scales. However, when asking people about their state of mind in a natural context ("How are you?"), we receive open-ended answers using words ("Fine and happy!") and not closed-ended answers using numbers ("7") or categories ("A lot"). Nevertheless, to date it has been difficult to objectively quantify responses to open-ended questions. We develop an approach using open-ended questions in which the responses are analyzed using natural language processing (Latent Semantic Analyses). This approach of using open-ended, semantic questions is compared with traditional rating scales in nine studies (N = 92-854), including two different study paradigms. The first paradigm requires participants to describe psychological aspects of external stimuli (facial expressions) and the second paradigm involves asking participants to report their subjective well-being and mental health problems. The results demonstrate that the approach using semantic questions yields good statistical properties with competitive, or higher, validity and reliability compared with corresponding numerical rating scales. As these semantic measures are based on natural language and measure, differentiate, and describe psychological constructs, they have the potential of complementing and extending traditional rating scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Ispitivanje uticaja starosti, pola i životnih navika na kvalitet života obolelih od infarkta miokarda

Ispitivanje uticaja starosti, pola i životnih navika na kvalitet života obolelih od infarkta miokarda

Старіння людини в сучасних умовах: особливості та перспективи для активного довголіття

Старіння населення сьогодні стало тим соціальним викликом, відповідь на який шукають науковці, політики, економісти як на загально-світовому рівні, так і в Україні зокрема. Виходячи з прийнятих на Саміті ООН (вересень, 2015) 17-ти цілей сталого розвитку в роботі пропонуємо до розгляду ті чинники, які сприяють формуванню сприятливого середовища для будь-якого віку.Мета статті – аналіз чинників, що сприяють підвищенню рівня фізичного, соціального та когнітивного благополуччя людей похилого віку як умови активного їх довголіття. Реалізація потенціалу активного старіння досліджується у двох вимірах – індивідуально-особистісному та суспільному. Індивідуально-особистісний вимір збереження активності в процесі старіння пов’язаний із такими характеристиками, як благополуччя, задоволеність життям, розвиток компетентностей. Із погляду суспільного виміру, активне старіння передбачає використання життєвих компетентностей людей похилого віку як соціального капіталу.Визначено, що активне старіння – це процес, у якому важливі підтримка суб’єктивного благополуччя, фізичного та психічного здоров’я, а також соціальна інтеграція людей похилого віку. Відповідно, реаліза-ція політики активного старіння в сучасних умовах детермінує збалансування особистої відповідальності й формування в суспільній прак-тиці сприятливого середовища для будь-якого віку.

Function and Strength after Free Abdominally Based Breast Reconstruction: A 10-Year Follow-Up.

The long-term impact of abdominally based free flap breast reconstruction is incompletely understood. The aim of this study is to provide long-term, subjective and objective health data on abdominally based free flap breast reconstruction patients, with specific attention to the effects of laterality, flap type, and obesity. Patients were enrolled in this prospective study between 2005 and 2010 and completed preoperative, early (<1 year), and long-term (5 to 10 years) evaluations. Objective examination included an assessment of upper and lower abdominal function and a functional independence measure. Patient-reported outcomes included the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey and the BREAST-Q abdominal well-being module. Scores were compared by laterality (unilateral versus bilateral), flap type (muscle-sparing free transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous versus deep inferior epigastric artery perforator), and presence of obesity. Fifty-one patients were included, with an average 8.1-year follow-up. Overall, 78.8 percent of patients had stable or improved scores across the upper and lower abdominal function and functional independence measures, and minimal objective differences across flap laterality or types were observed. Postoperative scores improved for 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey physical health (p < 0.001) and mental health (p < 0.001), and did not differ based on laterality or flap type. Obesity negatively impacted physical health (p = 0.002) and mental health (p = 0.006). Abdominally based autologous breast reconstruction is associated with significant improvements in long-term quality of life across key domains of physical and mental health with little functional impairment and no long-term differences across flap type or laterality. Obese patients, however, may be at risk for subjective physical and mental health impairment, perhaps unrelated to the surgery itself.

Stationed in Alaska: Subjective Winter Stress and Mental Health

Building on research that has identified the negative health impact of cold-weather environments, the present study examines the mental health and health-related behaviors of 585 U.S. soldiers stationed in Alaska. In all, 29.1% reported subjective winter stress. Subjective winter stress was positively correlated with sleep problems, anger, and depression symptoms even after controlling for rank, combat experiences, and corresponding pre-existing symptoms; subjective stress from the extreme cold accounted for health symptoms more than did subjective stress from prolonged darkness. There was no specific association with alcohol misuse. Findings demonstrate the importance of considering individual differences in the subjective perception of harsh climates.

The neural basis underlying procrastination: a large-scale study of brain networks

Procrastination is a type of irrational behavior during which an individual voluntarily delays the execution of a task despite perceiving such behavior as harmful. Procrastination adversely affects people’s emotions, academic performances, and social achievements; it reduces their subjective well-being, and worse, their physical and mental health. The brain systems that regulate procrastination are still largely undetermined; previous studies have only explored the relationships between procrastination and regional brain activities and cerebral functional connections. Because procrastination involves complex psychological motivations that are dependent on elements such as task value representation, cognitive control, and the approach-avoidance conflict, some limitations to exploring the neural basis of procrastination using univariate and regional brain activities may exist. Therefore, this study used graph-theoretic analysis to investigate the connectivity patterns of large-scale brain networks underlying procrastination. We first defined the 264 regions of interest (ROIs) introduced by Power et al. (2011) as nodes of the network, and then reconstructed the ten intrinsic large-scale brain networks using graph-theoretic analysis. The results showed that the constructed brain network had better network topology attributes, such as a higher local and global efficiency. The strength of functional connectivity within each of these ten brain networks and that between them was then calculated using Pearson’s correlation. Finally, the association between procrastination and the functional network connectivity of brain networks was examined. We found that procrastination was negatively associated with the functional connectivity within the cingulo-opercular network (CON), whereas it was positively associated with the functional connectivity within the subcortical network (SCN). We also found a positive correlation between procrastination and the functional connectivity between the salience network (SAN) and the SCN. These results suggest that the functional network connectivity within the CON and the SCN, as well as that between the SAN and the SCN may be the neural basis underlying procrastination, which highlights the critical role of cognitive control and impulsive value representation in procrastination.

Football does not improve mental health: a systematic review on football and mental health disorders

Objective Both football (also called association football or soccer) and mental health disorders have a global impact on the lives of billions of people. Football has been used to approach and support subjects with or at risk of mental health disorders. However, it is not clear if football itself has any beneficial effect on the mental health of players, fans or spectators. Consequently, the aim of the current systematic review was to examine if playing or watching football impacts on the frequency of mental health problems in people who are involved in playing or watching the game. Methods We performed a systematic review on the relationship between football and mental health disorders. A total of 662 abstracts were screened initially. We identified 17 relevant papers assessing the prevalence of mental health disorders in current and previous football players, referees or spectators. Results The prevalence and 12 months incidence of mental health problems in active and retired professional players and referees were similar to or higher than those found in the general population, possibly as response to osteoarthritis, severe injuries, career dissatisfaction, low social support and poor employment status after retirement. Studies in adolescent amateurs and spectators indicate that playing and watching football games may negatively affect subjective mental health, even though qualitative studies indicate mental health benefits of playing or watching football. Discussion Players, referees and spectators are unlikely to present with fewer mental health problems than other members of society as a result of their involvement with football. It appears that some of the infrastructure that supports resilience in mental health such as a sense of inclusion, shared purpose and positive peer identification might be developed by playing in or supporting a team. Strategies that may use the assumed positive aspects of football need to be validated before implementation of large projects.

Beyond not bad or just okay: social predictors of young adults' wellbeing and functioning (a TRAILS study).

Various childhood social experiences have been reported to predict adult outcomes. However, it is unclear how different social contexts may influence each other's effects in the long run. This study examined the joint contribution of adolescent family and peer experiences to young adult wellbeing and functioning. Participants came from the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS) study (n = 2230). We measured family and peer relations at ages 11 and 16 (i.e. family functioning, perceived parenting, peer status, peer relationship quality), and functioning as the combination of subjective wellbeing, physical and mental health, and socio-academic functioning at age 22. Using structural equation modelling, overall functioning was indicated by two latent variables for positive and negative functioning. Positive, negative and overall functioning at young adulthood were regressed on adolescent family experiences, peer experiences and interactions between the two. Family experiences during early and mid-adolescence were most predictive for later functioning; peer experiences did not independently predict functioning. Interactions between family and peer experiences showed that both protective and risk factors can have context-dependent effects, being exacerbated or overshadowed by negative experiences or buffered by positive experiences in other contexts. Overall the effect sizes were modest at best. Adolescent family relations as well as the interplay with peer experiences predict young adult functioning. This emphasizes the importance of considering the relative effects of one context in relation to the other.

Objective and subjective poor mental health indicators among Arab Americans in Michigan: a population-based study

ABSTRACT Background: Arab Americans are at high risk for poor mental health outcomes and are difficult to study at a population level due to a lack of racial/ethnic identifiers for this population. Methods: Using data from the standalone 2013 Michigan Arab Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (MI ABRFS) we aimed to understand whether the burden of mental health differed between Arab Americans and non-Arab, non-Hispanic Whites. Two measures of mental health were used: a subjective (number of poor mental health days experienced in the past 30 days) and an objective (being diagnosed with depression) measure. Additionally, we aimed to understand the sociodemographic, stress, and health-related variables associated with the objective and subjective measures of psychopathologies in the Arab American population in Michigan using population-weighted logistic regression models with survey design correction. Results: Arab Americans had increased odds of adverse mental health when compared to non-Arab, non-Hispanic Whites for the subjective measure of number of poor mental health days (OR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.08, 2.41) and decreased odds of reporting the objective measure of diagnosed depression (OR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.30, 0.98). Having more than one poor mental health day and being diagnosed with depression among Arab Americans was associated with being female, unmarried, unemployed, and having experienced abuse as a child. Discussion: Combining mental health screenings with primary care check-ups among Arab Americans may be an important step in identifying individuals with mental health needs and extending access to care.

The association between psychotic experiences and health-related quality of life: a cross-national analysis based on World Mental Health Surveys

Psychotic experiences (PEs) are associated with a range of mental and physical disorders, and disability, but little is known about the association between PEs and aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We aimed to investigate the association between PEs and five HRQoL indicators with various adjustments. Using data from the WHO World Mental Health surveys (n = 33,370 adult respondents from 19 countries), we assessed for PEs and five HRQoL indicators (self-rated physical or mental health, perceived level of stigma (embarrassment and discrimination), and social network burden). Logistic regression models that adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics, 21 DSM-IV mental disorders, and 14 general medical conditions were used to investigate the associations between the variables of interest. We also investigated dose-response relationships between PE-related metrics (number of types and frequency of episodes) and the HRQoL indicators. Those with a history of PEs had increased odds of poor perceived mental (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.2–1.9) and physical health (OR = 1.3, 95% CI = 1.0–1.7) after adjustment for the presence of any mental or general medical conditions. Higher levels of perceived stigma and social network burden were also associated with PEs in the adjusted models. Dose-response associations between PE type and frequency metrics and subjective physical and mental health were non-significant, except those with more PE types had increased odds of reporting higher discrimination (OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.3–3.5). Our findings provide novel insights into how those with PEs perceive their health status.

주거환경 무질서 인식과 주관적 정신건강과의 관계

주거환경 무질서 인식과 주관적 정신건강과의 관계

Incertidumbre laboral y salud mental: una revisión meta-analítica de las consecuencias del trabajo precario en trastornos mentales

&lt;p&gt;Faced with the growing instability resulting from the world economic crisis, job insecurity gains relevance in the study of occupational health. In order to analyse the consequences of job insecurity on mental health, a reference document is provided including the empirical research advances in the current framework. This systematic review follows a meta-analytical technique through 56 independent samples with 53,405 participants in total.&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;The analysis offers a significant correlation between subjective job insecurity and mental health. Thus, it has been found that job insecurity is related to the risk or presence of depression, anxiety and emotional exhaustion, as well as to general low satisfaction with life, international comparisons are made, and negative results among workers regardless of the economic situation of the countries are highlighted, too. Moreover, methodological and conceptual contributions have been made in terms of the quality of the metrics applied. Job insecurity appears as a major problem for workers’ mental health, generating devastating effects on all kind of professional profiles and economic contexts. &lt;/p&gt;