Applied Research in Quality of Life最新文献

A method is proposed for defining the threshold of a ‘bad job’, based on a discontinuity in the relationship between a composite index of job quality and subjective wellbeing. Applied to European data, there is a monotonic relationship between the job quality index and psychological wellbeing. However, there is a distinctly large increase in psychological wellbeing, and in several measures of work-related wellbeing, between workers in the lowest decile and those in the second lowest decile of job quality. We therefore propose that ‘bad jobs’ should be designated as those in lowest decile. Using this threshold gives a ‘bad jobs’/ ‘other jobs’ dichotomy that discriminates on wellbeing far better than definitions based only on low earnings and job insecurity. Using multi-level probit analysis, we find that bad jobs are more common in poorer countries and in countries with weaker labour regulation. Three findings differentiate the distributional pattern of bad jobs from that of low-earnings jobs: first, the prevalence of bad jobs is greater in large establishments; second, there is no gender gap in the prevalence of bad jobs; third, working in the private sector raises the chance of being in a bad job but not of being in a low earnings job.

It is well established that people with low subjective wellbeing have heightened traffic accident risk. However, the roles of particular mental states, including overall evaluative subjective wellbeing and specific forms of mental distress such as depression or anxiety, have not hitherto been disentangled. Using an official representative population survey, we show that different forms of mental distress are associated with single versus multiple accident prevalence within a year. Anxiety (a lack of calmness) is strongly associated with having an accident. By contrast, conditional on having had at least one accident, overall life satisfaction is more strongly associated with having multiple accidents than are anxiety, depression or overall mental health. The relationship is n-shaped so that people with moderately low wellbeing have the highest multiple accident probability. These results are robust to the exclusion of respondents for whom reverse causality may be present and to the inclusion of variables representing other risky behaviours and representing social isolation. The findings imply that specific forms of intervention are likely to be needed to reduce accidents for people with moderately low subjective wellbeing who may engage in habitual risky behaviours that result in multiple accidents.

While aggregate, national measures of wellbeing may be useful for developing national policies and making international comparisons, they are less helpful when it comes to the more prosaic matter of developing policies at the project or programme level. This is because wellbeing is multi-dimensional and variable in terms of the relative importance of domains, the attributes and indicators used to evaluate domains, and the relative importance of those attributes and indicators. Consequently, people’s preferences regarding the trade-offs that must be made between domains, and between attributes within domains, are exceptionally diverse. We use an idiographic approach, Judgement Analysis, to quantify people’s preferences regarding trade-offs within, and between, well-being domains using green space, water quality, cultural identity, social connectedness. We show that Judgement Analysis has the potential at the programme or project scale to usefully quantify differences in the relative importance people place on well-being domains and to quantifying differences in the relative importance of the cues they use to evaluate well-being with respect to a domain. Our results make explicit the extensive diversity in people’s perspectives on well-being that is often hidden in the popular nomothetic approaches to measuring well-being.

This study develops and tests a model of subjective indicators of national wellbeing that can be applied across countries worldwide. Using data from over 160,000 respondents in 137 countries from the 2019 Gallup World Poll, we examine how citizens’ satisfaction with national institutions and various environments (physical, political, economic, and social) affects their subjective wellbeing. Based on bottom-up spillover theory, we hypothesize that satisfaction with concrete country conditions affects overall life satisfaction and affective wellbeing. Results from Bayesian multilevel modeling support our hypotheses and show significant positive relationships between citizens’ satisfaction with national institutions, political, economic, and social environments and their subjective well-being. Satisfaction with the physical environment showed no significant effect in the full model but was significant when analyzed separately. This research provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the factors that influence national wellbeing in different global contexts and offers fresh insights for policymakers and researchers in assessing and improving quality of life at the national level.

While the cultivation of hope has been shown to promote different positive outcomes, few studies have examined how positive and negative affect may affect the receptivity of hope cultivation. The present study examined how initial affective states influence the receptivity of hope cultivation on the promotion of hope and the effectiveness of a self-administered three-week online hope intervention. A total of 60 participants were recruited and they were randomly assigned to either the hope condition or the control condition. Participants in the hope condition received a link that directed them to read the hope relevant materials for four consecutive days per week for three weeks via WhatsApp. Participants in the control condition did not receive any intervention. All participants were asked to complete a pre- and post-assessment on their levels of hope, well-being, and optimism. In addition, they were also asked to complete an assessment of their hope levels in week 1 and week 2. Results showed that the hope cultivation was effective in promoting levels of hope and optimism at post-assessment. While baseline negative affect showed non-significant moderating effect, baseline positive effect moderated the effect of hope intervention on changes of hope in week 2 and post-assessment. In particular, only people with lower levels of positive affect were receptive to the intervention by showing improvement in hope levels. Findings provided evidence in supporting the self-administered online intervention in the promotion of hope.

Adolescent mental health is considerably influenced by family circumstances, with adversity frequently resulting in detrimental effects. While cumulative risk models theorize the accumulation of risks amplifies harm, recent researchers employing latent class analysis (LCA) seeks to comprehend the impacts of complex risk profiles on youth. However, the use of LCA remains sparse in studies involving Chinese adolescents. This research examined a sample of 2,889 Chinese secondary school students, assessing six family risk factors, namely, parental divorce, parent–child separation, financial hardship, low parental education, diminished family intimacy, and family conflict. The study also deployed indigenous measures to evaluate ten dimensions of mental health. Through LCA, distinct family risk profiles were identified and subsequently analyzed in comparison to mental health indicators utilizing ANOVA tests. The analysis delineated five distinct risk profiles: No Risk, Parental Education Risk, Family Detachment Risk, Family Conflict Risk, and Cumulative Risk. Remarkably, the Family Conflict Risk profile correlated with the most adverse mental health outcomes. Interestingly, parent–child separation appeared to confer certain benefits. Moreover, girls and older adolescents manifested exacerbated symptoms, which were amplified by their interplay with family risks. The study elucidates that specific configurations of family adversity, particularly those revolving around conflict and detachment, have a pronounced impact on the mental well-being of Chinese adolescents, while implying separation from parents potentially offered a protective effect. Consequently, interventions targeted at parents and designed to alleviate destructive family dynamics and encourage healthier relationships can be crucial in promoting mental health outcomes in this demographic.

Racism and microaggressions remain a formidable challenge for racialized students within the Canadian educational system, significantly hindering their educational attainment. This paper presents an overview of the findings stemming from a qualitative study that delved into the repercussions of microaggressions within the classroom on racialized students in a Canadian university. The study employed a semi-structured interview guide for data collection, with the goal of shedding light on the experiences and effects of racism within the classroom. The study's results underscore the profound impact of microaggressions on racialized students, revealing a cascade of mental and emotional challenges triggered by these experiences. Furthermore, the research exposes how microaggressions can profoundly disrupt students' sense of belonging and dampen their level of engagement and participation in class activities. By contributing to the existing body of literature on racism in university settings, this study provokes important questions about the tangible manifestation of inclusivity and diversity values in the everyday dynamics of the classroom. It highlights a critical need for academic institutions to go beyond rhetoric and implement tangible measures that foster a truly inclusive and equitable educational environment. This study's implications extend to the domain of learning for racialized students, emphasizing the need to address microaggressions and racism within the classroom to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to thrive within the academic sphere. The study encourages further exploration of these issues and calls for proactive steps to create an educational landscape where diversity is celebrated and microaggressions find no place.