Applied Research in Quality of Life最新文献

Individuals with physical disabilities (PD) face many quality of life challenges. In this study, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to investigate the impact of mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on the psychological morbidity (indexed by depression and anxiety), emotional well-being (indexed by mindfulness and self-compassion), and health-related quality of life (QOL) among individuals with PD in China. A total of 512 participants with PD were randomly allocated to either the MBI group or the control group. Participants in the experimental group received an eight-week MBI in four sequential stages with different mindfulness meditation exercises. Results showed that participants who underwent MBI exhibited significantly fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety, elevated levels of mindfulness and self-compassion, and enhanced health-related QOL compared to those who did not receive the treatment after intervention. The study yielded promising results for using MBI in promoting the well-being of individuals with PD in China. Suggestions for future research are also highlighted.

Subjective time is fundamental to understanding individuals’ experience of happiness and well-being. More specifically, temporal focus is an individual difference that, as separate dimensions, refers to the attention that people pay to their psychological past, present, and future. Taken together, temporal foci form profiles that are likely to influence well-being across a person´s lifespan. In this context, there is a paucity of research about the influence of temporal focus profiles on many cognitive, affective, and trait-like constructs that are relevant to well-being, in different population segments, and alternative (non-Anglo-Saxon) cultures. To address this void in research, we conducted two cross-sectional, survey-based studies in Mexico. We used two-step cluster analysis to uncover initial temporal focus profiles in undergraduate students (Study 1), and highly educated employees (Study 2). We tested the differences across the profiles that we uncovered in five well-being-related constructs that are relevant to each population segment. Comparing and contrasting the results of the two studies, less variety of temporal focus profiles was found in employees than in students. Also, whereas temporal focus profiles in students exhibited larger differences in affective outcomes (e.g., positive and negative affective well-being), the profiles showed larger differences in cognitive constructs in employees (e.g., occupational self-efficacy, core self-evaluations, and life satisfaction). Overall, the results highlight the importance of identifying and characterizing temporal focus profiles in different population segments, and in different cultures, so as to enable the implementation of nuanced strategies to improve well-being.

Social survey data on those aged 80 years or older is sparse. Based on a representative sample, this paper validates a multidimensional model proposed for understanding of quality of life (QoL) in very old age. Towards this goal, this paper estimated levels and heterogeneity of personal and environmental resources, well-being, autonomy, and perceived appreciation by society in the population of the very old in Germany. Next, the contribution of personal and environmental resources to QoL outcomes and overlap between these outcomes was estimated using a multivariate approach. Results were based on a representative survey on QoL of the very old in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state. The survey included comprehensive information on socio-demographics, health, social and personal QoL resources including objective testing of cognitive function. The sample comprised 1,863 individuals (mean age 86.5 years, range 80–102 years), including 211 individuals residing in non-private dwellings. Interviews with proxy informants were conducted for 176 individuals that were willing to participate but could not conduct the interview themselves due to limited ability to communicate (PLC). Pronounced differences were found for PLC with respect to environmental and personal resources and QoL outcomes. Pronounced differences were also found both with respect to lower observed levels of QoL outcomes (e.g., autonomy) and predictors of QoL outcomes (e.g., effect of negative “external” appreciation on subjective well-being). Contrary to the deficit-oriented model of old age, a high degree of autonomy was observed. However, substantial and consequential negative “external” appreciation of very old age was also apparent.

Throughout the entire COVID-19 pandemic, physical lockdown restrictions caused a rise in mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and stress. During the pandemic, Chinese universities implemented “dormitory isolation” for students amid outbreaks, requiring them to stay in their university dormitories for several weeks or even months. This study focused on the mental health of these students and investigated how trait gratitude of them was associated with their mental health. Participants were 1,200 college students from a university in China, who experienced a two-week isolation in university dormitories. We used moderated mediation models to analyze their sex, trait gratitude, resilience, mental health, and helping behavior. Higher trait gratitude was associated with higher resilience, which in turn predicted better mental health. The relationship between trait gratitude and resilience was stronger for females who engaged in helping behaviors, while this relationship was weaker for males who engaged in helping behaviors. The findings suggest that trait gratitude of college students can benefit their mental health through their resilience when they encounter stressful contexts such as dormitory lockdown. Meanwhile, this study indicates the important contextual value of engaging in helping behaviors for females during the lockdown.

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced increases in mental distress, correlated with fear about the future, economic outlook, labor market situation, restriction of individual freedom and behavioral changes. While some of these are associated with the perceived risk of infection, others are linked to the restrictive measures imposed to limit infections. Whatever the reason behind it, the main question to be asked is whether transitory or habitual anxiety levels are affected and, eventually, whether changes in daily life habits could play a role. To answer this question, a survey was administered to thousands of students from three Italian universities. The survey included a psychological test, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, through which it is possible to observe whether the effects of changes in daily life habits impact on transitory (State) and/or habitual (Trait) levels of anxiety. First, the results show that individuals who are habitually characterized by higher levels of anxiety tend to suffer higher increases in transitory anxiety during the pandemic, and that being a woman is associated with increases in both habitual and current anxiety. Furthermore, physical activity, book reading and self-care practices seem to mitigate the increase in anxiety led by the pandemic. While the first and the last have an impact on habitual and current anxiety levels, book reading is only associated with reductions in current anxiety. Finally, increased use of social networks is associated with greater state anxiety levels, while intensive exposure to videogames and movies amplifies trait anxiety.

Multimorbidity significantly impacts health, well-being, and the economy; therefore, exploring notable factors associated with multimorbidity across all age groups is critical. For this investigation, we focused on the relationship between four lifestyle factors and multimorbidity risk. We recruited 11,031 Chinese citizens aged ≥ 12 years from 31 provinces between July 2021 and September 2021 using a quota sampling strategy to ensure that the socioeconomic characteristics (sex, age, rural–urban distribution) of those participating in this research were representative of national demographics. In the first stage, multivariable logistic regression models were utilized as a means of investigating the relationship between lifestyle factors and multimorbidity. Then, a multinomial logistic regression model was used with the aim of examining the Healthy Lifestyle Profile (HLP) related to the number of chronic diseases. Multivariable logistic regression models assessed the interaction effects and joint association among the four lifestyle factors. Overall, 18% of the participants had at least one disease, and 5.9% had multimorbidity. Approximately two-thirds of the participants were physically inactive, 40% had consumed alcohol, 39% were underweight or overweight, and 20% were or had been smokers. Participants who maintained one HLP showed a 34% lower multimorbidity risk (adjusted OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.48 to 0.92), while participants who maintained 4 HLP showed a 73% lower multimorbidity risk (adjusted OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.17 to 0.43), as compared to those who had 0 HLP. The joint association analysis revealed that participants with all four healthy lifestyle factors had 0.92 times lower odds of multimorbidity (95% CI: 0.90, 0.94) in comparison with the all-unhealthy reference cluster. Notably, individuals with a combination of healthy smoking status and healthy body weight had the highest minimized odds of multimorbidity (OR: [0.92], 95% CI: 0.91, 0.94). Common lifestyle habits, alone or in combination, are associated with multimorbidity risk. This study provides insights for public health programs to promote a healthy lifestyle at a younger age and to alleviate multimorbidity risk in older people.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, the care services interruption/delay resulted in increased amount of care for informal caregivers of older people with long-term care needs. This study aimed at understanding how the Pandemic affected physical health, mental well-being and quality of life of older people’ informal caregivers of different ages and to what extent starting caregiving affected such life realms among new caregivers. An online survey was carried out in Winter 2020–2021 targeted to informal caregivers living in 16 European countries. A sub-sample of 848 adult (aged 18–64) was compared to another of 542 older (over 65) informal caregivers. People who started caring during the Pandemic were also identified and the impact of the Pandemic on the three life realms of this group were analysed separately by gender and age. The differences between the two groups of adult and older caregivers were estimated using logistic regression, adjusted for potential confounders. Analyses were repeated after propensity score matching. During the second Pandemic wave hitting Europe in Winter 2020-21, regardless of age, being female entailed a worsening in physical health, mental well-being and quality of life, in line with previous research Also new caregivers were mostly females and their physical health and quality of life were worsened by caregiving. Gender-specific work-life balance policies and measures are needed to support female working caregivers. More attention should be paid to older female caregivers through scheduled physical and mental health screenings and home visits. Future studies on the topic in a gender and intergenerational perspective are encouraged.

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are believed to be the best source of finance for lifting the poor from poverty. However, the vast majority of MFIs’ customers in the world appear to be over-indebted. This study investigates the effect of the four attitudes towards money (FAM), namely security, love, freedom, and power, on over-indebtedness among MFIs customers in Tanzania. This relationship has not been investigated in previous studies. The study used an analytical cross-sectional design involving a survey of 428 MFI customers using a semi-structured questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed for data analysis. The findings show that power (β = 0.432, p = 0.000), love (β = 0.114, p = 0.004), and freedom (β = 0.101, p = 0.02) significantly and positively affect over-indebtedness, while security (β = -0.243, p = 0.003) negatively and significantly affects over-indebtedness. This study provides an alternative way for MFIs to reduce over-indebtedness by focusing on borrowers’ attitudes towards money. This will, in turn, enhance loan repayment rates, sustainability of MFIs, poverty reduction and quality of life among MFI customers.

People who are socioeconomically better off tend to report higher levels of well-being, with inconsistent roles ascribed to objective socioeconomic status (SES), subjective SES (SSES), and personal relative deprivation (PRD)—depending on the predictors, facets of well-being, and countries under study. We tested a comprehensive model of social status indicators as determinants of subjective well-being by a) including PRD, SSES, income, and education as predictors, b) assessing subjective well-being as well as interdependent happiness (happiness in relation to significant others), c) testing the model in Japan, Germany, and the US—countries with comparable societal structure (e.g., educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) but diverging cultural dimensions, and d) testing an explanatory variable: feeling excluded from society. Cross-culturally (N = 2,155), PRD and SSES independently and strongly predicted well-being, while income and education exhibited negligible direct effects. SSES emerged as the predominant predictor in Japan compared to the US and Germany, whereas PRD was the predominant predictor in the US compared to Germany and, to a lesser extent, Japan. This was largely accounted for by culture-specific links of social status with perceived social exclusion—the extent to which people feel unable to keep up with society as a whole. Perceived social exclusion was more strongly linked to SSES in Japan compared to Germany and the US, and more strongly linked to PRD in the US than in Germany. The role of perceived social exclusion as an explanatory variable in the relationship between social status and subjective well-being merits further investigation within and between countries.

Social participation (SP) is often argued to have a favorable impact on health outcomes. This study examines whether and to what extent social participation can reduce and postpone the need for long-term care (LTC) among middle-aged and older adults in Japan. We used longitudinal data of 17,454 individuals born from 1946 to 1955, obtained from a 17-wave nationwide panel survey conducted from 2005 to 2021 in Japan. We examined (1) whether SP at baseline (2005) was associated with a lower risk of having LTC needs in the last wave (2021) using logistic regression models and (2) whether SP at baseline postponed the onset of these needs using Cox proportional hazards models, both controlling for baseline covariates. The results of different SP activities were compared. Participating in one or more SP activities in 2005 was associated with lower needs for LTC in 2021, with an odds ratio of 0.69 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.49–0.96), and postponed their onset, with a hazard ratio of 0.71 (95% CI, 0.65–0.78). However, these favorable features of SP were observed only for leisure activities, and no satisfaction with SP activities had a limited association with LTC needs. The results suggest that SP can be associated with a lower risk of LTC needs and postpone their onset; however, these favorable features are limited to leisure activities, and satisfaction with SP activities is needed to enhance them.