Correlates of Patient Satisfaction Among Menopausal Women

Patient satisfaction can increase compliance and health outcomes in many populations. Menopausal-age women present unique physical and psychosocial concerns that separate them from other populations in their health care needs and preferences. We surveyed 48 women (ages 45–60) regarding their satisfaction with a recent annual exam office visit in a family practice clinic. Women reported the number of quality of life issues they discussed during this visit and which of these they considered most important, as well as menopausal symptoms and perceived health competence. Regression analyses identified variables most related to patient satisfaction. Of three components of visit satisfaction (Quality, Humaneness, and General Satisfaction), Quality was predicted by quality of life issues discussed. Physical, psychological, and functional domains were considered most important to the patients, whereas physical, psychological, and social domains were most often actually discussed in the visit.     

Agency and Communion in People with Rheumatoid Arthritis

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the previously found relations among the gender-linked personality orientations of agency, communion, unmitigated agency, and unmitigated communion, and health outcomes existed within a sample of adults with rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic disease that is more prevalent among women than among men. We obtained self-report data from 158 participants on the gender-linked personality orientations, psychological distress, disability, pain, and life satisfaction. As hypothesized, regression analyses indicated that agency was significantly associated with better health outcomes, whereas unmitigated communion was associated with poorer health outcomes. Assessment of these personality variables in people with rheumatoid arthritis may help to identify those at high risk for adverse outcomes.     

Flourishing is Associated with Higher Academic Achievement and Engagement in Filipino Undergraduate and High School Students

Flourishing emphasizes the importance of integrating subjective well-being and psychological well-being to offer a more comprehensive view of mental health. Recognizing the potential advantage of flourishing, previous empirical studies have examined the relations of flourishing to positive psychological outcomes such as hope, life satisfaction, mental health, and positive emotions. However, it appears that limited research has been carried out to assess the role of flourishing in the educational context. Hence, the current research examined the association of flourishing with relevant academic outcomes (i.e., perceived academic achievement, academic achievement, behavioral engagement, and emotional engagement) after controlling for relevant demographic variables, life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect among Filipino undergraduate and high school students. Study 1 showed that flourishing positively predicted self-report academic achievement of Filipino undergraduate students after controlling for age, gender, and subjective well-being domains (life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect). Similarly, Study 2 showed that flourishing positively predicted objective measure of academic achievement, behavioral engagement, and emotional engagement in Filipino high school students even after controlling for the influence of demographic variables and subjective well-being domains. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Zeroing in on the dark side of the American Dream: a closer look at the negative consequences of the goal for financial success

Recent research has demonstrated that aspiring to the American Dream of financial success has negative consequences for various aspects of psychological well-being. The present longitudinal study examining the relation between the goal for financial success, attainment of that goal, and satisfaction with various life domains found that the negative impact of the goal for financial success on overall life satisfaction diminished as household income increased. The negative consequences of the goal for financial success seemed to be limited to those specific life domains that either concerned relationships with other people or involved income-producing activities, such as one's job; satisfactions with two of those life domains, however, were among the strongest predictors of overall life satisfaction in this sample of well-educated respondents in their late 30s. The negative consequences were particularly severe for the domain of family life; the stronger the goal for financial success, the lower the satisfaction with family life, regardless of household income.     

Infertility-Related Stress and Life Satisfaction among Chinese Infertile Women: A Moderated Mediation Model of Marital Satisfaction and Resilience

The present study investigated the effects of infertility on Chinese women’s life satisfaction. Infertile women (n?=?466) who were seeking medical help completed a survey that included the Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI), the Dyadic Adjustment Questionnaire (DAS), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and demographic variables. We used a moderated mediation model to test our hypotheses, with life satisfaction as the dependent variable, representations about the importance of parenthood as the independent variable, the impact of infertility on life domains as a mediator, and marital satisfaction and resilience as moderators. Results showed that representations about the importance of parenthood and the impact of infertility on life domains are two main types of infertility-related stress, which could play independent roles in predicting life satisfaction. Representations about the importance of parenthood had a negative indirect effect on life satisfaction through the impact of infertility on life domains, and the indirect effect of the impact of infertility on life domains was moderated by marital satisfaction and resilience. Specially, representations about the importance of parenthood had a weaker indirect effect (through the impact of infertility on life domains) on life satisfaction in individuals with higher marital satisfaction or resilience. Therefore, the type of infertility-related stress and both marital satisfaction and resilience should be addressed in psychological interventions for women coping with infertility in mainland China.

     

Comparing Quality of Life Instruments in a Population of Abused Women

The SF-36 Health Survey and the WHO Quality of Life Index—BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to study quality of life among women who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). The aim was to determine how these instruments correlated with each other and with physical and psychological IPV, in order to find the best instrument to use. IPV was measured using the Severity of Violence against Women Scale (SVAWS) and the Psychological Maltreatment of Women Index (PMWI). A self-administrated questionnaire was given to women able to understand Norwegian who were staying at a women’s shelter in Norway for more than 1 week. 87 of 212 women asked to participate completed the questionnaire. The physical acts of violence in SVAWS correlated significantly (P<0.001) with both the general health and bodily pain dimensions in SF-36 and global overall health (OH) in WHOQOL-BREF. Most correlations between WHOQOL-BREF and SF-36 were moderate. The WHOQOL-BREF domains explained 46% of the variance in OH and 40% of the variance in the global overall quality of life (OQOL). The SF-36 domains explained 66% of the variance in OH and 27% of OQOL. The mean WHOQOL-BREF and SF-36 scores were all low. The SF-36 correlated better with physical and psychological IPV in this population than the WHOQOL-BREF. The significant correlations between the OH, general health and bodily pain domains and acts of violence show the importance of including questions concerning bodily symptoms in determining the quality of life in a population of abused women.     

What about the “ups and downs” in our daily life? The influence of affective instability on mental health

Although affective instability is considered to be a crucial factor for mental disorders, research on affective instability and mental health is still rare. The aim of the present study was to investigate affective instability and mental health operationalized by the degree of psychological distress and life satisfaction. Using ecological momentary assessment, we investigated affective intensity and instability in a general population sample (n = 218). Psychological distress and life satisfaction were examined cross-sectionally and longitudinally. In general, we found that positive affect was more variable than negative affect. When we accounted for the overlap between variables, our findings demonstrated that besides the effects of intensity in negative affect and positive affect, higher positive affective instability was related to better concurrent mental health. Longitudinally, negative affective intensity was a decisive factor in the development of mental health. In sum, our findings revealed that affective instability was not dysfunctional per se. In fact, instability in positive affect seems to be important to achieve mental health.     

Gender Differences in Psychological Well-Being in Emerging Adulthood

Gender is recognized as an important social determinant of health, but past research on gender differences in psychological well-being have not produced conclusive results. This study investigated gender differences in eudaimonic well-being and life satisfaction in emerging adulthood. A cross-sectional study with a sample of 1990 emerging adults (50% males) from the Spanish general population was conducted. Participants were assessed through five questionnaires. Results showed that women scored higher than men in purpose in life and personal growth. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that the most important predictors of emerging adult men’s and women’s eudaimonic well-being and life satisfaction were higher self-confidence and lower negative self-evaluation. Other significant variables in the eudaimonic well-being of both women and men were higher score in the masculine/instrumental trait, higher emotional social support, higher educational level, and higher score in the feminine/expressive trait. Furthermore, higher instrumental social support was associated with eudaimonic well-being in females. Other predictors of women’s and men’s life satisfaction were higher score in the feminine/expressive trait, less age, higher educational level and higher instrumental social support. In addition, higher emotional social support was associated with life satisfaction in males. The results suggest that gender is important in the psychological well-being of people in emerging adulthood, although self-esteem and instrumental social support are, in both emerging adult women and men, the most important predictors of psychological well-being.

     

Impact of social support on health status and life satisfaction in people with a spinal cord injury

Abstract

Purpose: Assessment of the impact of received social support on functional health status and life satisfaction in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Design: Respondents were 176 people with SCI between 18 and 65 years of age and living in the community. Mean time after injury was 3.6 years. Problem-oriented and emotion-oriented support, received from family members, friends and relatives, and professionals were assessed with the Sources of Social Support Inventory. Health status was assessed with the Sickness Impact Profile 68 and life satisfaction with the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire. Structural equation modelling with LISREL V8 was used to study relationships of different types and sources of social support with health status and life satisfaction.Results: Emotion-oriented support led to better psychological functioning and to greater life satisfaction. In addition, emotion-oriented support from the family led to greater satisfaction with relationships and emotion-oriented support from friends and acquaintances led to less satisfaction with social life. Problem-oriented support was not clearly related to health status and life satisfaction; there was only a negative relation between problem-oriented support and satisfaction with social life. Support, problem-oriented or emotion-oriented, from health-care professionals showed no relationships with health status or life satisfaction.Conclusions: Emotion-oriented support from family members and friends was most important for people with SCI. Greater problem-oriented support appears to be related to poorer life satisfaction.     

Psychological distress and quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS in a Nigerian teaching hospital

Presence of psychological distress and poor quality of life (QoL) may affect the outcome of HIV/AIDS. One hundred and seventeen consecutive and consenting participants were interviewed using a Socio-demographic questionnaire, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) and World Health Organization Quality of Life-HIV Bref. Fifty-six (47.9%) participants scored 20 and above on K10 Scale. QoL was significantly higher in married participants, those who perceived their state of health as being good, asymptomatic participants and those who scored well–mild on K10. The older age group scored higher on QoL Scale than the younger age group in the physical health domain while the married participants scored higher in the domains of physical health, psychological health, environment and spiritual/religion. The participants who perceived their state of health as being good scored higher than those who perceived their health as poor in all domains. There is a high level of psychological distress and poor QoL in people living with HIV/AIDS.     

Disability and Life Satisfaction in Italy

During the last decades, the socio-economic policy agenda has devoted an increasing attention to the inclusion of disabled people into society. It follows that understanding the drivers of life outcomes and conditions of disabled people is essential to analyze the sources of disadvantaged positions.This paper brings evidence on the predictors of life satisfaction of disabled people in Italy, focusing on four specific dimensions (relations with relatives and friends, economic conditions, and leisure time) and analyzing information on people with functional limitations and health problems, as provided by the 2011 ISTAT survey.Estimation results show that household structure, health and disability status affect life satisfaction more significantly than personal and income variables. Education attainments significantly affect satisfaction with the economic conditions. In addition, support in daily activities may increase satisfaction with economic conditions and leisure time, suggesting that providing non-monetary support would be effective in increasing life satisfaction, especially in those domains requiring freedom of movement. Finally, we find that older disabled people are, on average, more satisfied than younger disabled people, while gender is relevant when interacted with the household type.     

Job Satisfaction Differences Between Military and Ex-Military Personnel: The Role of Demographic and Organizational Variables

This study examines differences in job satisfaction between military and ex-military personnel and examines the contribution of demographic, dispositional, and organizational variables to those differences. Analysis of data from 571 current New Zealand Army personnel and 171 ex-Army personnel found that Army personnel rated significantly lower than the latter on overall job satisfaction and on 7 of 15 job satisfaction facets. For both groups, high leader support, low job conflict and pressure, and high challenge, autonomy, and job importance were related to high levels of job satisfaction. For Army personnel, low levels of negative affect (a propensity to have a negative outlook on life in general), shorter tenure, and low centralization and formalization also contributed to higher levels of job satisfaction. For ex-Army personnel, income contributed to higher levels of job satisfaction. There were a number of significant differences, however, between Army and ex-Army groups on job satisfaction predictors. These results suggest that differences in job satisfaction between the two groups may be due to (a) different variables that contribute to job satisfaction for each group and (b) different demographic and organizational variables between the groups. Despite a number of limitations, the findings highlight potential future directions for the investigation of interventions in the work environment to provide enhanced psychological rewards for military personnel.     

Enhancing quality of life by shifting importance perception among life domains

The purpose of this study was to (1) construct an index to indicate the strength of a tendency to upgrade importance of life domains with lower have–want discrepancy and downgrade importance of life domains with larger have–want discrepancy for an individual (termed shifting tendency) and (2) use this index to test if shifting tendency has a positive correlation with global life satisfaction. The dataset was gain from Wu and Yao, 2006, Social Indicators Research, 79, 485–502), in which 332 undergraduate students at National Taiwan University participated in the survey. The mean age was 19.80 years (SD = 1.98). They completed a quality of life questionnaire, which contains 12 life domains. Satisfaction, importance and perceived have–want discrepancy were measured for 12 different life domains. Global life satisfaction was measured as well. Results showed that shifting tendency had a positive and significant correlation with average domain satisfaction and global life satisfaction. In addition, shifting tendency and have–want discrepancy had unique effects in predicting average domain satisfaction and global life satisfaction, suggesting that shifting tendency itself can contribute to a better QOL. The role of shifting tendency on QOL was discussed.     

Teaching happiness at school: Non-randomised controlled mixed-methods feasibility study on the effectiveness of Personal Well-Being Lessons

The paper presents an educational initiative to develop a separate well-being curriculum for a federation of schools in south-east London. A mixed-methods study was undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of the curriculum run biweekly in Year 7 (age 11–12, N = 96). The study utilised a non-randomised repeated measures design with a control group (N = 68) using general life satisfaction, domain life satisfaction and affect balance as outcome variables. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four students, two teachers and the principal of the intervention school. The results indicated significant buffering effect of the intervention in protecting students against the decline of satisfaction with self, satisfaction with friends, positive affect and the increase in negative affect throughout the first year of middle school. The qualitative data shed light on explicit learning, psychological outcomes and challenges associated with the programme. Overall, the data indicate a positive impact of the well-being curriculum.     

Well-being on campus: testing the effectiveness of an online strengths-based intervention for first year college students

The present research examined the effectiveness of an 8-week online strengths-based intervention in promoting subjective and psychological well-being of first year university students. The intervention was composed of five modules pertaining to (a) finding and cultivating on character strengths, (b) regulation of emotions and increasing positive emotions, (c) constructive communication, establishing social connectedness and positive relationships (d) effective decision-making and problem solving and (e) achieving flow and practicing gratitude. A total 92 students volunteered to participate in the study. They were randomly assigned to either the intervention or a control group. Students’ quality of life (psychological health and social relations domains), life satisfaction, subjective happiness and ontological well-being were measured before and after the intervention. Significant improvements in well-being of intervention group participants were observed over an 8-week period whereas control group participants did not show a significant increase in any of these well-being variables.     

Life satisfaction and satisfaction in domains of life: is it a simple relationship?

This paper studies the nature of the relationship between life satisfaction and satisfaction in domains of life. The domains-of-life literature assumes that a person’s overall satisfaction with his or her life depends on his or her satisfaction in many concrete areas of life, which are classified into a few main domains of life. This paper addresses the issue of what characteristics the relationship between life satisfaction and satisfaction in domains of life has by focusing on its specification. The domains-of-life literature has commonly assumed that an additive relationship between domains satisfaction and life satisfaction does exist. This paper argues that the use of an additive relationship has substantially restricted our comprehension of the relationship; since it makes impossible to empirically address questions such as: Is life satisfaction just a weighted average of domain satisfactions? How easy is it to substitute satisfaction in one domain by satisfaction in another? Is it reasonable to expect similar additional benefits when we continuously improve satisfaction in one domain? What happens with our life satisfaction when we manage to continuously improve satisfaction in all domains? What happens with the importance of one domain when satisfaction in another domain declines? The paper argues that there could be substantial gains in the understanding of the relationship by assuming alternative specifications. At an empirical level the investigation works with four different specifications: an additive relationship, a semi-logarithm relationship, a logarithm–logarithm relationship, and a constant elasticity of substitution (CES) relationship. Using a database from Mexico, the investigation finds out that an additive specification provides – at least for Mexico – a goodness of fit similar to those of alternative specifications. However, there are some relevant issues in the relationship between domains satisfaction and overall life satisfaction that cannot be studied with an additive specification; hence, the?use of an alternative specification – in particular a CES specification – is preferable if the objective is to understand rather than to predict life satisfaction.     

Quality of Life and Multiple Sclerosis: Comparison Between People with Multiple Sclerosis and People from the General Population

This paper evaluated the quality of life (QOL) of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and people from the general population. Gender differences between the 2 groups of respondents and the influence of coping style on adjustment were also evaluated. The participants were 381 (144 males, 237 females) people with MS, and 291 (101 males, 190 females) people from the general population. The results demonstrated that people with MS experienced lower levels of QOL than people from the general population for both the objective and subjective dimensions of all domains (physical health, psychological adjustment, social relationships, environmental adjustment). All coping strategies (problem-focused, focusing on the positive, detachment, wishful thinking, seeking social support) were important predictors of QOL for both males and females with MS, with wishful thinking being the strongest predictor of poor QOL. These results are discussed in terms of the various factors that impact on QOL among people with MS, and the types of coping strategies that are most adaptive in improving the QOL of people with this illness.     

Adolescents' evaluative beliefs of failure: explorations in a Chinese Singaporean sample

Our study explored evaluative beliefs of failure to see whether positive and negative beliefs of failure are bivariate in nature within three domains of an adolescent's life (academic, social, and athletic) and how such beliefs are differentially linked to the importance of a domain, the frequency of failure in a domain, and the extremity of negative emotions experienced when encountering failure in a domain. A total of 163 Chinese Singaporean students in Secondary 3 and 4 (Grades 9 and 10) from two Singapore schools participated in the study by completing a questionnaire. Results from various analyses converged to demonstrate that evaluative beliefs could be distinguished by both valence (positive and negative) and domain (academic, social, and athletic). The six evaluative beliefs were also distinguished from failure attributions. While there was consensus in what constituted negative beliefs of failure across domains, positive beliefs of failure showed some domain specificity, with unique aspects in particular domains (e.g., the inevitability of failure only in the academic domain). Positive and negative beliefs in the different domains were correlated among themselves, but positive and negative beliefs were uncorrelated within (except for academic) and across domains. Positive and negative beliefs were also differentially linked to domain importance, failure frequency, and extremity of negative emotion. Unexpectedly, domain importance was not linked to negative beliefs but was linked to positive beliefs, while positive and negative beliefs showed domain-specific links with failure frequency. As expected, however, negative beliefs were (positively) linked to extremity of negative emotions while positive beliefs were not linked to such extremity. The conceptual, substantive, and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Educated and Happy: A Four-Year Study Explaining the Links Between Education,Job Fit,and Life Satisfaction

Drawing on a bottom-up theoretical perspective on life satisfaction, we developed and tested a model that specifies distinct paths from education to life satisfaction through three domain satisfactions (i.e., job, financial, and health satisfactions). Furthermore, we proposed explanatory mechanisms for each of these three paths (i.e., job fit, financial literacy, and proactive healthy behaviours). To test our hypotheses, we used a large probability sample comprising 3,011–9,669 individuals, from the Netherlands, who provided survey responses over four consecutive years. The results supported the hypothesised mediating mechanisms explaining the indirect relationship between education and job, financial, and health satisfactions. Findings also showed that each of these domain satisfactions independently predicts general life satisfaction. Overall, the study shows the importance of education for life satisfaction and highlights the importance of work (i.e., job fit and job satisfaction) for individuals' general subjective well-being.     

青少年物质主义与幸福感的关系：感恩的中介作用

采用物质主义量表、感恩问卷、主观幸福感量表、心理幸福感量表和身体症状问卷对701名中学生进行调查,考察了青少年物质主义与其幸福感的关系,以及感恩在其中的中介作用。结果发现：（1）青少年物质主义与其负性情感显著正相关,与正性情感、生活满意度、心理幸福感和身体健康显著负相关;（2）感恩在青少年物质主义与其生活满意度、负性情感、心理幸福感和身体健康关系之间起着部分中介作用,在青少年物质主义与其正性情感关系之间起着完全中介作用。