The Determinants of a Quality of Life Indicator for Farm Operator Households: Application of Zero-Inflated Count-Data Models

The assessment of the determinants of quality of life in the USA has long been a focus of many researchers. This paper contributes towards that effort by focusing on the quality of life attributes of a segment of the population; namely, farm operator households. To assist in this effort, a quality of life indicator is constructed based on data from the 2004 Agricultural Resource Management Survey along with some auxiliary databases. The determinants of this indicator have been assessed by means of count-data models with special emphasis being given to the role of the preponderance of zeros in the constructed index. Based on the findings, some policy recommendations on how to improve the quality of life in the rural communities are provided.

Developing and Validating a Measure of Consumer Well-Being in Relation to Cell Phone Use

This paper reports on an effort to develop a consumer well-being measure in relation to cell phone use. The measure is based on the theoretical notion that the perception of the overall quality-of-life impact of the cell phone on users is determined by their perceptions of the impact of the cell phone in various life domains such as social life, leisure life, family life, education life, health and safety, love life, work life, and financial life. In turn, the perception of impact of the cell phone in a given life domain (e.g., social life, leisure life) is determined by perceptions of benefits and costs of the cell phone within that domain. We conducted two major studies to select items capturing perceived benefits and costs that are predictive of perceived quality-of-life impact of the cell phone.     

Dissemination of effective mental health treatment procedures: Maximizing the return on a significant investment

While much is known about the efficacy of evidence-based practices, it is currently less clear how to implement these practices into the broader mental health system. Dissemination and implementation research will play a critical role in addressing this uncertainty. This commentary reviews the most recent and compelling research related to these topics while advocating a broader and more defined perspective of dissemination for future research. Three of the authors' most pressing questions are proposed and explored.     

Well-being, Happiness and Why Relationships Matter: Evidence from Bangladesh

Although Bangladesh is known as one of the poorest and most densely populated countries in the world, qualitative research and anecdotal evidence suggests its people report levels of happiness that are higher than those found in many other countries. This includes ‘developed’ countries where people have larger per capita incomes and can access a wider range of public services and goods. The paper explores this apparent paradox by analysing primary quantitative and qualitative data, and engaging with existing literature on happiness and objective wellbeing in Bangladesh. The data and analysis presented makes an original and timely contribution to the limited knowledge we have of the construction and experience of happiness and life satisfaction in contexts of extreme and persistent economic poverty. It identifies and offers insights into the ‘personal’ as well as social or ‘relational’ values and goals that people in Bangladesh consider important to achieve happiness in life. It also reflects on how different people experience these values and goals in very different ways. This, we argue, leads to a better understanding of the influence of the social and cultural context in the construction of people’s happiness. In the conclusion, we reflect on the policy implications of our findings.

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.     

They May Disapprove,but I Still Love You: Attachment Behaviors Moderate the Effect of Social Disapproval on Marital Relationship Quality

The degree of approval for a relationship from one’s social network has been shown to predict relationship outcomes. Additional research has shown that attachment can buffer the negative effects of various factors (e.g., depression) on relationships. Using an actor–partner interdependence model in an SEM framework, we research the effects of disapproval from parents and friends for one’s relationship on marital relationship quality for self and partner in a sample of 858 married couples. We also examine whether each spouse’s attachment behaviors can moderate these effects. Results indicated that one’s own attachment behaviors moderate the effects of their own parents’ and friends’ disapproval on their self-reported relationship quality for both men and women. Partner’s attachment behaviors moderate own friend’s disapproval on self-reported relationship quality for men and women; additionally, the main effect of partner’s friends’ and parents’ disapproval became nonsignificant with that test. The findings provide evidence that attachment behaviors of both partners play a role in buffering the negative effects of the social network disapproval on relationship outcomes. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Intervenir en clinique de l’activité sur la qualité du travail dans l’organisation. Le cas du service de propreté d’une grande collectivité

This article aims to inform the intervention process and the institution of conflictuality around the criteria on quality of work in an Activity Clinic perspective. From the example of a recent intervention in sanitary service of a big city, this article instructs this process when the conflictuality around the criteria of quality of work can be instituted in the organization. When field professionals can do more authority on their activity in the organization, we then witness in action a modification of their role in decision process, regarding their own work. The article concludes with the contribution of the results produced to current reflections on the union work actuality.     

Negative emotions and quality of life among adolescents: A moderated mediation model

Background/ObjectiveDepression, anxiety and stress are known as negative emotions. Previous studies have shown that negative emotions were associated with quality of life. There are a lot of researches on quality of life. However, previous studies mainly focused on health-related quality of life among patients. This study aims to examine the relationship between negative emotions and quality of life as well as the underlying psychological mechanism among community-based samples.MethodWe surveyed 6,401 adolescents (age: 9-15 years old). Participants were assessed using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescent, Perceived Social Support Scale and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 Generic Scale for Negative Emotions, Resilience, Social Support and Quality of Life.ResultsResults revealed that negative emotions were negatively associated with quality of life, and resilience mediated the relationship between negative emotions and quality of life. Social support moderated all the paths among negative emotions, resilience and quality of life.ConclusionsAdolescents’ quality of life was indirectly affected by negative emotions via resilience, and less affected by negative emotions and more affected by resilience with the improvement of social support. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Quality of Life and Adjustment in Youths with Asthma: The Contributions of Family Rituals and the Family Environment

This cross‐sectional study explored the relationships among family ritual meaning, cohesion, conflict, and health‐related quality of life (both specific to chronic health conditions and in general), and the emotional and behavioral problems reported by youths with asthma. Participants included 149 Portuguese children and adolescents between the ages of 8 and 18 who had been diagnosed with asthma and attended outpatient services at three public hospitals. The results showed that stronger family ritual meaning predicted a more positive family environment (i.e., higher cohesion levels and lower conflict levels), better health‐related quality of life, and fewer emotional and behavior problems in youths. Furthermore, family cohesion and conflict mediated the links between family ritual meaning and health‐related quality of life, and emotional and behavioral problems. These results did not change after controlling for participant age, gender, and asthma severity. The findings of this study suggest that family ritual meaning contributes to the adaptation of youths with asthma via its positive association with the family environment. The implications for multicontextual interventions with families are briefly discussed with regard to the positive role of family rituals and of their potential as a modifiable factor in families with increased health challenges.     

Toward an Evidence-Based System for Innovation Support for Implementing Innovations with Quality: Tools,Training, Technical Assistance,and Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement

An individual or organization that sets out to implement an innovation (e.g., a new technology, program, or policy) generally requires support. In the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation, a Support System should work with Delivery Systems (national, state and/or local entities such as health and human service organizations, community-based organizations, schools) to enhance their capacity for quality implementation of innovations. The literature on the Support ystem has been under-researched and under-developed. This article begins to conceptualize theory, research, and action for an evidence-based system for innovation support (EBSIS). EBSIS describes key priorities for strengthening the science and practice of support. The major goal of EBSIS is to enhance the research and practice of support in order to build capacity in the Delivery System for implementing innovations with quality, and thereby, help the Delivery System achieve outcomes. EBSIS is guided by a logic model that includes four key support components: tools, training, technical assistance, and quality assurance/quality improvement. EBSIS uses the Getting To Outcomes approach to accountability to aid the identification and synthesis of concepts, tools, and evidence for support. We conclude with some discussion of the current status of EBSIS and possible next steps, including the development of collaborative researcher-practitioner-funder-consumer partnerships to accelerate accumulation of knowledge on the Support System.