The Benefits of Belief: the Place of Spirituality and Religiosity in the CD-RISC Abstract The belief-as-benefit hypothesis holds that spirituality and religiosity strengthen resilience and increase personal well-being. This spiritually-based account of resilience informed the development of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), which includes a spiritual influences factor. In keeping with this general account it was hypothesized that measures of spirituality and religiosity will be positively correlated with scores on the 23 secular items of the CD-RISC (i.e., the 25 item CD-RISC minus the 2 items that define the spiritual influences factor). Participants (n = 338) were administered the CD-RISC, the spirituality subscale of the 16-Strength Questionnaire and the Intrinsic/Extrinsic-Revised scale. Scores on the 23-item CD-RISC showed a significant positive correlation with spirituality scores (r = .224, p < .001) but not intrinsic religiosity (r = .093, p = .09) or extrinsic religiosity (r = .036, p = .51). The positive correlation between scores on the 23-item CD-RISC and spirituality held after controlling for age, gender and income in multiple regression (sr = .220, p < .001). While the results provide partial support for the belief-as-benefit hypothesis it was argued that they do not justify Connor and Davidson’s decision to integrate spirituality and religiosity items into their measure of resilience.

Determinants of Female Adolescents’ Quality of Life Before, during and after Detention: a Four-Wave Follow-Up Study Examining a Theory of Individual Quality of Life Abstract Quality of Life (QoL) has become an important indicator of health care needs and treatment outcomes. Yet studies on this topic among detained girls are still very scarce. This study aimed to fill this void by examining a theory of individual QoL, focussing on determinants of detained girls’ QoL over time. A four-wave follow-up study was conducted among 147 detained girls (Mage = 16.20). Participants rated their self-perceived QoL (i.e., physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment) before, during, and after detention. At baseline (i.e., shortly after admission), personal and environmental determinants of QoL were measured through self-report and file-information, including psychiatric disorders, reason for detention and trauma exposure. Multilevel growth curve analyses indicated that girls’ QoL decreased after admission, remained stable during detention, but increased after discharge, supporting the hypothesized dynamic nature of QoL. However, findings differed depending upon the QoL domain and baseline level. None of the three hypothesized determinants had significant main/interaction effects on QoL, at least not when controlling for baseline QoL and covariates. Yet, one covariate (i.e., school attendance) displayed significant main/interaction effects. These findings indicate that the influence of a particular determinant dependents upon a complex interplay of other personal/environmental factors. To conclude, we highlight the need for critical reflections upon the restricting and segregating nature of detention facilities and suggest there is a need to implement QoL enhancement strategies to create a more supportive climate for change. Moreover, we formulate recommendations for future research in order to further stimulate QoL theory evaluation and development.

Rasch Analysis of the Families in Early Intervention Quality of Life (FEIQoL) Scale Abstract Family quality of life (FQoL) has become one of the main outcomes of services for people with disabilities and their families, especially in early intervention, which nowadays is all about families. In this article, we analyze and validate the psychometric properties of the FEIQoL scale with Spanish families in early intervention, through Rasch analysis. A total of 776 families of children 0–6 completed the FEIQoL. To assess the Rasch model, we analyzed the item fit, reliability and separation, unidimensionality, response forms, and DIF analyses. The results indicated that the scores on the FEIQoL were reliable and fit the Rasch model. The response forms were adequate, the item difficulty matched respondents’ ability levels, and we found unidimensionality in the 3 factors. DIF analysis indicated that the items did not function differently by child age. The FEIQoL could be improved by modifying misfitting items and possibly including more difficult items for respondents with high FQoL.

Review of the book: Psychosocial Well-being of Children and Adolescents in Latin America: Evidence-based Interventions . Jorge Castellá Sarriera & Lívia Maria Bedin (Eds.) (2017) Children´s Well-Being: Indicators and Research

A Pioneer in the Study of Affective Forecasting

“If You Can’t Follow, You’re Out.” The Perspectives of People with Mental Health Problems on Citizenship Abstract The new paradigm of ‘community care’ promotes the integration of people with mental health problems in society. This reconversion in social care risks to remain limited to a ‘physical’ level of integration. As the voices of people in vulnerable situations are largely absent in today’s debates about citizenship, the present study used photovoice to investigate how people with mental health problems (n = 16) and co-occuring drug dependence (n = 14/16) perceive ‘being a citizen’ in everyday life. A thematic analysis of the verbal data and the selected pictures led to seven themes. These themes illustrate the complex, dual reality of living with mental health problems; the strengths, capacities and hope of people, but also the various obstacles they are confronted with in relation to the broader society. These findings imply an urgent need for an alternative, inclusive view on citizenship and according policy actions.

Happiness Enrichment and Sustainable Happiness Abstract Sustainable happiness research has recently received renewed attention. Studies present exercises intended to enhance happiness. A comprehensive process by which to sustain happiness has not thus far been studied comprehensively. Drawing on the Goal-Setting and Experimental Learning theories, we endeavour to form a Happiness Enrichment Perspective (HSP). A cyclic Happiness Sustainability Model of four stages is presented aimed at advancing a future research framework. Predicated on data gleaned from 458 respondents, we applied SEM aimed at validating HSP. Findings corroborate the proposed Happiness Sustainability Cycle (HSC). Implications and suggestions for future studies on happiness sustainability are proposed in order to further validate the proposed model.

Changes in the Participants in a Community-Based Positive Youth Development Program in Hong Kong: Objective Outcome Evaluation Using a One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design Abstract Project “P.A.T.H.S.” has been shown to be effective in promoting positive development outcomes among Chinese adolescents in the school context. However, little is known whether the benefits can also be found in other settings. The purposes of the study was to investigate the changes in psychosocial outcomes among Hong Kong Chinese adolescents after participating in a community-based positive youth development (PYD) program. Using a one-group pretest-posttest design, junior high school students (N = 17,544) were invited to join the universal prevention program (the Tier 1 Program) and/or the selective prevention program (the Tier 2 Program). 10,807 students whose pre-and post-test data were successfully matched. The students responded to validated outcome measures assessing PYD outcomes, life satisfaction and thriving at pretest and posttest. Consistent with the hypotheses, students showed positive change on different developmental outcomes after joining the program. Amongst the different programs, students in the Tier 2 Program had significant improvement in all developmental outcome indicators. While limitations of the one-group pretest-posttest design and the alternative explanations are duly acknowledged, the present study suggests that the community-based Project P.A.T.H.S. is a promising approach to promote positive youth development, life satisfaction and thriving of adolescents, a conclusion which is consistent with the existing evaluation findings of the project. Building from previous school-based research, the present study extends the literature by showing the effectiveness of a positive youth prevention program in a community context. Limitations of the study design (e.g., an absence of a control group) are discussed.

The Effect of Unemployment on Life Satisfaction: A Cross-National Comparison Between Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States Abstract This paper investigates the effect of unemployment on life satisfaction from a comparative perspective. It also tests whether the link between unemployment and life satisfaction is moderated or reinforced by contextual unemployment across regions within a country—either through a negative spillover or a positive social-norm effect, or both. The results suggest that noticeable non-pecuniary costs are associated with unemployment in the four countries studied. Cross-national differences also emerged in the impact of the moderating factors. Regional unemployment is a strong moderating factor of own unemployment in Canada and to a lesser extent in the United States; the effect is ambiguous in the United Kingdom and exacerbating in Germany. The results also support a negative spillover effect of regional unemployment on the employed in the United States and Germany, no spillover effect in the United Kingdom and, surprisingly, a positive overall spillover effect in Canada. Sensitivity testing further revealed that this Canadian anomaly was a phenomenon mainly in Atlantic Canada, not across the whole country.

Informing Policy Priorities using Inference from Life Satisfaction Responses in a Large Community Survey Abstract Self-reported, quantitative, subjective measures of well-being, such as satisfaction with life overall, are increasingly looked to as measures of public welfare. While this trend is visible at the international and national government levels, regional initiatives and local communities are particularly important in seeking meaningful measures of the quality of human experience and of the success of local policies. Unlike other approaches in which well-being or progress indices are constructed using arbitrary or expert-generated weights on various domains of life experience, subjective well-being can be used to evaluate empirically the relative importance of specific measurable conditions and experiences in supporting a good life. Using a new, large community well-being survey carried out across the U.S. state of Connecticut, we use this method to evaluate the relationship between life satisfaction and a range of other socioeconomic circumstances and conditions. In support of a broad existing literature, we find enormous effects of security and social engagement as compared with variations in income. We then proceed to consider the prevalence of different socioeconomic conditions, in addition to their relative importance to affected individuals, to make inferences about the benefit-costs of feasible state and local policies. There remain some conditions, like social trust and the perceived responsiveness of local government to the needs of residents, which appear very important to well-being but for which the relationship with targeted resource allocation requires further investigation or policy experimentation.