Applied Research in Quality of Life

Carol Graham – Annotated Biography for ARQOL

Age Effects of Frames of Reference in Self-Reports of Health, Well-Being, Fatigue and Pain Abstract Self-reports of health and well-being are central for population monitoring, so it is paramount that they are measured accurately. The goal of this study was to examine the impact of age on the use of the comparison standards or frames of reference (FoRs) in self-reports of health, life-satisfaction, fatigue, and pain, and to determine if the age-health outcome associations were affected by age differences in FoRs. Respondents (n = 2000) selected from the U.S. general population self-rated their life-satisfaction and health outcomes. Following this, they were asked to indicate if they used any comparisons (FoRs) when making their rating and the direction of these comparisons (upward, lateral or downward). Analyses examined (a) whether age groups differed in the type and direction of FoRs, and (b) whether age patterns in health, life-satisfaction, fatigue, and pain were altered when FoRs were statistically controlled. Compared to middle-aged and older people, younger respondents were more likely to compare themselves with other people when self-rating their health and life-satisfaction. They were also more likely to use a hypothetical situation when evaluating their pain and fatigue. Younger participants used lateral comparisons less often and downward comparisons more often than middle-aged and older participants. When these age differences in FoRs were statistically controlled, the observed age patterns in self-reported health outcomes were somewhat reduced. The results show that people of different ages use different FoRs when self-reporting their life-satisfaction and health outcomes.

Effect Size Strengths in Subjective Well-Being Research Abstract Subjective well-being (SWB) research is characterized by many large samples, which often results in virtually all variables being significantly related to well-being, even if the associations are small. In this article we explore the strengths of associations between various predictors and SWB outcomes. In addition to standard effect-size statistics, we also examined the range of the SWB scale covered in the distribution of the predictor, allowing us to estimate the strength of influence of each variable, independent of variability in the sample. We analyzed just a few variables to illustrate what our approach reveals. Our analyses included a representative sample of both the world and the United States, and our data included three types of SWB (life satisfaction (LS), positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA)). The largest effect sizes emerged for societal characteristics, such as between-nations differences, as well as personal characteristics, such as perceived social support. Small or very small effect sizes were consistently found for demographic characteristics, such as sex, age, and marital status. Other effect sizes varied by the type of SWB being considered. For example, income resulted in a large effect size for LS, but small to medium effect sizes for PA and NA. We suggest that when scholars report and interpret the associations of predictor variables with SWB, they consider the strengths of their significant associations.

Parental Sacrifice, Filial Piety and Adolescent Life Satisfaction in Chinese Families Experiencing Economic Disadvantage Abstract This study examines the relationships amongst perceived paternal and maternal sacrifice, filial piety and adolescent life satisfaction in a sample of 716 poor adolescents studying in Grade 7 and Grade 8 in Hong Kong. Based on the family capital theory and the Chinese socialization model, it was hypothesized that reciprocal filial piety and authoritarian filial piety would mediate the relationship between parental sacrifice and adolescent life satisfaction. Results based on structural equation modeling indicated that while both reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety partially mediated the relationship between paternal sacrifice and adolescent life satisfaction, the influence of maternal sacrifice on adolescent life satisfaction was fully mediated by reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety. The significant relationships were found to be stable in adolescent boys and girls. The research findings underscore the role of parental sacrifice in cultivating filial piety and life satisfaction in Chinese adolescents experiencing economic disadvantage, which provides insights for the development of Chinese family models in the context of poverty.

Validation of the 2012 European Social Survey Measurement of Wellbeing in Seventeen European Countries Abstract The measurement of wellbeing provides an important indicator of the welfare of nations and presents opportunities for policy making. Researchers generally share the view of wellbeing as a multidimensional concept. The 2012 European Social Survey (ESS) measurement of personal and social wellbeing, a combination of theoretical models and evidence from statistical analysis, is defined as a six-dimensional construct: evaluative wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, functioning, vitality, community wellbeing and supportive relationships. In this paper, the proposed theoretical structure is investigated and the psychometric properties of the measure are assessed for 17 European countries. This involved splitting each country’s sample randomly into halves and performing Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on the first half-samples. EFA resulted in a four-factor solution for Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, a five-factor solution for Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation and Sweden, and a six-factor solution for Denmark and Hungary. These results were supported by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) performed on the second half-samples. Subscales were constructed based on analysis of the total samples, applying a simple transformation in order to deal with the different number of response categories used for the wellbeing items. Reliabilities and internal consistencies were investigated. Although the definition of each subscale differs from the proposed structure and across countries, the analysis did produce reliable and valid summary measures (subscales) of wellbeing for informing social policy in each country.

Common Mental Health Challenges in a University Context in Hong Kong: a Study Based on a Review of Medical Records Abstract While numerous studies have suggested the rising prevalence of common mental disorders amongst university students, studies examining mental health of Chinese university students are limited. As such, this study reviewed medical records of the Mental Wellness Clinic in one local University in Hong Kong from September 1, 2016 to August 31, 2017. The diagnosis and the recurrent themes were identified by retrospective analysis. Results showed that the top three diagnoses were anxiety, depression and subthreshold psychosomatic symptoms, accountable for 76% of all the 135 cases. The top three recurrent themes of maladjustment were academic and work stress (62%), family stress (33%) and stress from peers and romantic relationship (18%). Ten out of the 135 cases (1 in 14) showed active suicidal idea or recent suicidal attempt(s) that required urgent psychiatric intervention. This study echoes with the global and local studies that anxiety and depression are the top two issues of students for seeking help from mental health professionals. It is argued that cultural factors must be taken into account when interpreting the findings. The strengths of having a Mental Wellness Clinic in the university campus for promoting well-being of university students are also discussed.

Terrorism and its Determinants: Panel Data Evidence from 94 Countries Abstract In recent years, the world is plagued by terrorism which has slowed down economic growth and development across countries. This paper focuses on the terrorism affected countries to determine what actually causes terrorism. The paper utilized a comprehensive sample of 94 countries from 2005 to 2016 and employed suitable econometric techniques to estimate the specified models. The results revealed that low per capita income and political instability are the main driving forces behind prevalent terrorism. Similarly, the growths of both physical as well as human capital have reduced terrorism whilst inflation and government consumption have positively influenced terrorism. The role of military expenditures is observed to be dual as it impacted terrorism negatively in Muslim countries and positively in non-Muslim countries. Decreased corruption is found to be insignificant for the sample as whole but appeared to be having a negative impact on terrorism when the sample is divided between Muslim and non-Muslim countries. The robustness exercise has also revealed similar findings. Lastly, we found bidirectional causality between political instability and terrorism, political instability and corruption, government consumption and inflation and the growth of GDP per capita and the growth of physical capital stock. The paper suggests that countries where terrorism is on the rise shall focus on increasing income of the population, education, capital stock along with ensuring political stability to eradicate the problem of terrorism.

Measuring Wellbeing in a Healthcare Setting: a Qualitative Study of Staff and Service User Perspectives Abstract This study explored staff and service users’ views on a selection of candidate wellbeing questionnaires for use by a UK-based healthcare provider, Nuffield Health, that is embarking on a programme to monitor the impact of their services on wellbeing. Ten stakeholder focus groups were conducted with 64 staff and service users, in addition to three in-depth telephone interviews with Nuffield Health Executive Board members. Focus groups and interviews were audio-recorded and transcripts examined using qualitative thematic analysis. Across focus groups, stakeholders commented on the importance of ensuring that data from wellbeing questionnaires provided actionable insight that can help to direct care and inform service improvements. Service users conceptualised their own wellbeing as a broad concept that encompassed more than just a mental state, and that was broadly aligned to the notion of feeling “in balance”. Following the measurement process, service users were particularly interested to receive feedback on determinants of their own wellbeing, beyond those directly related to the services provided by Nuffield Health. Staff discussed the importance of embedding wellbeing measurement within a supportive service infrastructure and ensuring that appropriate training is available to help those with distinct wellbeing-related needs if identified through the monitoring process. Wellbeing is complex and subjective concept, and existing questionnaires used by Nuffield Health are inappropriate for measuring the independent impact of a health service on user wellbeing. Further work is required to pilot test alternative questionnaires that better reflect service users’ intuitive understandings of their own wellbeing, and that can provide actionable data to inform ongoing service improvements.

Flourishing within the Working-Aged Finnish Population Abstract Over the years, sociologists and psychologists have defined different concepts to capture a person’s subjective world, e.g. quality of life, subjective well-being, satisfaction with life, and happiness. The concept of flourishing is a novel addition to this list, and not many measure its existence. Ed Diener’s Flourishing Scale was used with working-aged Finns (n = 1886) to answer three research questions: 1) what is the level of flourishing in different age-groups, 2) how does flourishing relate to living circumstances and 3) how does flourishing relate to other measures of happiness and subjective well-being? The results show that the profile of flourishing at different ages corresponds with other subjective indicators. We found emotional, psychological, and social well-being to be important domains of flourishing. The effect of social life, at different stages of aging, on flourishing, is stronger than the effect of chronological age.

Quality of Life in Riot Police: Links to Anger, Emotion Regulation, Depression, and Anxiety Abstract Police work is accepted as a high-risk and stressful occupation, where affective variables may influence both work performance and perceived quality of life (QoL) in police officers. The current study aimed to investigate the associations between QoL, emotion regulation, anger, and mental health in a sample of 156 Turkish riot police officers. Study design was descriptive and cross-sectional. Data was collected using self-report measures. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that depression and cognitive reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy were significant predictors of all domains of QoL. Trait anger was the third significant predictor of physical health and environment QoL, whereas anxiety emerged as the third significant predictor of psychological health QoL. Due to the high rates of depression and anxiety found in riot police, routine screening and early interventions to promote mental health should be conducted in this special population. It is suggested to implement psychological prevention programs which encompass emotion and anger regulation training for the promotion of QoL in riot police.