Life satisfaction and family structure among adolescents in Hong Kong

Relationships between family structure and perceived life satisfaction in overall life and five domains of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale, family life, friendships, school experience, myself, and where I live were examined among 4,502 Chinese adolescent secondary school students in Hong Kong. Bivariate analyses showed that economic status was not a significant risk factor, but gender, level of study, and migrant status had to be controlled to examine the life satisfaction-family structure relations. Logistic regression analyses found that in overall life, with adolescents living with two parents as standard for comparisons, adolescents living with mother had similar life satisfaction, but those living with father only, and those with no parents, or single parent with other adults had very much higher risk of life dissatisfaction. Specifically, the risks associated with the adverse family structures were most excessive in the domain of ‘family life’.     

中国高龄老年人精神失调状况及其影响因素分析

为分析中国高龄老年人的精神失调状况,探讨中国高龄老年人是否健康的度过晚年,本文利用了2000年中国长寿老年人的健康状况的调查数据,从中随机抽取了1006个样本,用logistic回归方法进行了分析。结果显示中国高龄老年人表现出精神失调症状的占48.9%,老年人的心态,人格,婚姻状况,经济状况对老年人精神失调症状都有显著影响,并且发现年龄,性别,对精神失调的影响不显著。中国长寿老年人的精神健康状况需要引起重视。负向心态,离婚,独居和跟家人在一起对精神失调症状影响非常显著;正向心态,自评健康状况好,有偶,住养老机构相比较而言更有利于缓解长寿老人的精神失调症状。     

Socio-demographic Differences in Self-reported Psychological Distress Among 25- to 64-Year-Old Finns

Background Mental health problems are a major public health issue worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess the relative importance of socio-demographic characteristics associated with different domains of psychological distress in Finland. Methods Data source was a nationwide survey “Health Behaviour and Health among the Finnish Adult Population” (AVTK), from years 2002 to 2003 (N = 5425; response rate 66%). Psychological distress was measured by self-reported questions of general mental health (MHI-5), depression, insomnia and stress. Socio-demographic factors included education, employment status, partnership and children living in the household. Main analyses were conducted by multivariate logistic regression. Results Education, employment and partnership were associated with most of the psychological distress outcomes. Respondents with a lower educational level had poor mental health in both genders but less insomnia and stress in men. Those with an intermediate education had the least stress in women. The unemployed and retired were at a higher risk for poor mental health and depression. Moreover, employment status was associated with insomnia and stress in men. Respondents not having a partner showed a higher risk of psychological distress according to all measures. Not having children living in the household was associated with insomnia in women and with less stress in men. Conclusions Socio-demographic factors, such as having a partner and employment status, are associated with several measures of psychological distress indicating the importance of social and economic factors to psychological well-being. The association of education and of having children living at home varies by the domain of psychological distress measure.     

流动妇女心理健康状况分析

通过对江苏省张家港市和江阴市流动人口基本情况和症状自评量表(SCL-90)的实地调查,从流动妇女的人口社会学因素和流动经历特征分层分析流动妇女的心理健康状况。流动妇女心理健康水平低于成年正常女性;从人口社会学因素来看,未婚、无小孩、年轻的流动妇女心理健康水平较低;从流动经历来看,常回老家者、和家人同在一个城市者、对生活状况满意者的心理健康状况相对较好。     

农村养老保障政策的绩效考察——基于27个省域的宏观数据

文章从养老保险、最低生活保障、养老服务、五保供养四个方面构建农村养老保障政策绩效的综合指标体系,采用因子分析和聚类分析方法对中国27个省域的农村养老保障政策绩效进行测度、排序和聚类分析。结果表明,中国农村养老保障政策绩效整体水平偏低,存在显著的省域差异,经济发展水平并非农村养老保障政策绩效的决定性因素,各省域养老救助、养老机构、养老保险等养老保障政策子系统发展极不均衡。     

城市外来人口居住条件对其健康影响之考察——以上海为例

本文利用上海2008年的抽样调查数据,考察了一个特别重要但是长期被忽视的群体——城市外来人口居住条件和健康的问题。通过与本地居民的对比,发现外来人口的身心健康好于本地居民,但在居住条件、尤其是住房条件各方面均表现出对本地居民的明显劣势。回归分析结果说明,控制人口和社会经济变量,居住条件的确是影响城市外来人口健康的重要社会因素之一,但对于不同的健康指标,不同居住条件变量作用的大小和方向有所不同。此外,对居住条件与户籍身份的交互作用分析显示,居住条件对城市外来人口健康的影响总体上弱于对本地居民健康的影响,不同的居住条件变量对城市外来人口与本地居民健康的影响关系有所不同。这一结论将有助于政府部门制定更加适合外来人口的改善居住条件与健康状况的相关政策。     

An Exploratory Study on the Quality of Life of older Chinese People Living alone in Hong Kong

This study successfully interviewed 109 randomly selected Chinese people aged 60 and over living alone in two public housing estates in an urban area of Hong Kong. The results show that mental health status, number of days staying in hospital, life satisfaction, age, and self-esteem are significant factors in predicting the life quality of older Chinese respondents living alone. The explanatory power of this model is 56.4. The results of this study are consistent with previous findings reported in the west and in Hong Kong. A subgroup analysis of those older Chinese respondents living alone who have offspring also living in Hong Kong shows that belief in childrens’ support in old age, good walking ability, and better self-reported health status via life satisfaction as the mediating variable, better self-reported health status and satisfactory self-reported financial status via self-esteem as the mediating variable, are crucial predictors of quality of life. This model explains 64.2% of the variance in quality of life from a subset of the predictor variables.     

Influence of Posttraumatic Growth on Mental Health and Well-being Across Respondents Severely Affected by War in Post-conflict Sri Lanka

Previous studies have shown that trauma and stressors are negatively correlated with mental health outcomes in post-conflict environments. This paper investigates if posttraumatic growth (positive psychological change due to traumatic experiences) can beneficially influence mental health and well-being in a post-conflict setting. In July 2012, a pilot survey of 150 people and a cross-sectional multistage cluster survey of 3,029 participants were undertaken in the four Sri Lankan districts most severely affected by war. The response rate was 81 % with a total of 2,460 interviewees including people who have experience living in internally displaced person (IDP) camps (n = 1,505) and people who have never lived in IDP camps (n = 955). Results show the impact of posttraumatic growth on mental health and well-being is higher among those people with experience living in IDP camps compared to people who have never lived in IDP camps. Results also show short-term displacement in IDP camps (1 year or less) is positively associated with greater well-being and mental health relative to people in post-conflict areas who have never been in IDP camps. Conversely, longer-term displacement in IDP camps (more than 1 year) is negatively associated with greater well-being and mental health relative to people in post-conflict areas who have never been in IDP camps.     

An Exploratory Study on the Quality of Life of older Chinese People Living alone in Hong Kong

This study successfully interviewed 109 randomly selected Chinese people aged 60 and over living alone in two public housing estates in an urban area of Hong Kong. The results show that mental health status, number of days staying in hospital, life satisfaction, age, and self-esteem are significant factors in predicting the life quality of older Chinese respondents living alone. The explanatory power of this model is 56.4. The results of this study are consistent with previous findings reported in the west and in Hong Kong. A subgroup analysis of those older Chinese respondents living alone who have offspring also living in Hong Kong shows that belief in childrens support in old age, good walking ability, and better self-reported health status via life satisfaction as the mediating variable, better self-reported health status and satisfactory self-reported financial status via self-esteem as the mediating variable, are crucial predictors of quality of life. This model explains 64.2% of the variance in quality of life from a subset of the predictor variables.     

Health risk-factors for gay American Indian and Alaska Native adolescent males

Having multiple identities as a homosexual American Indian or Alaska Native adolescent male increases the likelihood for poorer health and diminished well-being. This study assessed the differences in self-perceived health status between gay adolescent males and their heterosexual counterparts. A national nonrepresentative sample of 5,602 Indian and Native adolescent males was surveyed about issues of sexual behavior, physical and sexual abuse, mental health status, substance use, attitudes about school, participation in violence, and access to health care. Results indicate that there were no real differences between gay and heterosexual male respondents for substance use or attitudes about school. Statistically significant differences were found, however, in areas of mental health, as well as physical and sexual abuse. Gay adolescents were twice as likely to have thought of or attempted suicide. Gay adolescents were twice as likely to have been physically abused and nearly six times more likely to have been sexually abused. Gay American Indian or Alaska Native adolescent males constitute a very vulnerable population and are clearly in need of targeted health and social services. Unfortunately, the benefits seen by adults of the "two-spirited" gay and lesbian American Indian movement have not been accessible to Indian and Native adolescents.     

空巢老年人健康状况实证研究及政策建议——福州市社区空巢老年人健康状况调查

本研究采用分层整群抽取福州市鼓楼、台江、仓山三个区60岁及以上的社区老年人,采用入户调查方法调查了空巢老人躯体健康、生活自理能力(ADL)、经济状况、精神健康、社会健康5个维度的健康状况及其影响因素。本研究提示了福州市社区空巢老年人占老年人总体比例的39%,其中男性多于女性,由logistic检验得出空巢老年人健康状况受年龄、性别、原职业、是否赞成非家庭养老方式、锻炼程度等因素的影响,并提出改善空巢老年人的健康状况的对策建议。     

居住安排对居家老年人精神健康的影响--基于文化情境与年龄的调解效应

经济社会和家庭结构双重转型导致老年人居住安排的急剧变迁,正在动摇老年人传统照顾模式的文化与家庭基础,给老年人的精神健康带来不可忽视的影响。构建生命历程视角下的居住安排———文化情境———精神健康分析框架并进行实证研究,结果显示,相对空巢老人而言,与子女同住对老年人精神健康具有显著的积极效应,网络家庭老年人的生活满意度和抑郁水平都较高;居住安排———老年人精神健康关系受到居住地、婚姻状况的调节作用,对中低龄老年人作用尤其明显。与子女同住对老年人,尤其是农村和城市高龄老年人精神健康的积极效应显著,而网络家庭主要改善了农村老年人的生活满意度。     

Preliminary Development and Validation of the Social and Emotional Health Survey for Secondary School Students

This study reports on the preliminary development and validation of the Social and Emotional Health Survey (SEHS) with a sample of 4,189 (51 % female) California students in Grades 8, 10, and 12. The SEHS was designed to measure the psychological building blocks of adolescents’ positive mental health and is operationalized in the present study by a theoretical model comprised of 12 measured indicators that form four first-order domains (belief-in-self, belief-in-others, emotional competence, and engaged living) that, in turn, contribute to one underlying, second-order meta-construct called covitality. This study was the first to investigate the validity and utility of the adolescent covitality construct, which is conceptualized as the synergistic effect of positive mental health resulting from the interplay among multiple positive-psychological building blocks. Findings from confirmatory factor analyses, invariance analysis, and latent means testing all supported the theoretical model underlying the SEHS, indicating that the second-order covitality model was the best fit for both males and females. Results from a path-modeling analysis indicated that covitality was a strong predictor of students’ subjective well-being (operationalized as a composite of life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect), and findings from additional concurrent validity analyses indicated that adolescents’ covitality level was significantly associated with self-reported academic achievement, perceptions of school safety, substance use, and experiences of depressive symptoms. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.     

旅游和健身锻炼与健康长寿关系的定量研究

基于中国老年人口健康纵向调查2002年和2005年数据,运用实证方法对影响我国65岁及以上老年人旅游和健身锻炼的相关因素以及旅游和健身锻炼对健康长寿的影响进行定量分析。研究显示在控制诸多干扰因素下,城镇老人、汉族老人、那些具有较高社会经济地位和较多医疗资源以及经常参与闲暇活动老人的外出旅游和参与健身锻炼的比例较高;宗教活动增加出游比例;出游比例具有随龄下降趋势。研究还发现出游和参与健身锻炼有利于健康长寿。     

灾后重建中社区服务对老年人口心理健康的影响研究——以都江堰某安居小区为例

在汶川大地震灾后重建的背景下,运用OHI牛津主观幸福感量表,研究都江堰地区安居房中老年人目前的心理健康状况,并通过回归分析探讨社区服务与老年人心理健康之间的关系。结果表明,地震三年后,安居房中的老年人孤独感较为强烈,心理健康状况一般;研究设定的五项安居小区社区服务指标中有四项与老年人心理健康呈正相关关系,这四项内容分别是交通、购物、医疗与物业管理,以此论证了加强安居房社区服务建设,不仅能够优化灾区基础设施环境,而且能够提升安居房中老年人的心理健康水平。     

Sense of Belonging and Mental Health in Hamilton, Ontario: An Intra-Urban Analysis

This paper examines geographic variations in sense of community belonging in Hamilton, Ontario. It also identifies the most significant health and social factors associated with belonging in the city. The research employs data from the 2007/08 Canadian Community Health Survey for respondents aged 18 or over living in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. The primary unit of geography is the forward sortation area (FSA), which correspond with the boundaries comprising the first three digits of the postal code. The paper found that, overall, residents of Hamilton enjoy a strong sense of belonging to their community, one of the highest rates in Canada. Consistent with research at the national level, the paper revealed a strong and clear association between lower sense of belonging and lower self-perceived mental health. Age (45?C64) and household type (couples with children) were associated with higher sense of belonging. The mapping analysis revealed that sense of belonging was generally strongest among residents of rural Hamilton and became weaker moving towards the city centre, with particularly low levels evident in the Lower City. The presence of lower sense of belonging and lower mental health was clearly visible in three FSAs comprising the central portion of the Lower City.     

Determinants of Health and the Quality of Life in the Bella Coola Valley

The aim of this investigation is to obtain some baseline self-reported data on the health status and overall quality of life of all residents of the Bella Coola Valley of British Columbia aged 17 years or older, and to measure the impact of a set of designated health determinants on their health and quality of life. In the period from August to November 2001, a variety of procedures were used to ensure that all eligible residents of the Valley received a copy of our questionnaire, and 687 useable questionnaires were obtained for our working dataset. Health status was measured by SF-36 and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control healthy days items. Thirty-one items were used to measure the Provincial Health Officer’s designated determinants of health in four clusters, namely, biological, social and economic, health behaviours and health services determinants. Quality of life was measured by satisfaction levels in 13 specific domains of life (e.g., family, financial security), four global items (e.g., happiness, life satisfaction) and one global Subjective Well-Being Index. Besides obtaining baseline figures on all our measures for the Valley, we made some comparisons among our figures and those from other areas, e.g., Prince George, BC. Most of the measures indicated that the health status and quality of life of Bella Coola Valley residents were lower than those of Prince George residents. For the sample as a whole, SF-36 scores on the eight dimensions ran from 82.3 (physical functioning) to 50.0 (social functioning), with a mean of 62.7. Residents in the Valley averaged 6.5 days in the past 30 in which their health was physically not good, 5.5 days when it was mentally not good and 4.1 days when their health limited their usual daily activities. Eleven percent of respondents described their general health as “excellent” and another 27% said it was “very good”. On a 7-point scale from 1=very dissatisfied to 7=very satisfied, respondents had average life satisfaction and satisfaction with the overall quality of life scores of 5.5. For specific domains of life, the lowest mean level of satisfaction was reported for federal and provincial government officials (3.3) and the highest was reported for living partners and personal safety around home (5.8). Regarding bivariate relations, each of the eight dimensions of SF-36 was significantly correlated with a single item measure of general health, and five of the eight were significantly correlated with the number of good health days. Happiness and the Subjective Well-Being Index were positively but moderately correlated with six of the eight dimensions, and life satisfaction was positively correlated with five. Age was negatively related to general health, but positively related to life satisfaction. Not being of aboriginal descent was positively related to all of the four global health indicators and to the Subjective Well-Being Index. Education was positively related to the four global health measures but not to the three global quality of life measures. The Social Support and Good Family Indexes were positively related to all seven global measures. There was a positive correlation between six of the seven global measures and the frequency with which respondents participated in activities sponsored by voluntary organizations. Frequency of smoking was negatively associated with every global dependent variable except the Physical Health Index. Frequency of skipping meals was negatively associated and average hours of sleep per night was positively associated with all seven global measures. Turning to multivariate relationships, the four clusters of health determinants explained from 12% (SF-36 Mental Health Index) to 24% (general health) of the variance in the dependent global health variables, and from 20% (happiness) to 26% (Subjective Well-Being Index) of the variance in the dependent global quality of life variables. Adding domain satisfaction scores to the total set of predictors allowed us to explain from 20% (SF-36 Mental health Index) to 29% (general health) of the variance in the dependent global health variables, and from 39% (happiness) to 62% (life satisfaction) in the dependent global quality of life variables. By including measures of social support and good family relationships in our set of health determinants, we practically guaranteed that the latter would be relatively strongly predictive of global quality of life.     

Associations of Perceived Parental Psychopathology with Mental Health Burden and Lifetime Drug Use in Gay,Bisexual, and other YMSM: The P18 Cohort Study

Parental mental health may be a critical component in understanding the overlapping health burdens of mental health symptomatology and drug use in young men who have sex with men (YMSM), yet studies of YMSM have not fully examined these associations. To understand these relationships, data drawn from a study of gay, bisexual, and other YMSM were used to examine associations between perceived parental psychopathology and the health of YMSM. Findings suggest that YMSM reporting at least one parent with perceived depression, manic depression, schizophrenia, or antisocial behavior anytime during their childhoods were more likely to report higher levels of both depressive symptomatology and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than those reporting no perception of any of these psychopathologies in their parents. Number of different drugs used in one’s life were higher among participants who perceived at least one parent as depressed. Mediation analyses indicated that the relationship between perceived parental depression and lifetime drug use of YMSM was mediated both by YMSM depression and YMSM PTSD. These results suggest that parental psychopathology plays an important role in the health of sexual minority men, a population with elevated levels of mental health burden and drug use across the lifespan.     

城镇化进程中农业转移人口 市民化的健康效应分析

农业转移人口健康状况关系着中国劳动力质量和生产效率及健康中国战略的实施。本文采用CLDS(2014)调查数据探讨城镇化进程中农业转移人口市民化的健康效应,考虑市民化与健康水平之间可能存在的内生性关系,使用IV Ordered Probit模型进行分析。研究发现农业转移人口市民化显著提升了农业转移人口的健康水平。市民化水平的提高代表农业转移人口可享受城市基本公共服务及社会福利的增加,对健康有促进作用。从健康方面看,农业转移人口市民化促进了总体健康、精神健康、活力、生理功能、情感功能和躯体活动功能。从产业角度看,对比第二产业从业的农业转移人口,第三产业从业的农业转移人口市民化的健康效应更显著,说明对产业工人的职业健康保护力度不够,应加快产业升级,减少或避免劳动者的危险或重复劳动。个体差异是影响农业转移人口市民化健康效应的一个重要因素,从个体差异的起点(教育程度)和个体差异的终点(收入水平)看,教育程度高、收入水平高的农业转移人口市民化的健康效应更显著。户籍制度(尤其是隐藏其背后的社会福利差异)极大地削弱了农业转移人口市民化的健康效应。基于农业转移人口的市民化程度和自身的健康状况的正相关关系,要想改善转移人口的健康状况,实现"健康中国"的目标,应该进一步推进城镇化进程,提高农业转移人口市民化水平;切实落实国务院关于进一步推进户籍制度改革的意见;持续对农村地区及偏远地区加大教育投资,改善教育质量,提高农村地区人口的教育水平。     

Measuring Social Capital in Hamilton, Ontario

Social capital has been studied by academics for more than 20?years and within the past decade there has been an explosion of growth in research linking social capital to health. This paper investigates social capital in Hamilton, Ontario by way of a telephone survey of 1,002 households in three neighbourhood groups representing high, mixed and low socio-economic status (SES). A Social Capital Measurement Tool is proposed as a straightforward way to account for differences in social capital perceptions and actions among residents. Consistent with the literature, the paper found that there was a strong association between social capital perceptions and health, particularly mental health and life stress. Social capital was greater in the high and mixed SES neighbourhoods and much weaker in the low SES neighbourhoods. With respect to social capital actions, both volunteering and voting was associated with positive overall health and mental health. Finally, the paper identified the social capital ??elite????respondents with high or above average perceptions and who participated in the two social capital actions??voting and volunteering. Prominent among the social capital elite in Hamilton is the ??health wealthy?? senior, a positive development for the continued social well-being of the city.