Reliability and Validity of an Adapted Version of the Cantril Ladder for Use with Adolescent Samples

There are a number of measures of life satisfaction for use with adolescent samples. The adapted Cantril Ladder is one such measure. This has been collected by the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in HBSC member countries across Europe and North America for several survey cycles, dating back to 2002. Although this measure has been piloted in the HBSC member countries, and analysed and reported in several international scientific journals and reports, it has never been formally validated. This study aims to be a first step in validating the adapted Cantril Ladder to establish if it is fit for purpose in the measurement of global life satisfaction among adolescents in Scotland. The study found that across samples of 11–15 year old pupils, the Cantril Ladder showed good reliability, and among 11 year olds, better than that of the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale, an often used measure in adolescent samples. The Cantril Ladder also showed good convergent validity with other emotional well-being measures, perceived health and subjective health. Gender differences were noted in the convergent analysis suggesting gender differences in factors influencing or influenced by life satisfaction measured using this instrument.     

The Dimensionality and Gender Differential Item Functioning of the Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (MiniAQLQ)

The present study investigated the factorstructure and item analysis of the Mini AsthmaQuality of Life Questionnaire (MiniAQLQ) in asample of 258 community-dwelling asthmaticadults between the ages of 16 and 87 years. The mean age was 56 years for males (N = 99) and50 years for females (N = 159). This studycompared the fit of three factor solutionsusing a maximum likelihood confirmatory factoranalysis. Based on the fit indices, supportwas found for a hierarchical factor structurewith a second-order factor of quality of lifeand four first-order factors of symptoms,activity limitation, emotional function andenvironmental stimuli. Given that the data fitan essentially unidimensional model, genderdifferential item functioning (DIF) wasexplored using Zumbo's (1999) ordinal logisticregression method with corresponding logisticregression effect size estimators. Aftermatching males and females on the underlyingvariable of quality of life, gender DIF wasfound on the cigarette smoke and weather or air pollution items. Thesefindings indicate that gender influences how anindividual endorses these particular items onthe MiniAQLQ.     

Depression Amongst Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong: An Evaluation of a Stress Moderation Model

Stress has an established association with depression. However, not all adolescents experiencing stressors become depressed and it is helpful to identify potential resilience factors. The current study tests a theoretical extension of a stress-diathesis model of depression in a Chinese context, with stress, coping, family relationships, and alexithymia as risk factors for depression. This community study involves 1,199 secondary school students (567 males and 632 females) aged between 14 and 20 from six high schools with different bandings in Hong Kong. The models tested confirm the relationship between stress and depression. Ability to identify of one’s feelings (alexithymia subscale), the adoption of problem solving coping and the rejection of non-productive coping all acted as protective factors (moderators) against depression in the presence of stress. Coping also partially mediated the relationship between alexithymia and depression. A stress-diathesis model received some support, however, a complex set of inter-relationship between all the explanatory variables was revealed. Problem solving coping and non-productive coping emerged as key factors in understanding adolescent depression.     

Quality of Life Across Population Groups: Women in the Workplace: Gender and Wage Differentials

Social Indicators Research - The purpose of this study is to clarify the real causes of gender wage differentials in Korea by analyzing changes over the period 1988–1999. The participation...     

城乡因素在老年人抑郁症状影响模型中的调节效应

抑郁症状是衡量老年人心理健康水平的有效指标。本研究采用2006年中国城乡老年人生活状况追踪调查10%数据,运用探索性因素分析、多元线性回归和结构方程模型等方法考察中国老年人的总体抑郁水平,比较抑郁水平的城乡及年龄差异,并对老年人抑郁症状及影响因素进行探索。结果显示,我国老年人抑郁症状较轻,心理健康处于良好水平。农村老年人抑郁症状较城镇老年人明显。健康水平、经济状况、社会支持可有效地预测老年人的抑郁症状。城乡在影响因素模型中起调节效应,健康水平和经济状况对老年人抑郁水平的影响作用受城乡因素的影响,对于农村老年人,经济状况的影响作用大于健康水平;在城镇老年人中表现出完全相反的模式。对于不同的老年人群,应采取有针对性的政策和措施,方能有效减缓老年人抑郁症状,促进心理健康。     

Satisfaction with Life Scale in Adolescents: Evaluation of Factor Structure and Gender Invariance in a Norwegian Sample

Social Indicators Research - In spite of the significance of life satisfaction (LS) for adolescent health and well-being, the past decades have yielded limited progress in investigating the...     

Life Satisfaction as a Distinguishing Indicator of College Student Functioning: Further Validation of the Two-Continua Model of Mental Health

The two-continua model of mental health contends that both psychological distress and psychological well-being make related-yet-distinct contributions to our understanding of human health and its relations with other quality of life outcomes. Using self-reported somatization, depression, and anxiety symptoms as indicators of psychological distress and self-reported life satisfaction as an indicator of psychological well-being, the present study classified participants into one of four mental-health-status groups—mentally healthy, mentally unhealthy, symptomatic yet content, or asymptomatic yet discontent—and investigated between-group differences across three key indicators of college student functioning: academic achievement, interpersonal connectedness, and physical health. Findings provide further validation for the two-continua model of mental health among college students, showing that, when considered in conjunction with clinical symptoms, life satisfaction serves as a distinguishing indicator of college students functioning across academic, social, and physical health domains—as well as a strong predictor of the absence or presence of clinical symptoms and comorbidity. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.     

城镇就业人群生育意愿及其影响因素的性别差异研究——职业结构、时间分配和性别观念的效应

文章利用2013年中国综合社会调查数据,以城镇已婚就业人群为分析对象,探讨了职业结构、时间分配和性别观念与两性生育意愿之间的关系.研究显示:女性期望生育两个及以上孩子的比例低于男性;女性生育意愿的影响因素更具社会性,男性生育意愿的影响因素更具生物性.此外,"时间贫困"对两性生育意愿均有制约,时间自主性强生育意愿也更强;而"时间稀缺"仅对女性有影响,性别观念更现代的女性较倾向于将闲暇时间为己所用而非生育子女.     

An Examination of the Dual Model of Perfectionism and Adolescent Athlete Burnout: A Short-Term Longitudinal Research

The dual model of perfectionism (Slade and Owens, Behav Modificat 22(3):372–390, 1998) is adopted to examine the influence of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism on adolescent athlete burnout in Taiwan. Participants were 188 high school adolescent student-athletes (M = 16.48, SD = .59). They were administered the Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport (Stoeber et al., Pers Individ Dif 43(1):131–141, 2007) and the Chinese Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) (Lu et al., Phys Educ J 39(3):83–94, 2006). A field longitudinal design was used. In cross-sectional analyses, hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that adaptive perfectionism negatively predicted athlete burnout while maladaptive perfectionism had an inverse relationship with burnout. However, after controlling for the initial scores of burnout, neither adaptive nor maladaptive perfectionism significantly predicted athlete burnout after a three month interval. Possible mechanisms of this relation, limitations, and practical implications are discussed.     

Patterns of Time Use Across the Life Span in Korea: A Latent Class Analysis and Age and Gender Differences

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of time use and the patterns of time use across the life span using a socioemotional selectivity theory. The data used for this study were from the “Korean Time Use Survey,” which is collected every 5 years by Statistics Korea (KOSTAT). The data collected in 1999, 2004, and 2009 were used to analyze the patterns of time use using latent class analyses and to observe the differences of time use by age and gender. The results were summarized as follows: Based on the analyses of nine behavior classifications, after sleep and personal care, Korean allocated more time in daily activities to relationship and leisure time, followed by education, paid work, and household management, with the order differing between each age group and gender. Three different classes of time use were classified at each age group. Education-centered time use was revealed to be mainly in the young, paid work-centered in the middle-aged, and relationship and leisure-centered in older adults. We find significant gender differences. Men’s patterns of time did not change markedly across the 3 years, while women’s patterns have shifted. Meanwhile, in the age 65 and older group, paid work appeared alongside as well as leisure among most prominent activities, were appeared as dominant forms of time use. This phenomenon is closely related to reflecting high rates of elderly poverty in Korea. Further discussions concerning the time use by age and gender were provided and countermeasures for changing time use in later life were discussed.     

家庭子女数量和性别结构对老年人休闲生活影响的研究

中国老龄化进程与少子化伴行,家庭子女状况对老年人休闲生活有重要意义。使用2010年中国社会综合调查（ CGSS ）数据,分析是否有孩子、孩子数量、孩子性别对老年人休闲生活的影响。结果发现：孩子越多,老年人休闲生活的频率越低;儿子对老年人休闲生活以负向影响为主,且1个儿子的强度最大;女儿对老年人休闲生活以正向影响为主,且1个女儿的强度最大。重视家庭子女对老年人休闲生活的影响,对提高老年人休闲生活频率、推进健康老龄化意义重大。     

Discrimination,Subjective Wellbeing,and the Role of Gender: A Mediation Model of LGB Minority Stress

ABSTRACT

The present study examined the link between discrimination and the three components of subjective wellbeing (positive and negative affect and life satisfaction) among a cisgender sample of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults. Specifically, we investigated internalized homonegativity and expectations of rejection as potential mediators of the links between discrimination and subjective wellbeing among a sample of 215 participants. Results from our structural equation model demonstrated a strong, positive direct link between discrimination and negative affect. Discrimination also had small, negative indirect effects on life satisfaction through our two mediators. Interestingly, neither discrimination nor our two mediators were related with positive affect, demonstrating the need for future research to uncover potential buffers of this link. Finally, our model evidenced configural, metric, and scalar invariance, suggesting that our model applies well for both women and men. Practical implications and future directions for research are discussed.     

Deconstructing Gender Differences in Experienced Well-Being Among Older Adults in the Developing World: The Roles of Time Use and Activity-Specific Affective Experiences

Social Indicators Research - Due to declining fertility rates and increasing longevity, the world is growing older. Improving the quality of life of older adults, and not merely preventing deaths,...     

孩次、生育时间与生育水平——基于中日韩妇女平均生育年龄变动与差异的机制研究

文章描述1990 ～2015年间中日韩三国妇女平均生育年龄的变化特征,揭示孩次结构和分孩次生育时间对平均生育年龄指标的影响,分析三国部及国家间妇女平均生育年龄时期变化与国别差异的影响机制.研究发现,观察期间中国妇女的平均生育年龄先下降后上升;平均生育年龄的提高是孩次减少与生育推迟共同作用的结果,后者的影响极为显著,但21世纪近5年的在机制表现值得关注.与日韩相比,中国妇女总体及分孩次的平均生育年龄都相对偏低;三国妇女的平均生育年龄上升态势后的在机制存在差异.文章还就平均生育年龄指标在衡量生育时间的准确性问题,以及全面两孩政策背景下生育时间在提升生育水平方面的政策意义进行讨论.     

Moderating Effects of Gender and Loneliness on the Relationship Between Self-esteem and Life Satisfaction in Chinese University Students

This study examined both the moderator effects of loneliness and gender on the relationship between self-esteem and life satisfaction in Chinese university students. 615 college students completed the measures of loneliness, self-esteem and life satisfaction. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that loneliness moderated the association between self-esteem and life satisfaction. When students reported a low level of loneliness, those with high self-esteem reported higher scores in life satisfaction than those with low self-esteem. However, the high and low self-esteem group had low level of life satisfaction when loneliness was high. Moreover, gender also moderated the link between self-esteem and life satisfaction. Self-esteem tended to be a more significant determinant of life satisfaction in the females than the males. The significance and limitations of the results are discussed.     

Quality of Life in the European Union: An Econometric Analysis from a Gender Perspective

Social Indicators Research - This paper provides an approach to measure the quality of life in the European Union from a multiple perspective: individual, socioeconomic and territorial by creating...     

Frailty in the Old Age as a Direct Marker of Quality of Life and Health: Gender Differences

Social Indicators Research - Aging of the population emphasizes the need for research on aging-related problems, among which frailty is a key element because of its clinical as well as social...     

The DYNAMO-HIA Model: An Efficient Implementation of a Risk Factor/Chronic Disease Markov Model for Use in Health Impact Assessment (HIA)

In Health Impact Assessment (HIA), or priority-setting for health policy, effects of risk factors (exposures) on health need to be modeled, such as with a Markov model, in which exposure influences mortality and disease incidence rates. Because many risk factors are related to a variety of chronic diseases, these Markov models potentially contain a large number of states (risk factor and disease combinations), providing a challenge both technically (keeping down execution time and memory use) and practically (estimating the model parameters and retaining transparency). To meet this challenge, we propose an approach that combines micro-simulation of the exposure information with macro-simulation of the diseases and survival. This approach allows users to simulate exposure in detail while avoiding the need for large simulated populations because of the relative rareness of chronic disease events. Further efficiency is gained by splitting the disease state space into smaller spaces, each of which contains a cluster of diseases that is independent of the other clusters. The challenge of feasible input data requirements is met by including parameter calculation routines, which use marginal population data to estimate the transitions between states. As an illustration, we present the recently developed model DYNAMO-HIA (DYNAMIC MODEL for Health Impact Assessment) that implements this approach.