Emotionally supportive counselling for health care personnel led by social welfare officers: effects on well-being

The aim of this study was to evalute an emotionally supportive counselling program for health care personnel that can be led by social welfare officers. The program consisted of 1-hour sessions conducted every second week for 7 months. The meetings were devoted to talks about personal stress experiences related to patients and their relatives. Nurses and nursing aides (n = 51) in counselling groups showed significant changes in a favourable direction on the following variables: fewer perceived daily hassles; fewer self-reported physical and psychological symptoms; and improved subjective well-being. No effects were noted on sense of coherence and subjective physical health status. Interviews with program participants, the group leaders (social welfare officers), and their supervisor (a psychotherapist) indicated how the counselling program may be affected by the personality and competence of the group leader, the working conditions of the wards in general and the attitudes of the head nurse in particular. The results were discussed as promising.     

Parenting stress among US Army spouses during combat‐related deployments: the role of sense of coherence

The present study seeks to model the effects of parenting stress on contentment experienced by spouses of soldiers deployed to Iraq for long periods of time (n= 200). Using the ABC‐X model from family stress and resiliency theory, a path analysis determined that, in addition to parenting stress, the length of deployment and the ethnic background of the Army spouse also acted as contributing stress factors influencing not only contentment, but perception of family coping and the sense of coherence experienced by the spouse during long‐term deployments (mean = 4.6 months). The mean age of children in the home was found to have significant effect on sense of coherence in this particular sample of women. The influence of the stressors in the statistical model on life contentment was mostly ameliorated by sense of coherence (i.e. perception of comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness in daily life). In other words, spouses with higher sense of coherence experienced better contentment with their lives during deployments. The study also captures qualitative responses and provides several themes associated with daily experiences of Army spouses. Implications for both military and civilian social workers are discussed.     

Social capital and subjective well-being of rural women in China

ABSTRACT

Rural women in China are facing a difficult life situation. They are suffering from both physical and psychological pains. This addresses attention to their mental health and subjective well-being. Based on the Social Capital Theory, this study aims to present the subjective well-being of rural women in China, and explore the related factors. Using the CGSS 2015 survey data, 2355 rural female samples were extracted. T-test, Explanatory Factor Analysis, and stepwise analysis based on the ordered logistic regression model were used. The results showed that the interpersonal interaction factor in social network dimension, the overall trust factor and bonding trust factor in social trust dimension were significantly associated with subjective well-being. The social norms dimension had a weak correlation with subjective well-being. Furthermore, the study also explored the role of the sociodemographic variables and other potential factors. The results echoed to ‘happiness-income paradox’.     

Social protection for happiness? The impact of social pension reform on subjective well-being of the Korean elderly

Expanding the scope of the traditional indicators used to assess economic progress with measures of subjective well-being has been of growing importance in policy modeling. A recent Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi report argued that policy decisions and welfare evaluations should be approached from a broader perspective on well-being and take into account metrics derived from self-reports of living conditions. To this end, we evaluate the efficacy of the 2014 social pension reform in South Korea using various measures of subjective well-being. The South Korean government introduced a basic old-age pension in 2008 and doubled its monthly benefits in 2014. The reform in 2014 represents one of the largest social welfare expansions in South Korean history, with an aim to improve seniors’ quality of life. Using data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, we estimate a matched difference-in-differences model that isolates the causal effects of the benefit increase attributable to the reform. Results show that the reform was associated with an average of 4.8–5.7% increase in financial satisfaction among beneficiaries, and that this correlation was more pronounced for retirees, seniors above age 70, and those at the bottom of wealth distribution. However, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that satisfaction with health status, parent-child relationship, and overall quality of life has improved in response. Our findings are in contrast to the past evidence on objective welfare gains associated with pension expansion. Taken together this study calls for the use of self-reported well-being data in policy evaluation.     

The Impact of Internet Use on Residents’ Subjective Well-Being: An Empirical Analysis Based on National Data

Internet use has become an indispensable part of people’s daily lives, and the relationship between Internet use and residents’ subjective well-being is receiving increasing attention from researchers. However, the existing literature on the relationship between Internet use and residents’ subjective well-being is still controversial and inconclusive, and there has been relatively little discussion of the mechanisms by which Internet use affects well-being. On the basis of data from the China General Social Survey 2015 (CGSS2015), this paper provides an empirical analysis of the impact of Internet usage on residents’ subjective well-being. The study finds that while Internet use had no significant impact on the well-being of residents compared to non-use, frequency of Internet usage did significantly improve subjective well-being. On this basis, we tested the mechanisms by which Internet use affects residents’ well-being through the three channels of the personal income effect, the human capital effect and the social capital effect. The findings partially verify the hypothesis of the mediating effect of social capital between Internet use and residents’ subjective well- being, but do not verify the hypothesis of the moderating effect of personal income and human capital. Compared with previous studies, this paper is innovative in the following three ways: it uses the latest available representative national microdata, which is better able to reflect recent Internet usage and its impact on residents’ subjective well-being; on the basis of existing research on the impact of Internet usage on residents’ well-being, it analyzes the specific mechanisms through which Internet use affects well-being, using the moderating effect model and the mediating effect model to make up for the shortcomings of existing research on the impact mechanism; and it applies the Bioprobit model to deal with the potential endogeneity of key explanatory variables, using a variety of model estimation methods to obtain more robust estimation results.     

Age Differences in Stressors,Coping Resources,and General Well-Being Among Korean Immigrants

ABSTRACT

 This study explored 346 Korean immigrants living in California to examine: a) differences in stressors, coping resources, and general well-being (anxiety, depression, positive well-being, self-control, vitality, and general health) between younger (18–64 years old) and older (65–96 years old) Korean immigrants; and b) differences in associations of stressors and coping resources with general well-being in the 2 groups. Results revealed that the older immigrants experienced higher levels of socioeconomic stressors and psychological/physical problems. In addition, English-language problems, low education, and financial difficulties were more consistently associated with lower levels of general well-being in the older immigrants than in the younger immigrants. Social support, religious practice, and spiritual coping were more likely to alleviate the detrimental consequences of stressors on general well-being in the older immigrants than in the younger immigrants. To improve the general well-being of older Korean immigrants, the results suggest: a) emphasis of social and health care services with bilingual capability; b) improved social support systems; and c) utilization of spiritual assessments and interventions. Future research should extend the current study with longitudinal data of a more generalizable sample of Korean immigrants.     

Impact of Community on Personal Well-Being in Urban China

ABSTRACT

As the work-unit system fell after economic reform in China, neighborhoods replaced work units as the primary provider of vital social services for the urban population and became a new social space for enhancing the quality of people's well-being. This study examined the neighborhood characteristics that influenced personal well-being of residents. Drawn by multistage sampling and administered by face-to-face interviews, the survey included a sample of 976 participants from 31 neighborhoods in urban Shanghai. Results indicate that neighboring behaviors enhanced subjective well-being of the young and middle-aged residents but had no impact on older people. Sense of community, on the other hand, was found to contribute to well-being of all age groups and was particularly strong among older people in more deprived neighborhoods. Findings inform development of community practice strategies for vitalizing community efficacy and fostering individual well-being in urban China. Recommendations for future research are made using the results of this study.     

High Life Satisfaction: Exploring the Role of Health,Social Integration and Perceived Safety among Mexican Midlife and Older Adults

We sought to investigate the relationship of high life satisfaction with important physical health, mental health, social integration and perceived safety factors among midlife and older Mexican adults. We examined 2,200 midlife and older adults (aged 50–101 years) from the Mexican arm of the Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) and used binary logistic regression models to identify key factors associated with high LSA. Our final logistic regression model revealed self-rated health, affect, interpersonal activities and perceived safety on street to be significantly associated with high life satisfaction. Results from this study add to the nascent literature on subjective well-being of midlife and older Mexicans. Although social work with older adults is not well established in Mexico, researchers and practitioners should collaborate on the development and implementation of social worker-led strategies for prevention and intervention to enhance well-being among midlife and older Mexicans.     

The Development of State Welfare in the Asian NICs with Special Reference to Taiwan

This paper explores Taiwan's welfare development from its specific politico-economic situation. Although education and public health are well developed in Taiwan and social insurance is expanding to cover more and more Taiwanese people, the govenmental welfare effort is still too low to meet the welfare needs of the public. This is especially so given our discovery that military servicemen and related groups receive over 70% of the welfare expenditure of the central government while the disadvantaged receive only around 3%. Furthermore, political crises are often accompanied by a significant growth in social expenditure, implying that the purpose of state welfare is to maintain the stability of the Taiwanese state rather than to protect the well-being of Taiwanese people. Political isolation forces the Kuomintang (KMT) to secure Taiwan's role in the international community via economic growth. The development of state welfare cannot be allowed to have a negative effect on this highest priority. The limited resources, therefore, are allocated to economic goals as well as to the KMT–state apparatus in order to keep the KMT in power. However, the democratization of Taiwanese politics since the 1980s has forced the KMT to consolidate its legitimacy from the people and the improvement of social welfare is one measure for this purpose. Whether or not Taiwan becomes a Western-style welfare state through the expansion of state welfare in the near future, it furnishes a useful example with which to examine existing welfare theories.     

A Study of Youth Services Networks from a Political-Economy Perspective

ABSTRACT

Volunteers play a vital role in modern societies by boosting the labor force within both the public and private sectors. While the factors that may lead people to volunteer have been investigated in a number of studies, the means by which volunteering contributes to the well-being of such volunteers is poorly understood. It has been suggested through studies that focus on the absence of depression in volunteers that self-esteem and sense of control may be major determinants of the increased well-being reported by volunteers. This is consistent with the homeostatic model of subjective well-being, which proposes that self-esteem, optimism, and perceived control act as buffers that mediate the relationship between environmental experience and subjective well-being (SWB). Using personal well-being as a more positive measure of well-being than absence of depression, this study further explored the possible mediating role of self-esteem, optimism, and perceived control in the relationship between volunteer status and well-being. Participants (N = 1,219) completed a 97-item survey as part of the Australian Unity Wellbeing project. Variables measured included personal well-being, self-esteem, optimism, and a number of personality and psychological adjustment factors. Analyses revealed that perceived control and optimism, but not self-esteem, mediated the relationship between volunteer status and personal well-being.     

主观社会经济地位如何影响社会成就归因?——基于社会公平感的中介效应分析

通过武汉市社会状况综合调查 (CSSR2014) 的数据,运用Amos23.0软件建立的基础中介模型与SPSS22.0软件的Process插件程序建立的控制中介模型,综合测量了社会公平感在主观社会经济地位与社会成就归因之间的中介效应.研究结果显示,在控制了相关变量后,主观社会经济地位分别对社会公平感与社会成就归因中的个人因素起到显著的正向影响;社会公平感对社会成就归因中的个人因素产生显著的正向作用,但对家庭因素则发挥显著的负向影响;社会公平感仅在主观社会经济地位与社会成就归因中的个人因素间具有中介效应.政府应努力构建平等公正的社会环境,逐步恢复主观社会经济地位较低者的社会公平信心,使得其个人能力的效用发挥至最大.     

主观幸福感的经济学分析

对幸福的追求是一个古老而时尚的话题,现代主观幸福感的研究始于20世纪50年代。主观幸福感具有主观性、整体性和相对稳定性的特点。积极情感、消极情感和对生活满意度的体验构成了幸福的主要方面,财富、健康、婚姻家庭、教育等因素都是通过影响被试的情感体验和满意度评价从而影响人们的主观幸福感的。     

Adolescents at risk of mental health problems in the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective population-based study of the effects of government mandates and school closures

There is increasing evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has had substantial mental health impacts for adolescents. Yet, few definitive studies have investigated which adolescents were at higher risk of poor mental health and well-being during the pandemic. Data were drawn from the Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study, a prospective cohort study of students in Australia (N = 1211). Prevalence of mental health outcomes (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, self-harm and good subjective well-being) was estimated in school Years 5–12, where Years 11 (2020) and 12 (2021) coincided with the pandemic. The age- and sex-adjusted relative risk of each mental health outcome for each priority group during the pandemic were estimated. During the pandemic, over 50% of study participants reported depressive symptoms, and one quarter reported anxiety symptoms. There was a decrease in good subjective well-being compared with pre-pandemic years, while self-harm prevalence remained similar. History of mental health problems, school disengagement and frequent peer victimisation increased the risk of experiencing mental health problems during the pandemic. Schools play a central role in maintaining the mental health and good subjective well-being of students, and this is particularly important during periods of social disruption, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Youth unemployment and mental health – gender differences and economic stress

This article accounts for a study among 81 unemployed people under 25 years of age and 143 youth trainees in a small municipality in central Sweden. The results show an explicit relationship between unemployment and mental ill health among young people. One unemployed man of four and every second unemployed woman feels that the mental well-being grew worse when they became unemployed. The opposite is experienced by one male youth trainee of four and four female youth trainees of ten, who state that their mental well-being improved when they got into a youth training program after having earlier been unemployed. The results also show that young people with poor finances on the whole have more mental troubles and anxiety about the future than young people with good finances have. The article discusses possible explanations for the patterns with respect to gender and the private financial situations that appear in the results.     

Living in poverty: a qualitative inquiry of emaciated adolescents and young women coming from low-income families in a Chinese context

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is no longer a disease of the rich in the West. Hitherto, no study has been carried out in the West or in the Chinese context that documents the experiences of poor people suffering from AN. This qualitative study aims to identify the subjective experiences of seven Chinese emaciated adolescents and young women coming from low‐income families, their family difficulties and needs, and resilience in coping. The results of the study have shown that family poverty has significantly triggered the onset of AN for two emaciated adolescents, while factors such as parents’ marital discord and relentless pursuit of thinness have also been reported. Family difficulties experienced included problems in parenting, inadequate financial resources, and insufficient information and access to health and social services. Strong family motivation and filial piety are found to be important cultural assets conducive to recovery. Implications of this study for social work practice are discussed.     

Impact of the Village Model: Results of a National Survey

ABSTRACT

Villages are a relatively new, consumer-directed model that brings together older adults in a community who have a mutual interest in aging in place. These membership organizations provide social and civic engagement opportunities, volunteer provided support services, and referral to vetted community providers to achieve their primary goals of promoting independence and preventing undesired relocations. This cross sectional survey of 1,753 active Village members from 28 Villages across the US measured members’ perceived impacts in the areas of social connection, civic engagement, service access, health and well-being, and ability to age in place. Results showed that involvement in the Village was a key factor associated with greater perceived impacts. Over half of members perceive that the Village has improved their sense of connection to others and their feeling that they have someone to count on. Though younger members in better health were more likely to perceive impacts in social connections, results suggest older women, living alone with some disability may be the most likely to experience improved health, quality of life, and mobility. The implications for social work practice are discussed.     

Reforms And Performance of the Medical Systems in the Transition States of the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe

The States of the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe inherited acute health problems and introduced numerous reforms in their health sectors in the 1990s. In the initial years of transition most countries experienced increases in morbidity and mortality that were caused by deterioration in health conditions (demographic, consumption, social, environmental) and deficiencies in medical systems. The latter were the result of malfunctioning economies, continued low priority status of health, and ineffective health reforms. Although health trends in the East have become more positive in recent years, they are unlikely to converge rapidly with those in western Europe unless health sector institutions in transition countries are allocated more resources and improve their efficiency and effectiveness.     

Family and community support among older Chilean adults: the importance of heterogeneous social support sources for quality of life

Family and community social networks act as social resources that promote well-being at advanced ages. In this study, we analyze the association between social support received from personal social networks (social support from various family members and friends) and community social networks (social support from neighbors and the neighborhood, age, ethnic, or religious group peers and formal social support networks) and quality of life (QoL) for a sample of older Chilean persons (n = 777). The results confirm that social support from family (partner, children, and extended family) and friends, integration in the community (neighbors) and social support from informal systems (social groups) are associated with QoL. Moreover, the model including both types of support explains 25.8% of variance in QoL. The results and their possible implications are discussed.     

Express yourself? Ease to express one’s identity mediates the relationship between national belonging and mental health

ABSTRACT

A number of studies have reported a positive relationship between levels of national identification and well-being. Although this link is clear, the relationship is likely influenced by a number of other variables. In the current study, we examine two such variables: age and the ease with which people feel they can express their identity in the national context. Participants were drawn from three waves (2008–12) of the biannual New Zealand General Social Survey (NZGSS). The NZGSS consists of a number of questions related to well-being. The current study utilised the questions related to one’s sense of belonging to New Zealand, ease to express one’s identity in New Zealand, and mental health. When controlling for physical health, standard of living, and several demographic control variables, there was a clear relationship between one’s sense of belonging to New Zealand and mental health. Further, this relationship was stronger for older than younger participants. Finally, the ease with which participants felt they could express their identity in New Zealand partially mediated the relationship. Future research should elucidate which specific aspects of their identity people feel is constrained in the national context.