Measuring trends in child well-being: an evidence-based approach

This paper first reviews the goals of the founding documents of the social indicators and quality-of-life movements of the 1960s and 1970s. It next describes the current state of knowledge with respect to the founding goals of this field. The focus then turns to the topic of measuring changes in child and youth well-being in the United States over the past few decades. In particular, the evidence-based approach used in the construction of the recently developed composite Child and Youth Well-Being Index (CWI) is described. Some findings from the CWI regarding changes in child and youth well-being in the period 1975–2004 are reported. Trends in the CWI then are compared with data on trends in subjective well-being of high school seniors – similarities of trends in these two series provide validating support for the interpretation of the CWI as an index of changes in the quality-of-life of children and youth. Using data on some additional indicator series, most of which were initiated in the 1990s, an Expanded CWI is then described. The qualitative pattern of change in the expanded CWI is shown to be similar to that of the basic CWI, except that the expanded CWI shows a more pronounced decline in the early-1990s and a slower rate of improvement into the early-2000s. The paper concludes with some possible directions for future work. Revision of a paper presented at the Measuring Child Well-Being: The Pros and Cons of Composite Indices Session, American Statistical Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, August 7–11, 2005. We thank Kristin Moore for useful comments. The research on the Child and Youth Well-Being Index reported herein was supported by a grant from the Foundation for Child Development.     

Measuring subjective well-being: Unfolding the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale

Factor analysis of the items in the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale has repeatedly shown that the positive and negative affect items are unrelated. Despite this, negative affect scores are routinely subtracted from positive affect scores to derive Affect Balance Scale Scores that apparently provide a valid measure of a sense of well-being. In this paper we offer a resolution to this paradox — and so justify the use of Affect Balance Scale Scores — by showing that the positive and negative affect items each form a single cumulative scale, and that the two cumulative scales taken together form one unidimensional unfolding scale. This explanation is based on a hypothesis by Coombs and Kao (1960) — later proved mathematically by Ross and Cliff (1964) — that when data that are unfoldable in r dimensions are factor-analyzed, r+1 significant factors will be found. In an empirical test, Bradburn Affect Balance Scale data collected from ten countries in the 1981 and 1990 European Values Study surveys were analyzed. The results clearly support the hypothesis that the data form a single unidimensional unfolding scale, although two of the ten Affect Balance Scale items are not homogenous with the rest.     

Measuring and understanding the well-being of South Africans: Everyday quality of life in South Africa

South Africa has a Gini co-efficient of 62, one of the world’s highest (Finmark: Project FinScope 2004 and 2005, FinMark Trust, Johannesburg). Hence, measures of wealth are ubiquitous social indicators in South Africa. However, a growing emphasis in government towards measurable service delivery targets and remedial action to redress the inequalities of our past makes the reliable measurement of people’s quality of life in greater depth in quantitative terms an imperative.We have developed a simple framework to measure people’s quality of life in key domains that extend beyond that simply of wealth, using composite indices to allow progress to be tracked and to make valid comparisons across our diverse population. Termed the Everyday Quality of Life Index (EQLi), it comprises a suite of measures encompassing socio-economic status (with special reference to poverty), urbanisation, health (nutrition, exercise and fitness), stress/pressure, quality of the environment, satisfaction of human needs, connectivity, optimism, subjective well-being (happiness, after Diener and Lucas: 2000, in M. Lewis, J.M. Haviland (eds.), Handbook of Emotions. (2nd ed) (Guilford, New York)), and the overall measure of well-being, the EQLi itself.The initial framework was developed from a structured questionnaire administered to a probability sample of 2000 South African adults in 2002. From this, a 52-item shortlist was derived to create the series of measures. This has been tested and refined in three subsequent annual studies, each of 3500 people across urban and rural South Africa. In 2004, items involving work as well as determining the balance of skills and challenges at work using the concept of “flow” (Csikszentmihalyi: 1990, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Harper and Row, New York)) were added.This paper outlines the rationale behind the selection and development of these measures, describes the EQL of South Africans using these and other key measures and concludes with implications for policy-makers and service providers in South Africa. Some marketing implications are also given: there is a growing emphasis worldwide on corporate social investment initiatives and, particularly in South Africa, on community upliftment and development – poverty alleviation and improving the lives of the disadvantaged (“people” rather than “consumers”). Further, people’s well-being affects how they react to marketing activities.     

A study of the impact of environmental surroundings on personal well-being in urban China using a multi-item well-being indicator

We examine the relationship between atmospheric and water pollution, traffic congestion, access to parkland and personal well-being using a survey administered across six Chinese cities in 2007. In contrast to existing studies of well-being determinants by economists which typically employ single-item indicators, we use the Personal Well-being Index (PWI). We also employ the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) to measure job satisfaction, which is one of the variables for which we control when examining the relationship between environmental surroundings and personal well-being. Previous research by psychologists has shown the PWI and JSS to have good psychometric properties in western and Chinese samples. A robust finding is that in cities with higher levels of atmospheric pollution and traffic congestion, respondents report lower levels of personal well-being ceteris paribus. Specifically, we find that a one standard deviation increase in suspended particles or sulphur dioxide emissions is roughly equivalent to a 12–13% reduction in average monthly income in the six cities.     

Effects of early maternal employment on maternal health and well-being

This study uses data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study on Early Child Care to examine the effects of maternal employment on maternal mental and overall health, self-reported parenting stress, and parenting quality. These outcomes are measured when children are 6?months old. Among mothers of 6-month-old infants, maternal work hours are positively associated with depressive symptoms and parenting stress and negatively associated with self-rated overall health. However, maternal employment is not associated with quality of parenting at 6?months, based on trained assessors’ observations of maternal sensitivity.     

The impact of life events and changes in domain satisfactions on well-being

Previous research has shown that QOL measures are reasonably reliable and valid for static analysis. This article is concerned with the validity of the measures for use in panel studies/dynamic analysis. Are they sensitive enough to register changes (i.e., enhanced satisfaction and well-being) of the kind one would expect to follow favourable life events, and also changes (i.e., reduced satisfaction and well-being) due to adverse life events? Also, do changes in satisfaction with specific domains of life produce concomitant changes in the general sense of well-being? These questions are addressed by means of a small panel study (N=184) in which respondents were interviewed first in November 1978 and a second time in January 1981. The questionnaire included a more detailed life events inventory (Dohrenwendet al., 1978) and one which contained a larger number of favourable events than inventories included in previous QOL panel studies (Campbellet al., 1976; Atkinson, 1982). Unlike previous researchers, we found some statistically significant relationships between aggregate life events scores and changes in well-being. Changes in relatively affective measures of well-being were greater than in relatively cognitive measures. We also found strong, predictable relationships between changes in domain satisfactions and changes in the general sense of well-being.     

Welfare work requirements and child well-being: Evidence from the effects on breast-feeding

A central theme of welfare reform is that recipients are required to engage in work activities. In many states, these work requirements apply to mothers whose children are a few months old, which may increase the costs and decrease the prevalence of breast-feeding. Given the substantial benefits of breast-feeding, any reduction represents an important negative consequence of these requirements. Our results suggest that in the absence of welfare reform, the national breast-feeding rate six months after birth would have been 5.5% higher in 2000. Such negative consequences of these policies must be weighed against potential benefits as states refine their welfare programs.     

Structural influences on the relationship between objective and subjective indicators of economic well-being

The study investigated the relationship between objective and subjective indicators of economic well-being within different age, race, and sex groups over time. Stratification theory and an accommodation hypothesis were used to predict differential subjective responses to objective conditions within subgroups. Findings supported the hypothesis that the relationship would be weakest among the oldest age group compared to other age groups. Support was found for the hypothesis that predicted smaller coefficients among subgroups characterized as older, female, and nonwhite. Relationships were found to remain stable within all subgroups over time.     

Structural elements of material well-being: An empirical test among people on social security

The paper reports on a study of indicators of well-being, including objective indicators of well-being, global, affective indicators of well-being, and indicators of socio-economic well-being. Socioeconomic well-being is (narrowly) defined as that part of the individual's universal well-being which is strongly related to money and material means.It was hypothesized that these 3 classes of indicators of well-being have different meanings for the various groups of people on social security. Therefore, data were collected from a Dutch, nationally representative sample of 3 categories of individuals drawing benefits, namely: people receiving social benefits; unemployed, and disabled people, and a group of people in work. Hypotheses were tested regarding the following issues:

Effect of a web-based positive psychology intervention on prenatal well-being: A case series study

Background

Detrimental effects of women’s negative feelings during pregnancy have been extensively examined and documented, but research on the influence of positive feelings and protective factors on their prenatal mental health is scarce. Evidence from the positive psychology field has shown that practicing some brief positive exercises, called positive psychology interventions, can maximize well-being by increasing positive emotions, engagement, and meaning.

Effects of social change on well-being: Boom and bust in a Western Canadian city

Drawing from surveys done over a eight year period, we find some important effects on well-being coming from economic boom and bust in a Western Canadian city. This effect is buffered, however, by the important role that family and friends play for young people and health and non-working activities play for the adjustment of older people. Because of these factors, difficulties in the objective condition of economic downturn has had less impact on the general social well-being of the public than previously reported.     

The effects of the child support provisions of the Family Support Act of 1988 on child well-being

The provisions for child support reform in the Family Support Act of 1988 are likely to have a large impact upon the well-being of children eligible for child support, a group expected to include half of the children in the country. The reform is expected to increase child support payments and thereby reduce the economic insecurity and poverty of children who live apart from a parent. It is also expected to lead to increased contact between noncustodial parents and their children, which may also enhance well-being. This paper reviews the child support system in the United States, summarizes the empirical research that has been carried out on children from disrupted families, analyzes the impact that the Family Support Act may have on child well-being, and discusses the key variables that should be measured as well as the most promising sources of data to evaluate child support reform.Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the sponsoring institutions.     

对工业化和城市化关系量化测度的思考——兼评我国的工业化与城市化进程

通过分析工业化和城市化及二者关系的现行衡量指标和判断标准,提出评价我国城市化与工业化协调发展的状况,应以城镇人口比重、工业就业比重为衡量指标,以IU比为评价标准,并据此对我国工业化与城市化的关系及现实进程做了实际测量和理论分析。     

The impact of urbanization and geographical dispersion on the linguistic russification of soviet nationalities

This paper tests a set of hypotheses about the impact of urbanization and geographical mobility on the linguistic Russification of 46 Soviet nationalities. The hypotheses are based on theoretical literature regarding the differing career aspirations of urban and rural residents, Soviet policies of providing native-language cultural facilities to non-Russian groups, and the probable levels of contact between non-Russians and Russians in specific residential settings. The data are aggregate data on place of residence, nationality, and native language derived from the 1959 Soviet Census. It is shown that (a) both urbanization and geographical dispersion have substantial Russificatory effects, (b) geographical dispersion (residence outside the official national area of the group) alone has a stronger impact on Russification than does urban residence, and (c) residence inside the official national territory partially suppresses what might otherwise be an even stronger Russificatory effect of urbanization, so that (d) urban residence and residence outside the official national area interact to produce a higher level of Russification than one might predict on the basis of the simple additive effects of urban and outside residence. It is also shown that males are more highly Russified than females in all of the residential settings examined but that these differences are quite small, especially for urbanites and residents outside the official national area.     

Effects of a novel positive psychological intervention on prenatal stress and well-being: A pilot randomised controlled trial

Problem

Low prenatal well-being has adverse outcomes for mother and infant but few interventions currently exist to promote and maintain prenatal well-being.

Some comments on ‘the structure of subjective well-being in nine western societies’ by andrews and inglehart

This paper makes a number of critical comments on a recent article by Andrews and Inglehart (1979), where the similarity of subjective well-being data from nine different countries was investigated. It is first shown that different MDS representations can be constructed for the data which differ considerably among each other and with respect to the similarity hypothesis. The goodness of the MDS solutions is discussed by using finer indices than overall Stress. Then, the measures of configurational similarity are evaluated statistically. Finally, it is shown that other, equally valid measures lead to completely different conclusions. It is argued that this poses an insurmountable problem. A facet theoretical approach which looks for prototypical structures rather than a single similarity index avoids this dilemma.     

Measuring the impact of child mortality on fertility: A methodological note

Recent studies of the impact of child mortality on children ever born have used the “replacement factor” to measure mortality. When microlevel data are used, however, use of the replacement factor (or other variables which are nonlinear in the family’s experienced child mortality rate) yields biased coefficients. An alternative model suggests a sequential, rather than a static, decision-making process to relate the decision to have an additional child to the reproductive experience to date. In this case, unbiased coefficients are obtained if the functional form is correctly specified. In the absence of a priori knowledge of the functional form, it is difficult to untangle true effects from spurious ones.