Introduction: Recently there has been increasing interest in understanding and addressing health inequalities and enhancing the well-being of the population as a whole through anticipatory care and better health care delivery. The current study aimed to investigate the predictive relationships between smoking behaviour, physical health, and mental health in a deprived population using models of mediation. Method: Participants had attended a Keep Well health check, a national programme offering health screening, advice, referrals and signposting to individuals aged 45-64 living in deprived areas. Participants completed a questionnaire measuring smoking status, physical health (RAND general health subscale), mental health symptoms (GHQ-12), positive mental health (WEMWBS), and demographic information. Results: The current study found that smoking mediated the relationship between mental health problems and physical health, as well as mediating the relationship between positive mental health and physical health. Discussion: These findings suggest that by offering interventions to encourage individuals to stop smoking health care providers can hope to reduce mental health problems via direct effects but also via an indirect benefit of improvements in physical health. There are also opportunities to improve physical health via the direct effects of reducing mental health problems and increasing positive mental health, as well as the indirect effect of smoking.

Hälsa anses vara en mänsklig rättighet och är svårdefinierbart då det upplevs olika av olika individer. Psykisk ohälsa behöver inte innebära en psykiatrisk diagnos . Den definieras snarare utifrån hur man hanterar olika livssituationer som kan stötas på under livets gång. Schizofreni är en livslång och allvarlig sjukdom som påverkar hur personen tänker, känner och beter sig. De svåra symtomen som sjukdomen innebär kan vara begränsande för den drabbade, vilket kan få konsekvenser för den fysiska hälsan. Syftet med studien var att beskriva hur litteraturen skildrar den fysiska hälsan hos vuxna personer med schizofreni. Metoden som användes var en allmän litteraturstudie där 11 kvantitativa studier analyserades. I resultatet framkom två kategorier med ett antal underkategorier: Riskfaktorer för sjukdom hos vuxna personer med schizofreni och Vanliga somatiska sjukdomar hos vuxna personer med schizofreni. En rad olika bidragande faktorer för ohälsa förekommer hos personer med schizofreni, vilket leder till att de drabbas av fysisk ohälsa. Slutsatsen är att personer med schizofreni löper större risk att drabbas av fysisk ohälsa på grund av olika livsstilsfaktorer. / Health is considered a human right and is difficult to define as it is experienced differently by different individuals. Mental illness does not necessarily mean a psychiatric diagnosis. It is defined rather from how to handle different situations that people may encounter throughout life. Schizophrenia is a lifelong and serious disease that affects how the person thinks, feels and behaves. The severe symptoms of the disease may be limiting for the affected person, which may have implications for physical health. The purpose of this study was to describe how the literature portrays the physical health of adults with schizophrenia. The method used was a literature review where 11 quantitative studies were analyzed. The results revealed two categories with several subcategories: Risk factors for disease in adults with schizophrenia and Common illnesses in adults with schizophrenia. A variety of contributing factors for the illness occurs in people with schizophrenia, with the result that they suffer from physical illness. The conclusion is that people with schizophrenia are at greater risk of physical ill health because of various lifestyle factors.

The only constant thing in today's world is change. Change is everywhere, even in the education sector. The education system has undergone tremendous changes in the past 10 years. This includes several curriculum changes. Change always contributes to stress, which individuals in the education department are experiencing quite intensively, judging by the popular media. Stressful events may lead to ill-health and might negatively impact the workforce and the overall well-being of these educators. The emergence of positive psychology has contributed to the increased research of well-being, rather than the negative antipode of illness, in relation to occupational stress. One of these positive aspects of wellbeing is work engagement, which is considered to be the opposite of burnout. Thus, describing burnout, engagement and stress is a first step in facilitating the work-related wellness of educators. Furthermore, individual dispositions that may act as resources or buffers in the handling of stress and burnout, facilitate engagement and protect educators7 health are also of interest. To measure burnout, engagement, stress and health, it is important to use reliable and valid instruments. Various studies are available on the reliability and validity of the burnout and engagement scales, but it is rather limited for educators in the South African environment. Furthermore, little information exists regarding the causes and effects of work stress, health, burnout and engagement of educators in South Africa. The first objective of this research was to standardise the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) for educators in the Goldfield region of the Northern Free State province. The second objective was to determine if biographical variables can be used to describe educators' burnout and engagement. The third objective of this research was to determine causes of stress among educators, and again to investigate the role of biographical differences. Lastly, the focus in this research fell on the determination of the role of optimism in predicting the health of educators in the Goldfield region of the Northern Free State province. A cross-sectional survey design, in which a sample is drawn from a population at one point in time, was used to attain the research objectives. Participants were randomly selected from the total population of educators in the Goldfield region of the Northern Free State province. A sample of 469 educators was used from the total population of 1014 (i.e. 46,25% of the total population). Schools in the Goldfields region of the Northern Free State province were randomly selected to participate in this research. The MBI-GS, the UWES, the Educator Stress Questionnaire (which was developed by the author for the purpose of this research), the Health Subscales of the Asset, the LOT-R and a biographical questionnaire was administered. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, inter-item correlations, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, Pearson correlations, multivariate analysis of variance, one-way analysis of variance, t-tests, dummy coding and multiple-regression analyses with interaction terms were used to analyse the data. Structural-equation modelling confirmed a three-factor model of burnout consisting of Exhaustion, Depersonalization and Professional Efficacy. All three factors showed acceptable internal consistencies for three main language groups. A three-factor model of engagement was also confirmed, consisting of Vigour, Dedication and Absorption. These scales also indicated acceptable reliability. Results of a second order factor analysis indicated that the work wellness of educators can be described as consisting of two dimensions. The Burnout dimensions of Exhaustion and Depersonalisation can be grouped together on one factor, while the Burnout dimension of Professional Efficacy can be grouped with the Engagement variables of Vigour, Dedication and Absorption. Results showed that biographical variables that consist of the gender, marital status, home language, age and years work experience of educators could be used to describe educator burnout and engagement. It was found that Exhaustion could be predicted by gender. Educators who speak an African language scored lower than Afrikaans-speaking educators in terms of Exhaustion. Marital status could also be used to predict exhaustion. Educators between the ages of 37 and 46 measure lower on depersonalisation than educators between the ages of 22 and 30 years. Educators who have between 13 and 20 years of experience, have higher levels of depersonalisation than participants with 6 or less years of experience. Both English and African-language-speaking educators measure lower on Professional Efficacy than the Afrikaans language group. Language remains a significant predictor of Professional Efficacy. Educators who are older than 31 years of age measure higher on Professional Efficacy than those younger than 31 years of age. Professional Efficacy could be predicted among educators who are English speaking and/ or older than 31 years of age. Additionally, being married or divorced measure lower on Professional Efficacy when compared to their single counterparts. The eldest educators measure higher on Professional Efficacy. Female educators measure lower on Vigour than their male counterparts. Educators between the ages of 47 and 64 measure higher on dedication than educators between the age of 22 and 30 years. Married educators measured lower on dedication, when compared to single educators. The ESQ, a measure of educators' occupational stress that consists of 48 items, was developed and administered. During analysis, 4 items were discarded due to non-loading, and a further 8 items were discarded due to significant secondary loadings. Five factors were extracted and were labelled Rewards and Participation, Support and Communication, Job Insecurity, Role Overload and Task Characteristics. Furthermore, the biographical variables that were used to describe burnout and engagement among educators (language, age, gender, work experience and marital status), could also be used to describe educator stress. The various stress factors that were identified through the ESQ, could also be used to determine well-being among educators. This includes Support and Communication, Rewards and Participation, Role Overload, Job Insecurity and Task Characteristics. In terms of predicting the physical and psychological health of educators, separate analyses were carried out for the burnout and engagement components. It was shown that that educators' home language, their experience of optimism, role overload and task characteristics predicts physical health, and home language, participants' levels of optimism, experiences of rewards and participation, support and communication, job insecurity, role overload and task characteristics predicts psychological health. Additionally, the interaction terms Professional Efficacy and Optimism, as well as the interaction between Vigour and Optimism, proved to be significant predictors of physical health. The interaction term of Depersonalisation and Optimism, as well as the interaction term of Support and Communication and Optimism, proved to be significant predictors of psychological health. Language was also shown to be a constant predictor of physical and psychological health, where educators speaking an African language experienced significantly better overall well-being than Afrikaans and English-speaking educators. By way of conclusion, recommendations for future research and the education department are made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

<p> The backcountry skiing population has increased significantly over the past ten years. Current sales of backcountry ski and rescue gear outpace more traditional alpine, telemark, and snowboarding equipment. As higher numbers of people head into avalanche terrain more fatal accidents are occurring, human triggered avalanches being the primary cause of death. In the late 1980s there were an average of 11 avalanche related deaths per year in the United States. That number has risen to an average of 30 over the past five years. Over that time avalanche specific rescue gear has been quick to adapt to the changing needs of backcountry skiers. However, over that same period of time theoretical approaches to risk management have been slow to adjust to the community's changing needs. Consequently, this study examined the preemptive decisions and the risk perceptions skiers held as they prepared to enter Tuckerman Ravine. Results show that 69% of the survey population did not have formal avalanche training. Despite significant technological advances 56% of the survey population did not have everyone in their group carry a beacon, shovel and probe. Fifty-one percent of the survey population strongly disagreed with frequent beacon practice. However, a skier was more likely to practice with their beacon if they had taken a formal avalanche course. Women were less likely to feel as though the trip were a failure if goals were not met. Additionally, the underrepresentation of women in this study (<i>n</i>=4) required an assessment of broader gender disparities within the backcountry skiing community. Quantitative and qualitative results show a lack of female leadership among recreational backcountry skiers. This leadership gap limits mentoring opportunities and decreases accessibility to the community for novice female backcountry skiers. The lack of gender diversification has significant affects on the decision-making process. This study concludes that dual-process cognitive methods and multilayered risk management protocols can increase margins of safety and encourage diverse perspectives within the larger backcountry skiing community. This paper suggests that because backcountry skiing involves the interconnection between complex adaptive systems and complex physical systems skiers should adopt a systems thinking approach to their decision-making processes.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> Systems thinking, avalanches, dual-process cognition, complexity, preemptive decision making, risk management, female backcountry leadership, risk perception, human triggered avalanches.</p>

Thesis (M.S.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2007. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 46-03, page: 1188. Adviser: David Kintsfather.

Objectives: Several risk and protective factors are associated with changes in cognitive functioning in aging adults - including physical health, depression, physical activity, and social activities - though the findings for participation in social activities are mixed. This study investigated the longitudinal association between social participation and two domains of cognitive functioning, memory and executive function. A primary goal of our analyses was to determine whether social participation predicted cognitive functioning over-and-above physical health, depression, and physical activity in a sample with adequate power to detect unique effects. Method: The sample included aging adults (N = 19,832) who participated in a large, multi-national study and provided data across six years; split into two random subsamples. Unique associations between the predictors of interest and cognitive functioning over time and within occasion were assessed in a latent curve growth model. Results: Social participation predicted both domains of cognitive functioning at each occasion, and the relative magnitude of this effect was comparable to physical health, depression, and physical activity level. In addition, social participation at the first time point predicted change in cognitive functioning over time. The substantive results in the initial sample were replicated in the second independent subsample. Conclusion: Overall, the magnitude of the association of social participation is comparable to other well-established predictors of cognitive functioning, providing evidence that social participation plays an important role in cognitive functioning and successful aging.

The importance of psychological needs for optimal mental and physical well-being has been well documented within the literature. However, there remains little consensus on the definition of basic psychological needs, on which needs are most important or fundamental, and on how to best assess basic needs in individuals. The purpose of this dissertation was to develop and validate a comprehensive measure of fundamental psychological needs and to examine its predictive utility for both mental and physical health. To fulfil these objectives, measure construction and validation studies were conducted in 2 separate undergraduate student samples (N = 226; N = 283). Participants completed online self-report measures of emotional and psychological symptoms, negative life events, personality characteristics, and psychological needs. Factor Analyses of the Psychological Needs Questionnaire (PNQ) revealed that needs can be classified in a three-level multi-factorial confirmatory model and that self-worth and relationship types of psychological needs can be further divided into several, second-level factors. Results also indicated that the PNQ is reliable and possesses good construct validity as well as predictive utility for numerous psychological and physical problems. In addition, psychological needs moderated the relationship between depressive personality characteristics and mood. Future studies should examine the proposed needs-based model in a longitudinal fashion, both in community and clinical samples. In addition to functioning as a global introduction and providing an overview of the relevant literature, Chapter 1 proposes a new model of psychological needs. Chapter 2 describes in further detail the importance of each need identified by the new model, with a particular emphasis on the consequences associated with having each need unfulfilled. Chapter 3, 4, and 5 represent three academic journal articles resulting from the data collected in the current project. Finally, chapter 6 provides a global discussion of the entire dissertation.

Depression is regarded as the most common mental problem among young college adults and is associated with numerous health complications and increased mortality. Significant evidence supports a relationship between depression and physical health outcomes, including poorer general health and obesity. The purpose of this study is to examine potential mechanisms underlying this relationship. Specifically, we examined whether three health behaviors – physical activity (PA), fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC), and fast food consumption (FFC) mediated the relationship between depression and three physical health outcomes – self-rated general health, somatic complaints, and body mass index (BMI). A sample of college students (n=723) was recruited through the ETSU Sona system and completed self-report questionnaires via the REDCap survey platform. Linear regression analysis was conducted in order to determine the association between depression, health risk behaviors, and health outcomes. The effects of age, race, gender, income, and year in school were controlled to limit confounding. Depression was found to significantly predict general self-rated health (R2 = .18, F[7, 335] = 10.64, p < .000, β = -.06), BMI (R2 = .13, F[7, 337] = 7.12, p < .01, β = .14), and somatic symptoms (R2 = .40, F[7, 335] = 31.86, p < .000, β = .60). Depression also significantly predicted fast food consumption (R2 = .04, F[7, 336] = 2.04, p < .01, β = .07), although it did not significantly predict fruit and vegetable consumption (R2 = .06, F[7, 335] = 3.00, p = .579, β = -.07) or minutes of physical activity (R2 = .03, F[7, 307] = 1.30, p = .975, β = -.08). No significant predictive relationships were found between the health behaviors in our study (PA, FVC, and FFC) and selected health outcomes (self-rated health, somatic complaints, and BMI). Because the regression results were not significant supporting mediation, a mediation analysis was not performed. The study findings demonstrate that depression is a strong predictor of multiple measures of physical health as well as of fast food consumption. Future research should continue to examine the mechanisms by which depression affects physical health outcomes. Understanding the health determinants that link depressed mood to physical health outcomes will help determine specific public health interventions that can potentially prevent and better manage the prevalence of these coexisting health conditions among college adults.

abstract: A sense of closeness (or intimacy) is important in nearly every relationship in life, whether it is within friendships, family, or romantic relationships. In the current thesis, intimacy is measured within four specific dimensions: emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual. Research shows that intimate relationships have been linked to mental and physical health outcomes. In addition, there is a novel explanation for the link between intimacy and health through rumination and sleep quality. The current study examined 2 primary aims: 1) to examine the relationship between intimacy and depression ; 2) to assess the role of intimacy, rumination and sleep quality on mental and on physical health. Results for Aim 1 suggest that there is a link between intimacy and both depression and physical health; where the higher the intimacy the lower the depression and the better physical health. For Aim 2, results indicated that there was a significant serial relationship between intimacy, rumination, sleep quality and both depression and physical health; where in the first model, higher intimacy predicted less rumination, better sleep quality, and lower depression; and, in the second model higher intimacy predicted less rumination, better sleep quality and higher physical health. The current study suggests that intimacy does have its own distinct contributions to health outcomes and that rumination and sleep quality do have a implication on intimate relationships. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2020

Extensive literature in the social and medical sciences link religiosity to positive health outcomes. Conversely it is often assumed that secularity carries negative consequences for health; however, recent research outlining different types of secular individuals complicates this assumption. Using a national sample of American adults, we compare physical and mental health outcomes for atheists, agnostics, religiously nonaffiliated theists, and theistic members of organized religious traditions. Results indicate better physical health outcomes for atheists compared to other secular individuals and members of some religious traditions. Atheists also reported significantly lower levels of psychiatric symptoms (anxiety, paranoia, obsession, and compulsion) compared to both other seculars and members of most religious traditions. In contrast, physical and mental health were significantly worse for nonaffiliated theists compared to other seculars and religious affiliates on most outcomes. These findings highlight the necessity of distinguishing among different types of secular individuals in future research on health.