Heavy Work Investment (HWI), the extent to which individuals invest energy and effort into doing their work, has recently been studied in regards to job-related outcomes and work-life conflict. However, research is negligible on the influence HWI (i.e., workaholism and work engagement) may have on psychological well-being when an individual performs “meaningful” work. Specifically, the present study investigated the role of HWI in the relationships between work meaningfulness and the psychological well-being outcomes of perceived stress, life satisfaction, and the emotional exhaustion sub-dimension of burnout. The existing literature on work meaningfulness, the extent to which an individual considers their work to be valuable and worthwhile, provides positive implications for an individual’s well-being. Additionally, given that workaholism is considered “bad” and that work engagement is considered “good”, the aim of this study was to shed light on whether the presence of HWI moderated the relationship between work meaningfulness and psychological well-being. The sample contained 219 individuals who were either full time working professionals or part time working college students. Hayes’ PROCESS Command was used to test the moderation and mediation effects. Results indicated that workaholism and work engagement did not moderate the relationships of interest. However, work engagement did mediate these relationships. Implications, limitations, and avenues for future research are discussed.

acase@tulane.edu / In the nearly 30 years since the Convention on the Rights of Child (UN, 1989) first called for the inclusion of children in research, evidence has demonstrated the many benefits of engaging children as active participants in research. There exists a gap in qualitative research examining the psychological well-being of elementary-aged African American children. This study used child-friendly qualitative methodology to understand the psychological well-being of elementary-aged African American children living in New Orleans, Louisiana. The study explored children’s stressors, supports, and reactions to stressors and supports from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders: elementary-aged children, parents of elementary-aged children, and school teachers and administrators. The purpose of the study was to gain understanding of children’s unique perspectives and to inform culturally-appropriate school-based supports. To understand the unique and shared perspectives of the stakeholders regarding the constructs of children’s psychological well-being, the research used children’s ecomap drawings, focus group narratives, and interview data. Through the use of a deductive-inductive coding process, Support, Reaction to Support, Stressor, and Reaction to Stressor themes and codes were identified and defined. The findings revealed overlap and unique perceptions regarding children’s psychological well-being. Further findings, implications, future research directions, and limitations are discussed. / 1 / Emiliya Adelson

This study examined the effects of perceived sleep deprivation on psychological well-being using multiple linear regression techniques on a longitudinal, multi-institutional sample of students at four-year universities and colleges. Using a College Outcomes model as a theoretical foundation, this study examined perceived sleep deprivation's influence on psychological well-being at the end of four academic years, while controlling for institutional and student background characteristics that are theoretically associated with psychological well-being. Pre-test and post-test data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNS) created findings suggesting sleep deprivation is positively related to total psychological well-being and the six subscales composing the complete measure (self-acceptance, autonomy, environmental mastery, positive relationships with others, purpose in life, and personal growth). This study contributes to college outcome models by supporting the claims for the importance of healthy, habitual sleep in relation to student's ability to achieve overall psychological well-being, as well as the six subscales of the total model. This study has implications for higher education and public health policy, including practical applications for those involved with higher education, including students, staff, faculty, and administrators.

This research examined child-parent relationships from the perspective of the psychological well-being of parents during midlife and while launching children. A subsample of 1,253 parents from the National Survey of Families and Households was studied using variables from both waves (1988 and 1993) of longitudinal data. Fathers and mothers were analyzed separately for depression and self-satisfaction at the second wave (1993) in relation to their< perceptions of child, adjustment and child-parent relationships in 1988, and parents' employment and their marital status in 1993. Analyses showed that fathers' depression scores in 1 g93 were significantly related to fathers' perceptions of child adjustment (total and positive), and fathers' age, marital, and employment status. Mothers' depression scores were associated with their marital and employment status and with mothers' perceptions of child adjustment. iii Analyses demonstrated that fathers' self-satisfaction was related to all children having departed and to fathers' marital status, but not to fathers' perceptions of child adjustment. Mothers' self-satisfaction was more frequently related to their marital status and to perceptions of child adjustment but not to children having departed. The small number of significant associations between launching and parents' well-being suggests that either launching is not as highly associated with parental well-being as previously believed, or that launching is a more elusive concept than reflected by the measures used in this study. Age, employment, and marital status appear to be more salient to parents well-being than the departure of children as measured in these studies. The findings also suggest that some aspects of the role of parenting may not change significantly when children leave home. From the findings of this research, future research endeavors should reconsider the concept of launching per se as well as its relation to parents' wellbeing in mid life. Other factors such as marriage and employment should be more closely studied as being more strongly related to well-being in mid life than children's departures from home.

<p>In Sweden, there are considerable health differences between social groups and between women and men. Regardless of social position, women often report more symptoms than men. The aim of this study was to investigate how education is related to job satisfaction and to different aspects of well-being and symptoms in a nationally representative cohort of middle-aged women and men with children. Moreover, the study aimed to investigate the associations between education, job satisfaction, working-hours, partner status, number of children and various aspects of health. Regardless of gender, a long education was associated with significantly higher levels of general job satisfaction, sense of coherence, self-acceptance, purpose in life, personal growth and fewer physical and mental symptoms. General job satisfaction was a significant predictor of all health-related measures, apart from purpose in life. On the whole, men reported a better health compared to women who reported significantly more physical as well as psychological symptoms.</p>

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

In Sweden, there are considerable health differences between social groups and between women and men. Regardless of social position, women often report more symptoms than men. The aim of this study was to investigate how education is related to job satisfaction and to different aspects of well-being and symptoms in a nationally representative cohort of middle-aged women and men with children. Moreover, the study aimed to investigate the associations between education, job satisfaction, working-hours, partner status, number of children and various aspects of health. Regardless of gender, a long education was associated with significantly higher levels of general job satisfaction, sense of coherence, self-acceptance, purpose in life, personal growth and fewer physical and mental symptoms. General job satisfaction was a significant predictor of all health-related measures, apart from purpose in life. On the whole, men reported a better health compared to women who reported significantly more physical as well as psychological symptoms.

A qualitative method was used to explore the construction of meaning in relation to spiritual meditation and spiritual experience. Meaning was considered a pathway between spiritual experience and psychological well being. 8 semi-structured interviews were conducted with people who meditate and report having had spiritual experiences during meditation. A cultural analysis was employed to understand spiritual meaning in secular, postmodern Sweden. Meaning was analyzed using a theory of global meaning where the meaning system is made up of three aspects; beliefs, goals and affect. Spiritual meditation and spiritual experiences were used by the participants to construct meaning in all three areas of global meaning. Beliefs about a spirit world and the eternal nature of a soul were confirmed and experienced in spiritual meditation which provided meaning to life and raised self-esteem. The spiritual meditation also helped the participants find and strive for important goals in life, often related to personal growth.

This experimental study examined whether a humanitarian and a dominant interviewing style, respectively, had any causal effect on 146 interviewees’ memory performance, as well as the interviewees’ psychological well-being. Independent-samples t-tests showed that participants interviewed in a humanitarian style reported a larger amount of information altogether, including, as defined, more peripheral and central information, compared to those interviewed in a dominant style. The amount of false reported information was statistically invariable regardless of interviewing style. A mixed between-within analysis of variance showed an interaction effect between the interviewing style and the interviewees’ anxiety level before and after interview, thus, partly supporting the hypothesis that a humanitarian interviewing style promotes greater psychological well-being among interviewees. Factors influencing the results are discussed, including the main implications, which are that a humanitarian interviewing style promotes rapport building and provides the interviewees with adequate time to find retrieval paths and cues to memories.

In attempting to help the Mexican American adult and elderly population, the relationship between psychological well-being and cultural factors was investigated in this dissertation study. Primarily, the dynamics of acculturation and ethnic identity were considered as measures of cultural adjustment; while, physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions were used to measure well-being and mental health in adult and elderly cohorts. In regard to these relationships, the following research questions were addressed: 1) How does psychological well-being in older Mexican Americans relate to acculturation and ethnic identity? 2) Do these three variables interact differently among adult and elderly cohorts? 3) What is the relationship between the variables for this particular sample of Mexican Americans when considering moderating variables of spirituality and religiosity? In addressing the first two questions, multiple regression analyses were used to understand the distribution of the variance in the dependent variable, psychological wellbeing. Although both variables were contributing to the regression weight, neither of the two, acculturation or ethnic identity, were significant predictors of psychological well-being in this sample. In the last question, confirmatory and exploratory structural equation model (SEM) analyses were employed to determine how each of the variables were loading and relating to one another. Only a few of the items selected for these analyses, (i.e., none of the mediating variables, select acculturation items, and select scales on the measure for psychological well-being) were used and found to be significant in the complete model and diagram. Using newly clustered item parcels, the mediating variables of spirituality and religiosity were again analyzed in the (SEM) analysis. While the variable religiosity was dropped from the model diagram, the newly generated spirituality variable was found to be empirically and conceptually significant in the model diagram.