The current study examined whether adolescents’ gender-based victimization experiences (i.e., teasing, bullying, and rejection) mediated the association between gender typicality and psychological well-being. The current study also investigated whether daily experiences with the three types of gender-based victimization negatively impacted adolescents’ immediate emotional reactions. Participants were 570 seventh and eighth grade students (49.5% boys, 50.5% girls). During four visits over the course of two weeks, participants completed surveys about their own gender typicality, their psychological well-being (i.e., depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and body image), their experiences with gender-based teasing, bullying, and rejection, and their emotional responses to experiencing this victimization. Results indicated that experiences with gender-based teasing, bullying, and rejection mediated the association between gender typicality and psychological well-being. In addition, adolescents with worse initial psychological well-being and who experienced more rejection reported experiencing more negative emotional responses after victimization. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not significant relationships existed between dispositional factors (self-consciousness, anxiety, approach coping style) predictive of choking under pressure in competition with factors associated with healthy psychological functioning (dispositional mindfulness and dimensions of psychological well-being). Choking under pressure has been identified as a factor that not only negatively impacts an athlete’s level of success in competition, but also the athlete’s psychological well-being. Despite these negative effects, minimal interventions exist to address choking under pressure. Mindfulness is a construct that has received attention for its positive effect in the lives of individuals, both in daily living and symptom-relief for a host of issues. As such, the relationships between factors associated with choking-susceptibility, mindfulness, and psychological well-being were examined in the current study to determine if the development of a mindfulness intervention for athletes identified as “choking-susceptible” is appropriate. The sample for this study included 95 Division I athletes from large Southwestern and Western universities. The data were analyzed using univariate and multiple linear regressions and correlational analysis. The findings of this study revealed significant negative relationships between two out of the three dispositional choking-susceptibility factors (self-consciousness and anxiety), mindfulness, and psychological well-being. Given the significance of these findings, the development and evaluation of a mindfulness-based choking intervention is warranted. / text

The goal of this dissertation is to examine minority stress in the lives of gay and lesbian individuals and couples. To do this I conducted three separate, but empirically and conceptually related studies using data from 68 self-identified gay men and lesbians. Of these, 38 participants were coupled (n = 19 couples). All three studies were informed by minority stress theory. In the first study I examined individual (N = 68) and partner (n = 38) correlates and associations with concern for safety because of sexual orientation and harassment because of sexual orientation. Comfort with homosexuality was the strongest negative predictor of concern for safety because of sexual orientation. Further, involvement with gay related activities was found to be the strongest positive predictor of harassment because of sexual orientation. In the next two studies I examined the daily influence of minority stress for same-sex couples (n = 19). In the second study I examined how daily public displays (PDA) of affection are associated with daily relationship satisfaction, daily concern for safety because of sexual orientation, and daily harassment because of sexual orientation. I found daily PDA to be positively associated with concurrent and lagged relationship satisfaction, positively associated with concurrent and lagged concern for safety, and concurrent, lagged, and prospective increases in harassment because of sexual orientation. In the third and final study I examined the moderating effect of daily relationship satisfaction on the relationships between daily concern for safety and harassment in predicting daily physical health and well-being. I find that daily concern for safety and harassment are not associated with daily physical health suggesting that the negative effects of minority stress on physical health are more cumulative and do not fluctuate from day-to-day. I also find that daily relationship satisfaction does moderate the relationship between daily concern for safety and harassment and their daily well-being in unexpected ways. Collectively, this dissertation illustrates the complex influence of minority stress in the lives of gay and lesbian individuals and couples in two ways: first, as it pertains to how personal characteristics and behaviors (e.g. involvement with gay related activities and engagement in PDA) are associated with minority stress overall and on a daily basis; second, by illustrating the daily influence of minority stress on daily physical health and well-being. In conclusion, in these studies I highlight the complexity of life and how minority stress, stress that is unique to gay men and lesbian individuals and couples, complicates otherwise beneficial behaviors. Further, I illustrate the long and short term ramifications minority stress has on gay men and lesbian individuals and couples.

This dissertation consists of two studies: the first focuses on reliability of chimpanzee personality and subjective well-being (SWB) scores, the second on validating those scores by comparing them to subjective assessments of behavior in dyads. The first measured reliability of scores of personality and subjective well-being (SWB) across ten years. Dominance rank, and the Dominance and Extraversion Factors significantly correlated between time points. In the second study, I investigated the impact of personality, SWB, and demographic characteristics on individual variation in dyadic-level individual behavior. Age predicted likeability in females, and age and rank predicted likeability in males. Neither personality factors nor SWB were correlated to likeability. An Affable domain scale and an Agonistic domain scale were constructed from the personality items. The Affable domain scale correlated with chimpanzees who were scored high neutral in social interactions, and the agonistic scale correlated with low neutral score in social interactions.

The specific aims for this study were to: (a) describe positive and negative well-being in parental caregivers of children with cancer, (b) examine if parental caregivers' personal factors (i.e., resilience and/or demographic characteristics) and child-related contextual factors (i.e., ill child's cancer characteristics and/or demographic characteristics) predict parental caregivers' positive and negative well-being, and (c) test if self-transcendence mediates the relationship between resilience and well-being (positive and negative) in parental caregivers of children with cancer. Eighty parental caregivers whose children were diagnosed with any type of childhood cancer since at least two months prior to study start participated and completed a demographic instrument, the General Well-Being Schedule, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Self-Transcendence Scale, and the Brief Resilience Scale. Descriptive statistics were used to describe sample demographics, levels of positive and negative well-being, self-transcendence levels, and resilience levels. Standard multiple regression was used to examine predictors of well-being. Baron and Kenny's three-step mediation analysis was used to test if self-transcendence mediated the relationship between resilience and well-being (positive and negative). Both positive and negative well-being exist in parental caregivers of children with cancer as 47% of parental caregivers were in the `positive well-being' category with total General Well-Being Schedule scores above the positive well-being cutoff of 73, 36.3% were in the `depressed' category with total scores above the depression cutoff of 16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, and 45% had scores that exceeded the mean anxiety score of 39.64 on the State Scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Instrument. None of the child-related contextual factors were found to predict positive and negative well-being in parental caregivers of children with cancer. Resilience positively predicted general well-being and negatively predicted depression and anxiety in parental caregivers of children with cancer. Satisfaction with current financial status negatively predicted depression. Employment status negatively predicted anxiety such that those who were not employed had significantly lower anxiety than those who were employed part-time and full-time. Self-transcendence mediated the relationship between resilience and positive and negative well-being respectively.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of family spiritual interdependence to the well-being of elders and their family caregivers within Korean family caregiving situations. The correlation of spirituality and well-being between elders and caregivers and the actor and partner effect of spirituality on well-being were examined in terms of how family members' spirituality influences their own and partners' well-being.One hundred fifty-seven Korean elder-family caregiver dyads in Seoul, Korea participated and completed independently three spirituality instruments and four well-being instruments independently: Spiritual Perspective Scale (Reed, 1987), Self-Transcendence Scale (Reed, 1986) and Purpose in Life (Crumbaugh, 1968), Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (Radloff, 1977), Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, et al., 1985) and Positive And Negative Affect Schedules (Watson et al., 1988).The correlations were performed to identify whether demographic variables significantly related to study variables. Several variables regarding family and social interactions related significantly to spirituality and well-being in both elder and caregiver group.The correlations of spirituality and well-being between elders and caregivers reported that elders' spirituality significantly related to caregivers' spirituality and caregivers' well-being significantly related to elders' well-being.The actor and partner effects of spirituality on well-being between elders and caregivers were tested using the Actor-Partner-Interdependence Model (Kashy & Kenny, 2000; Kenny, 1996). The results found that there were significant actor effects. First, spiritual perspective negatively influenced their own positive affect. Self-transcendence positively predicted their own depression and negative affect. Also, Self-transcendence positively predicted their satisfaction with life and positive affect. In addition, purpose in life negatively influenced their own depression and negative affect. Purpose in life positively influenced their own satisfaction with life and positive affect.There was a significant partner affect. Self-transcendence positively predicted their partner's depression. Also, self-transcendence positively influenced their partner's positive and negative affect. There were no significant partner effects from spiritual perspective and purpose in life to well-being. These findings indicate that the health and well-being of family members may be best understood within the context that includes the spiritual dimension of caregiving, particularly the concept of self-transcendence as it relates to several well-being factors.

The use of family, friends, and neighbors ("kith and kin") as caregivers for young children is a common practice in many cultural minority and impoverished communities in the U.S. Such caregivers often serve as trusted, familiar, affordable, and accessible sources of care, however, the quality of such "informal" child care is often questioned. This, I contend, is a consequence of the application of narrow constructs of quality derived from the values, practices, and experiences of the dominant class and culture.This dissertation details the roles that kith and kin caregivers fill in the White Mountain Apache community in east-central Arizona, and the functions such caregiving performs. Being in the care of kith and kin is important in giving children a sense of "place" within their extended family and the community. It teaches them their relations as well as the role and importance of family and community and reciprocity, and builds and reinforces family and community networks. It places children in the hands of grandmothers and other individuals with high cultural capital, hence providing a space, time, and opportunity for cultural learning. Kith and kin caregiving thus assists in the preservation of Apache language and culture by providing not only a context for cultural transmission and access to those with the greatest cultural knowledge and linguistic competence, but also by reinforcing a pedagogical role central to Apache culture and emphasizing the importance of family.While important, such functions of kith and kin care are ones not easily accounted for in existing constructions of quality. In order for standards of quality to have any meaning or utility in cultural minority communities, I argue that we need to encourage the development and utilization of culture and context specific definitions of caregiving quality and the inclusion of community standards. Constructs of quality must also speak to the well-being of children in their own communities and cultures. For Native communities, the incorporation of Native culture and language into child care programming and settings is essential to the health, maintenance, and cultural survival of these communities.

Abstract About 160 000 persons living inSwedensuffer from some form of dementia. Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia and affects mostly people in the age of 65 and older. People with some form of dementia have memory problems and may even have other problems as aphasia and behavioral disorders. This may lead to communication problems and difficulties for the people around them. The number of demented people is increasing; it is therefore important to study methods for communication in order to improve the wellbeing for people with dementia. Various interventions with communication methods were analyzed. Methods investigated in the survey include tactile massage, Talking Mats and music therapy. The outcomes of these methods showed less aggression, better attention, better body awareness and increased verbal abilities compared to not using the communication methods. All methods showed increased wellbeing for the patients. Some methods also gave comfort to the caregiver, which led to more involvement and hence better communication between patient and caretaker.

The main purpose of this study was to examine how people who have felt mentally bad, describe their subjective experience of what leads to a mental well-being. The overall research questions were; how does the individual define mental well-being, how does the individual describe the turning-point during her tough period, and in what way does the individual consider that her own effort has influenced her well-being? In order to answer these questions, qualitative research interviews were conducted with persons who’ve felt mentally bad and who’ve got some kind of professional help, and who think that they have a mental well-being today. The empirical material was analyzed from a theoretical resilience perspective. The study’s result showed first of all, that there are different ways to define well-being. The most significant factors to achieve well-being, seemed to be positive, quality relations and a supportive social network. This appeared to be strengthening and creates resilience. Other factors that appeared to be strengthening for the development of resilience and well-being, are for example high self-esteem and competence. The result also showed that professional help seemed to have been important. Risk-factors that were found in the study are for example an unfavourable childhood environment, insecurity and early unhealthy relations. The study indicated that resilience in individuals can have different strength.

Worldwide, poverty remains to be an obstacle to achieve sustainable development and improve the well-being of people. Microfinance has become a popular tool for poverty alleviation and it can now be found in poor countries across the world. Microfinance is based on the principle that poor people can initiate their own development out of poverty, given they have the starting capital to do so. The capital can be invested in income-generating activities and it is assumed that this will lead to a higher income and additional positive effects, like an increase in well-being, will follow. However others argue that the focus on income is only one aspects of poverty, other forms of deprivation and constraints are excluded. This thesis aims to address how microfinance, the provision of credit in particular, has an influence on the well-being of women. A participatory rural appraisal was conducted in order to explore how women define well-being. The perspectives of four women groups from the urban and peri-urban areas of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania were included in understanding the local definition of well-being, the developments in their lives and the changes in well-being they have perceived. The results show that the group loans may contribute to positive changes in the well-being of women, but these changes cannot be attributed to the loans alone. The changes in well-being caused by the loan intertwine with other factors like group dynamics and family life; therefore the results need to be interpreted considering the specific context. Furthermore the results show that the changes in well-being are not necessarily related to an increase in income, thus contesting the assumptions on which microfinance is based.