This research was aimed at determining the psychometric properties of the Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI; Boyle, Borg, Falzon & Baglioni, 1995) and in doing so enabling the possible development of a much needed, more culture sensitive inventory for the measurement of teacher stress as it manifests in the South African context. A review of international literature revealed that the stress associated with the teaching profession is a well-known phenomenon, and has received increasing recognition and research attention in recent years (e.g., Brown, Howcroft & Jacobs, 2010; Chaplain, 2008; Ngidi & Sibaya, 2002; Olivier & Venter, 2003; Schwarzen & Hallum, 2008; Sharplin, O‘Neill & Chapman, 2011; Vandeyar, 2005). However, only a few studies on teacher stress in the South African context could be found. The studies that were done within the South African teaching context (Ferreira, 2008; Lund & Fisher, 2006; Møller, 2007) did report various and specific challenges that add to the stressors South African teachers need to overcome in order to maintain psychological well-being. Furthermore, these studies mostly implemented scales that were developed within a Eurocentric context, and thus did not incorporate cultural and contextual factors that are known to impact directly on both the construction and experience of psychological well-being (Temane & Wissing, 2008; Wissing & Temane, 2008; Wissing, Wissing, Du Toit, & Temane, 2006) and stress. The need for a teacher stress scale which will be valid in the South African context became apparent. Therefore, the aim of this study is to validate the TSI for use in a South African context. A cross-sectional design for data collection was used as part of the Sympathetic Activity and Ambulatory Blood pressure in Africans (SAPBA) study. The research sample consisted of urban Caucasian (n=209) and African (n=200) teachers subsiding in the North-West Province of South Africa. The TSI, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) were administered to all participants, together with physiological measures of stress that were taken under controlled circumstances. Based on the results from the exploratory factor analysis and item analysis that was conducted separately on the different ethnic groups, it was decided to omit items 1, 3 and 6 due to evidenced problematic psychometric properties in this study population. A further factor analysis that was conducted on the total study group showed sufficient communalities and yielded a two-factor model, with a robust factor structure and satisfactory reliability indices for both extracted factors, namely (1) General circumstance related stress and (2) Learner related stress. Satisfactory criterion-related validity was determined by correlating the TSI with other measures of psychological health, the GHQ and the MHC-SF, as well as physiological measures of health. In conclusion, the TSI proved to be a useful, brief self-report questionnaire for the assessment of occupational stress within this cohort of South African teachers. If replicated within a sample more representative of the South African context, the findings of this study will allow the impact of different sources of teacher stress to be determined and compared within the South African context. It further holds promising possibilities for influencing public policy with regard to the education system in South Africa and to contribute to the exploration of teacher stress in this context, with the aim of contributing to the psychological well-being of South African teachers. Further psychometric evaluation is however necessary before the TSI can be considered to be a valid instrument in the broad South African context. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The aim of the study was to investigate whether social support moderates the relationship between stress and psychological well–being. The inverse relationship between the experience of stress and psychological well–being is supported on the one hand (Chang, 1998; Skok, Harvey, & Reddihough, 2006), while social support’s reducing effect on psychological distress has also been reported (Cohen & McKay, 1984; Sherbourne & Stewart, 1991). It is possible that social support may interact with the influence of stress on well–being in such a way as to moderate the relationship. Social support was conceptualised in terms of Pretorius’ (1998) model, which describes social support as a resource of fortitude, and originates from various sources, namely, positive appraisal of self, support from family, and support from friends and others. Although social support is considered to be a well–researched phenomenon, an empirical study exploring its effect on the influence of stress on well–being in an African context is yet to be conducted. A sample of 459 participants completed the Setswana versions of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ; Goldberg & Hillier, 1979) to measure the experience of stress, the Affectometer 2 (AFM; Kammann & Flett, 1983) to measure the affective component of wellbeing, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) to measure the cognitive component of well–being, and the Fortitude Questionnaire (FORQ; Pretorius, 1998) to measure social support. Data were collected in a quantitative, crosssectional survey, with random sample selection. After data exploration by using descriptive statistics and inter–scale correlations, stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate the relationships and to explore moderation effect of social support. Results showed inverse relationships between the experience of stress, as operationalised by the GHQ subscales, and psychological well–being, operationalised by positive and negative affect (AFM–PA and AFM–NA) and satisfaction with life (SWL). Receiving social support from various sources, namely positive appraisal of self, support from family, and support from friends and others, was found to moderate relationships between the experience of stress and the affective components of psychological well–being. Social support from family moderated most effectively of the three sources of support. It was found that social support, particularly familial support, had a protective effect on the maintenance of psychological well–being when experiencing psychological distress. It is thus a possible protective factor to be developed and encouraged in psychological interventions with individuals from this population in particular. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The purpose of this thesis research is to describe the availability of social support among street-involved youth and how this longitudinally predicts their substance use, mental health and mental well-being. Data from a panel study of street-involved youth in Victoria, British Columbia were analyzed (N=130). Thematic analysis of responses to open-ended questions and descriptive analyses of survey data were conducted to describe the availability of social support in participants’ lives. Multivariate regression was used to test two prominent theories of the relationship between social support and health (the stress-buffering and main effect theories) and to examine the association between sources of social support and health. The thematic analysis and descriptive analysis results indicate that there is considerable heterogeneity in terms of the availability, sources and types of social support among this population. The regression results provide partial support for the main effect theory; perceived availability of social support predicted reduced alcohol and hard drug use and better overall mental health and well-being, regardless of the stress levels. The stress-buffering theory was not supported. Sources of social support were not significantly related to health outcomes. The thesis concludes with policy and program suggestions and gives direction for further research on the relationship between social support and health among street-involved youth. / Graduate / 0626 / 0347 / 0573 / mary06@uvic.ca

This study examined the relationship between race and mental health among Canadian adults. The purpose was to assess how social organization contributes to the racial distribution of mental health. The study defined mental health as a multi-dimensional construct that includes negative, positive, and subjective facets. The empirical analysis compared East Asians, South Asians, Blacks, Aboriginals, and mixed race persons to Whites on major depression, psychological distress, psychological well-being, and self-rated mental health. Separate comparisons were made for women and men because the relationship between race and mental health could be conditional on gender. Using individual-level data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 1.2 and aggregate data from the 2001 Canadian Census, the study hypothesized that racial differences in mental health could reflect differences in stress exposure, socioeconomic status, social embeddedness, and neighborhood environment. The main assumption was that higher stress exposure, economic hardship, social isolation, and neighborhood disadvantage could compromise the mental health of racial minorities. The study also examined whether social support and coping behaviors protected racial minorities from these health-damaging effects. The findings do not present a straightforward or a consistent set of conclusions. Although there is a good rational to believe that racial minorities should have worse mental health than Whites, this is not always or even mostly the case. Only Aboriginal women have a consistent disadvantage. For the most part, racial minorities have similar mental health as Whites, and even have an advantage in a few instances. Since the analysis covered the negative, positive, and subjective dimensions of mental health, it provides robust evidence to support this conclusion. However, the findings also demonstrate that low socioeconomic status and insufficient social resources can indeed have health-damaging effects. These factors explain some of the observed disadvantages in mental health that racial minorities experience or suppress an advantage among them. / Graduate / 0347 / 0631

Syftet med denna studie är att skapa förståelse för förhållandet mellan skolkuratorns person och yrkesroll samt hur känslor som uppkommer i elevsamtal hanteras. Utöver det undersöks också de konsekvenser för välbefinnande som kan följa av känslohantering, för såväl kurator som elev. Detta undersöks genom åtta kvalitativa intervjuer med skolkuratorer där deras beskrivningar av kuratorsyrket står i fokus. Intervjuerna utgör en systematiserad empiri som tolkas för att tillsammans med utvalda teorier besvara studiens frågeställning. De teorier som huvudsakligen används för att förstå empirin är teorierna om emotionellt arbete och social responsivitet. Vidare visar studiens resultat att skolkuratorer har varierande personlig distans till yrkesrollen. Detta tycks bero på att kuratorsrollen inte är särskilt definierad vilket ger kuratorer möjlighet att själva individuellt utforma yrkesrollen. Graden av personlig distans till yrkesrollen tycks avgöra i vilken utsträckning kuratorn behöver hantera de känslor som uppkommer i samtal med elever samt vilka konsekvenser detta får för kuratorns såväl som elevens välbefinnande. / The purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between school counselor’s self and their professional role, also how they manage feelings which emerges from dialogues with students. Moreover, the consequences for counselor as well as student well-being, due to emotional management, will be examined. This will be examined through eight qualitative interviews with school counselors whose description of the counselling profession will be in the spotlight. The interviews will then be put together and interpreted with the selected theories which seek to answer the question formulation. The theories that mainly are used to understand the empirics are ’emotional labor’ and social responsivity. Furthermore, the study’s result shows that school counselors have various distances between their selves and the professional role. This seems to depend on that the counseling role is not well defined, which give counselors the opportunity to individually shape the professional role. In which extension the counselor needs to manage their feelings seems to be determined by the extent of personal distance to the professional role and also the consequences this will have on the well-being of the counselor as well as the student.

Samhället uppmuntrar individer att se över sina hälsovanor för att öka välbefinnandet. Syftet var att undersöka om val av fysisk aktivitet hade effekt på den generella hälsan i ökat subjektivt välbefinnande samt om det fanns könsskillnader i dessa. Sextio män och kvinnor mellan 25-50 år valdes slumpmässigt ut från träningsanläggningar för att besvara the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) samt Swedish Core Affect Scale (SCAS). Resultatet visade på signifikant ökning av välbefinnande efter fysisk aktivitet samt inga könsskillnader. Dock fanns en signifikant interaktionseffekt mellan kön och fysisk aktivitet, de män som promenerade och kvinnor som konditionstränade hade högst välbefinnande och generell hälsa. Slutsatsen blev att välbefinnandet ökade oavsett kön efter fysisk aktivitet dock gav olika aktiviteter varierande ökningar mellan könen. / The society encourages individuals to promote their health habits in order to improve their well-being. The aim was to investigate the effect of different types of physical activity on experience of general health in well-being in men and woman. Sixty men and women in ages 25-50 years old were randomly chosen from training facilities to answer the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Swedish Core Affect Scale (SCAS). The results showed a significant increase in positive well-being due to the practice of physical activity, but there were no gender difference. However, it was found a significant interaction effect of age and physical activity on health, the men who walked and women who conditioning trained showed highest well-being and general health. The conclusion was that the well-being increase regardless of sex after physical activity, however, different activities gave varying increases between the sexes.

Tourism attractions and destinations has been facing tourists’ outflow for lots of years worldwide. Because of that, it is crucial to start fighting against this negative phenomenon, as this niche market segment is dependent on incoming clients. In this thesis, the focus is on wellness tourism with a case study aimed at spa industry in author’s residential country, Czech Republic. Thesis strives not to use standard marketing or management processes, but rather propose out of box solution, which allows gaining full spa experience. Since well-being is seen as one of actual drivers of consumer demand, an authentic spa concept called ‘destination spa’ is brought forward for solving current, local spa inability to be profitable. Key elements are nutrition, physical activity and mental balance. These are further examined and their real contribution is discussed. Within the case study, mix of these arguments is specifically applied to Darkov Spa, Karviná. In addition to that, data gathered from questionnaire enabled to use quantitative research methods to find out if proposed changes are favoured according to local taste. The results showed that suggested solution has a positive impact on local clientele, which will contribute towards increased visit rate. Due to this fact, research’s proposed idea is a convenient incentive for re-opening Darkov Spa.

There is a lacuna in the literature regarding the measurement of community collective efficacy, especially in an African context. Previously, a variety of studies have used and validated self-efficacy measures in Western social contexts (Chen, Gully & Eden, 2001; Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1993; Carroll, Rosson & Zhou, 2005). Findings from cross-cultural psychology indicate that human behaviour is not acontextual (Devonport & Lane, 2006; Karademas, 2006; van de Vijver & Leung, 1997). Thus, this study was an attempt to explore the validation of a community collective efficacy scale in an African cultural context. A sample of 1050 Setswana-speaking participants was drawn from both urban and rural areas. The participants came from a relatively more collectivistic cultural context. Measuring instruments such as the Community Collective Efficacy Scale (Carroll, Rosson & Zhou, 2005), the Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale ( Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1993), the New General Self-Efficacy Scale ( Chen, Gully & Eden, 2001), the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29) (Antonovsky, 1987, 1993) the Affectometer 2 (short version) (AFM) (Kammann & Flett, 1983), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979) were used in this study. Criterion-related validity of the CCES was established. Construct validity was determined by conducting confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses on the community collective efficacy scale. Results indicated a Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of 0.72 for the CCES and an acceptable inter-item correlations. Criterion-related validity was satisfactory. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit and exploratory factor analysis yielded only one factor on the items used. The results of the study indicated that overall, the CCES may be a valid measure of community collective efficacy in the sample selected for the study based on parameter estimates. Future studies should further validate this instrument cross-culturally in various African groups and contexts. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the Mental Health Continuum - Short Form (MHC-SF) (Keyes, 2006a) in an African context. This 14-item self-report questionnaire that measures mental health was developed in a Western individualistic context, which differs from the more collectivistic African cultural context in South Africa. The MHC-SF consists of three subscales, namely Emotional well-being, Social well-being and Psychological/personal well-being. Participants (N^IOSO) from urban (n=451) and rural (n=599) settlements completed the MHC-SF and other measures indicating positive and negative facets of psychosocial functioning in a one-shot cross-sectional survey design with the aid of 16 trained fieldworkers. Scales included to determine concurrent/criterion-related validity were the Affectometer 2 (short version) (AFM) (Kammann & Flett, 1983), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985), the Community Collective Efficacy Scale (revised) (CCES) (Carrol, Rosson & Zhou, 2005), the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1993), the New General Self-Efficacy Scale (NGSE) (Chen, Gully & Eden, 2000), the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29) (Antonovsky, 1987,1993) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979). Results indicated a Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of 0,75 for the total MHC-SF and acceptable inter-item and item-total correlations for the items. Item 4 had an eta-squared value indicating a large effect size, and thus had a negative impact on reliability. Mean inter-item correlations ranged between 0,19 and 0,30 and item-total correlations between 0,13 and 0,51. Concurrent/criterion-related validity was satisfactory. Confirmatory factor analysis yielded three factors. A three-factor model, omitting item 4, had the best fit in structural equation modelling. Six percent of the participants were languishing, Psychosocial well-being in an African context 73%) were moderately mentally healthy and 21%> were flourishing. More participants from the urban settlement flourish than from the rural settlement. It was concluded that the MHC-SF is reliable and valid for further use in research in an African context. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

The objective of this study was to examine goal-setting, perceived competence, goal orientation and psychological well-being in Swedish male football players. Further it was investigated if junior players differed when compared with senior players regarding the subjects mentioned above. This was a quantitative study using the following four instruments: Goal Setting in Sport Questionnaire, Harter’s Competence Scale, Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire. The participants consisted of 121 male subjects who played in junior or senior teams. Achievement goal theory and a working model made by the authors based on previous research represented the theoretical framework. One-way ANOVA was used to examine differences between juniors and seniors. Pearson’s correlation test was used to examine relationships between all the variables. The results indicated that the juniors had significantly higher ego orientation when compared to the seniors. Significant differences also emerged in the importance of competence, negative selfconfidence and anxiety, where the juniors showed higher results in all. Finally, significant correlations were demonstrated between goal setting and perceived competence, task orientation and goal setting, task and positive well-being, ego and perceived competence, perceived competence and positive well-being and anxiety and negative self-confidence in both juniors and seniors. The results were discussed in relation to the working model, the theoretical framework and earlier research.