This thesis examines several nuanced issues, including equitable access, regarding long-distance intercity travel. In the United States, studies of transportation equity focus on affordable access to local destinations and basic services. The limited studies of long-distance intercity travel focus on observed demand, ignoring latent or unmet demand. Both quantitative and qualitative data are used to explore the differences between those who participate in long-distance travel and those with unmet need for it. This thesis found that the ability to participate in long-distance travel plays a role in one’s overall well-being. Undertaking long-distance trips facilitates access to opportunity for cultural and educational experiences, as well as the maintenance and creation of social capital, factors which were indicated by study participants. The first part of the thesis examines equity in access to long-distance travel between individuals by using data from a state-wide survey completed by 2,232 Vermonters for the Vermont Agency of Transportation in 2016. Five ordinal logistic regression models that approximate different levels of realized and unmet travel are used to understand how access to intercity travel differs by socioeconomic, geographic location, and household characteristics. A total of 22 percent of respondents indicated they had unmet demand at least once per year. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between those who had unmet demand within Vermont and outside of Vermont, proxies for local and intercity travel, respectively. Income level, Internet access, and education level were found to be significant predictors of realized long-distance travel. Household size and composition, household vehicles, age, income, and self-reported urban residence were predictors of both unmet local and long-distance travel need. In addition, full-time employment was significant for local unmet need, while miles to the nearest metropolitan area was a significant predictor for longer travel needs. Models of actual travel were stronger than for unmet demand, indicating that other unmeasured predictor variables may be important, thus requiring qualitative exploration. The second part of the thesis consists of an in-depth examination using semi-structured interviews regarding intercity travel with 24 women living in Chittenden County, Vermont. In addition to the qualitative survey methods, data from a social network geography survey designed specifically for the study and an overall well-being survey were used. Interviews were coded by theme relating to travel type, barriers to travel, and impact on quality of life. A majority of participants felt long-distance travel was very important or essential to their well-being and they wished to increase the amount they did. Additionally, participants felt the need to meet with friends and family in-person, therefore necessitating long-distance travel to those who lived further away. There was also a discrepancy between the desire to meet with friends and family and how often the participants actually were able to do so. Those with higher incomes had less unmet long-distance travel need.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to describe concerns of well-being in adults of different ages. The factors that have an impact on the sense of reduced well-being of adults in various age groups were analysed, and the population groups in the most compromising position in terms of well-being identified. The objective of this study was to produce information for well-being promoting decision making in the planning of social, health and welfare services. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used in the study. The material was collected for the Pohjoisen hyvinvoinnin tietopaikka project (ESR) by using a questionnaire at the end of year 2012. The data consisted of answers from 1458 questionnaires. The answer percentage was 49. The qualitative data, based on the open-ended questions, was analysed by deductive content analysis. For the analysis of the quantitative data the SPSS 23 program was used. Frequencies and percentages were calculated, and the Chi-squared test was used to examine association between the variables. According to the results of this research, the concerns of the youngest adults were more diverse and focused on more areas of well-being than those of the older adults. In all age groups, economic situation and physical health were factors that had a welfare reducing impact. Similarly, the economic situation, which was perceived as having welfare reducing impacts, was generally perceived as having a connection with the other welfare reducing areas in all age groups. The perception of the welfare reducing impact of the different areas of well-being was especially common among females, informants with low educational background, informants living alone, informants with low income and the working age informants who were unemployed. The scientific relevance of the results of this study can be justified with the novelty value of the information. Well-being has not been studied in the context of health sciences from this particular research angle before. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli kuvailla eri-ikäisten aikuisten hyvinvointiin liittyviä huolia ja kartoittaa ikäryhmittäin hyvinvointia heikentäviä tekijöitä sekä hyvinvoinniltaan heikoimmassa asemassa olevia väestöryhmiä. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tuottaa tietoa eri-ikäisen aikuisväestön hyvinvoinnin edistämiseen tähtäävään päätöksentekoon sekä sosiaali-, terveys- ja hyvinvointipalveluiden suunnitteluun. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin kvalitatiivista ja kvantitatiivista tutkimusmenetelmää. Aineisto kerättiin kyselylomakkeella vuoden 2012 lopulla Pohjoisen hyvinvoinnin tietopaikka-hankkeelle (ESR). Aineisto koostui 1458 kyselylomakkeen vastauksista. Kyselyn vastausprosentti oli 49. Avoimiin kysymyksiin perustuva laadullinen aineisto analysoitiin deduktiivisella sisällönanalyysillä. Määrällinen aineisto analysoitiin SPSS 23-ohjelmalla laskemalla frekvenssejä ja prosenttiosuuksia sekä tutkimalla muuttujien välisiä yhteyksiä khiin neliötestillä. Tulosten mukaan nuorimpien aikuisten huolet olivat moninaisempia ja useampiin hyvinvoinnin osa-alueisiin kohdistuvia kuin vanhempien aikuisten. Taloudellinen tilanne ja fyysinen terveys olivat yleisiä hyvinvointia heikentäviä tekijöitä kaikissa ikäryhmissä. Lisäksi taloudelliseen tilanteeseen liitetyillä hyvinvoinnin heikkenemiskokemuksilla oli kaikissa ikäryhmissä yleinen yhteys muihin hyvinvoinnin osa-alueisiin kohdistettaviin vastaaviin kokemuksiin. Hyvinvoinnin heikkenemiskokemukset liittyivät erityisesti naissukupuoleen, matalaan koulutustasoon, ilman parisuhdetta asumiseen, alhaiseen tulotasoon sekä työikäisillä työelämän ulkopuolella olemiseen. Tutkimuksen tieteellinen merkitys perustuu sen tuottaman tiedon uutuusarvoon, sillä hyvinvointia koskevaa tutkimusta ei ole hoitotieteessä aiemmin tehty vastaavasta näkökulmasta.

Abstract The daily coping of ageing people at home will be a challenge to society as the proportion of elderly population increases. In order to be able to respond to this challenge, we will need to know about the health and functional capacity of ageing people and their subjective experiences of the social and health care services that may help them to cope at home. The purpose of this study was to describe self-evaluated health, functional capacity and subjective need for and use of social and health care services among people aged over 65 and living in the Siurua area of Pudasjärvi in Finland. The basic study population consisted of the Pudasjärvi residents aged over 65 years, of whom all those (N = 157) aged over 65 and living in one village were included in the population sample studied. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire also included open-ended questions pertaining to health and psychic functioning. The results were expressed as mean values and deviations. The inter-variable connections were analysed using cross-tabulation, scatter diagrams, and contingency and Spearman's correlation coefficients. Discrimination analysis was used to evaluate the use of health care services. The responses to open-ended questions were analysed with inductive content analysis. The average self-evaluated physical and psychosocial health of the people aged over 65 who participated in the study was good. Men evaluated their health as slightly poorer than women, and they were also more depressive. Feelings of well-being were associated with subjective experiences of good health. For both men and women, well-being was manifested as a rich diversity of everyday life, such as activity and social relations. Most of the ageing people were aware of the importance of taking care of their health, and their health care seemed to be based on knowledge of the impacts of various health-promoting factors and habits on their health status. The study subjects had certain chronic diseases, of which cardiovascular diseases were most common. Three-fourths off the study subjects took some medication daily. In both age groups, both men and women reported independent management of the basic activities of daily living. Men aged over 75 needed more help than the others in their daily activities. Over the past few years, both men and women had had good rather than satisfactory functional capacity. They described the best part of their lives in largely the same way. For women, life had been and still continued to be full of challenges despite the hardships. Men tended to reminisce about the hardness of life, and many still had bitter and unpleasant memories of the wartime. The major resources of women were religion, family and a positive outlook. Men derived strength from their responsibilities, expectations of a better future and religion. On an average, the social functional capacities of both men and women were good. The study subjects used social services very rarely, and health was not related to their use. Men and the subjects aged over 75 used slightly more health care services than women. Subjective health was the best discriminator of the use of health care services. The findings of this research can be used to develop social and health care services to support the coping of ageing and elderly people at home and the social and health care education. They can also be used to plan methods and studies to promote the health and functional capacity of ageing people.

La nature a des effets positifs sur la santé (Moore, 1981 ; Ulrich, 1984). Les premiers travaux se sont inspirés de la médecine ancestrale japonaise avec la prescription aux patients de bain de forêt, afin de renforcer leurs défenses immunitaires et leur bien-être (Li, 2010). Par la suite les recherches ont montré qu’une simple exposition visuelle à la nature pouvait produire les même effets (Beukeboom, Langeveld, & Tanja-Dijkstra, 2012). À l’heure actuelle les travaux se basent sur deux grands courants pour expliquer les effets de la nature sur la santé, à savoir la biophilie (Ulrich, 1993 ; Wilson, 1984) et la théorie de la restauration de l’attention (R. Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989 ; S. Kaplan, 1995). Cependant aucun de ces travaux n’a été mené en France. La littérature a montré que certains effets étaient sensibles à la culture du pays (Pascual et al., 2012). Les travaux ont été menés en utilisant uniquement de la nature verte sous temps clément. Huit expérimentations ont été conduites, manipulant différents types d’expositions à la nature, avec différentes scènes de nature. Les résultats montrent que les effets de la nature sont présents en France, sans différenciation du type de nature. Que celle-ci soit verte ou non, par beau temps ou non, en présence d’éléments aquatiques ou sans, nous observons des effets positifs de la nature. Nous montrons également qu’une stimulation olfactive de la nature produit des effets semblables aux stimulations visuelles. Les résultats que nous obtenons semblent être fortement liés à la notion de contrôle perçu (liberté). / Nature has indisputable effects on human health (Moore, 1981; Ulrich, 1984). The very first research works on this topic were inspired by traditional Japanese medicine. Indeed, at that time, “forest baths” were typically prescribed to patients, in order both to strengthen their immune system and to improve their well-being (Li, 2010). Interestingly, subsequent researches have demonstrated that solely a visual exposure to Nature was able to produce the same effects (Beukeboom, Langeveld, & Tanja-Dijkstra, 2012). To explain this impact of Nature on human health, both biophilia (Ulrich, 1993; Wilson, 1984) and the attention restoration theory (R. Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989; S. Kaplan, 1995) are the two main trends nowadays used by the scientific community. Nevertheless, none of these experiments were carried out in France, while it is clearly established that country’s culture has a significant influence on this Nature effect (Pascual et al., 2012). Moreover, it is relevant to note that up to now all the researches were only performed under both green Nature exposure and mild weather conditions. With the aim of starting to decipher more precisely the influence of the presence of a Nature component on human health and prosocial behavior, this present thesis describes eight experiments carried out in France, with several kinds of Nature exposures and Nature scenes. Results highlight the positive effects of Nature, whatever its type, i.e. green or not, in mild weather or not, with or without aquatic component, etc. Furthermore, this work brings to light than an olfactory stimulation (i.e. using fragrances of Nature) generates similar effects compared to a visual one. Altogether, the results appear to be closely related to the perceived control (freedom).

Homelessness has become a common phenomenon across the world. And its impact is felt in both the developed and developing countries. The situation in the Kingdom of Swaziland is more devastating due to the inability of the Government and other stakeholders to control and adequately mitigate the constant expansion of the phenomenon as a result of HIV/AIDS, poverty and inadequate care (Baggerly, 2006:162; National Coalition for the Homeless, 2004; Hlatshwayo, 1997). The research problem was about the psycho-social challenges homeless adolescent children go through in a shelter in Manzini, Swaziland. It was deemed necessary and important to find out how they cope without professional and psycho-social support in the shelter. The goal of the study was to explore the psycho-social experiences of homeless adolescent children in a shelter in Manzini, Swaziland. The research approach was qualitative and the research type was applied. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews with eight homeless adolescent children in a shelter in Manzini, Swaziland. Based on findings from the study, it has been concluded that homeless adolescent children in a shelter in Manzini, Swaziland suffer from considerable psycho-social problems that need urgent attention. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Social Work and Criminology / MA / Unrestricted

Tidigare forskning visar att många akademiker upplever hög arbetsbelastning och påtaglig tidspress på arbetsplatsen. Det kan leda till en konflikt mellan arbete och fritid. Tidspress och välmående är aktuella ämnen, vilket dagspressen styrker. Tidigare forskning upplever dessutom en kunskapslucka vad gäller forskning om obalans mellan arbete och fritid, samt vilket effekt det får på individens välmående. Studiens syfte är således att utforska hur redovisningskonsulten upplever tidspress utifrån ett välmåendeperspektiv. För att besvara syftet har en kvalitativ studie genomförts. Tidspress utforskas från tre håll: tidsdeadlinepress, tidsbudgetpress och arbetsbelastning. I begreppet välmående inkluderas life satisfaction, job satisfaction och work life balance. Studien bygger på empiri från åtta redovisningskonsulter aktiva på redovisningsbyråer i södra Sverige. Empiriinsamling har skett genom en metodtriangulering bestående av intervjuer, observationer och dokumentär forskning, detta för att öka studiens tillförlitlighet. Studiens resultat visar att uppkomsten av tidspress i redovisningsbranschen bland annat beror på dokumentationskrav, avbrott i arbetet och kundens förväntningar. Trots tidspress och ojämn arbetsbelastning trivs redovisningskonsulten med sitt arbete. Dock uppstår situationer där tidspressen tar överhanden, vilket resulterar i negativa konsekvenser för redovisningskonsultens välmående. Omfattningen av tidspress och arbetsbelastning redovisningskonsulten känner sig bekväm med kan hänföras till individens personliga egenskaper. Slutsatsen visar att redovisningskonsultens personliga egenskaper är avgörande för hur tidspress upplevs. Om tidspressen tar överhanden, vilket är individuellt och beror på personliga egenskaper, återspeglas det genast genom obalans mellan arbete och fritid, vilket resulterar i minskat välmående hos redovisningskonsulten. / Previous research shows that many academics experience a high level of workload and time pressure at work, which could lead to a work life conflict. Time pressure and well-being are current topics, which is evidenced in the daily press.  Previous research indicates a knowledge gap regarding research about work life balance, and its effect on the well-being of individuals. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore how accountants experience time pressure, from a well-being perspective. In order to fullfil the purpose of the study, a qualitative method was chosen. Time pressure has been explored from three perspectives: time deadline pressure, time budget pressure, and workload. The term well-being includes life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and work life balance. This study is based on empirical material gathered from eight accountants settled in southern Sweden. To increase reliability of the study, empirical data have been collected through a method triangulation consisting of interviews, observations and documentary research. The result of this study shows that occurrence of time pressure in the accounting profession is dependent on documentation requirements, constant interruptions and the expectations of the client. Despite time pressure and workload, the accountants are pleased with their profession. However, situations occur when time pressure is prevailing, which negatively impacts accountants’ well-being. The extent of time pressure and workload that accountants feel comfortable with depends on personal characteristics. The findings show that personal characteristics are crucial regarding how the accountant experience time pressure. Depending on personal characteristics, if time pressure is prevailing it instantly leads to an imbalance between work and life, which results in decreased well-being for accountants.

The current study aimed to replicate and extend recent research by Ng, Huebner, and Hills (2015) by investigating the longitudinal, bidirectional relationship between life satisfaction and academic achievement among adolescents. Specifically, students’ baseline (Time 1) life satisfaction was examined as a predictor of academic achievement (as measured by GPA, FCAT-reading DSS scores, attitudes toward school, and goal valuation) one year later (Time 2). The same four academic achievement variables at Time 1 were also examined as a predictor of life satisfaction one year later at Time 2. Positive affect and negative affect were examined as moderators of those relationships. An archival data set that included data from 425 high school students was analyzed. In contrast to findings from prior research, results of four regression analyses indicated that life satisfaction was not a significant predictor of later academic skills (i.e., GPA, FCAT-reading DSS) or academic engagement (i.e., goal valuation, attitude towards school), although there was bivariate support for a link between Time 1 life satisfaction and later academic engagement. When academic variables were considered as predictors of later life satisfaction, there was bivariate support for the relationship between Time 1 GPA and Time 2 life satisfaction. In contrast to hypotheses, regression analyses failed to support a significant relationship between initial academic skills and later life satisfaction. However, moderated regression analyses indicated that academic skills (i.e., GPA, FCAT-reading DSS) predict later life satisfaction for students with greater initial emotional well-being (i.e., low negative affect, high positive affect). In regard to academic engagement, there was bivariate support for a small relationship between initial academic engagement and later life satisfaction, but regression analyses and moderated regression analyses failed to support that relationship. Analyses indicate that initial positive affect was a significant predictor of later life satisfaction and later goal valuation, which supports Frederickson’s (2009) broaden and build theory of positive emotions. Findings of the current study highlight the importance of promoting positive emotions among students, in part as a means to improve life satisfaction and cognitive engagement in school. The current study also provides support for offering mental health services to students with relatively high GPAs and standardized test scores who also experience symptoms of internalizing disorders (i.e., low positive affect, high negative affect). Finally, findings from the current study taken in conjunction with findings reported by Ng et al. (2015) suggest that middle school may be the optimal time for interventions aimed at improving students’ subjective well-being.

Uppsatsen behandlar transpersoners livsberättelser och hur deras utveckling påverkat dem. Syftet med studien är att skapa en ökad förståelse kring transpersoners identitetsutveckling och hur det påverkar deras livsvillkor. Uppsatsens huvudfrågeställning är: Hur beskriver transpersoner sin identitetsutveckling samt på vilket sätt påverkas informanterna av att ses som avvikande i deras livsberättelser? I genomförandet av studien valde vi att använda oss av en kvalitativ intervjumetod med sju transpersoner. Studien har en fenomenologiskt inspirerad metodsansats samt en hermeneutisk analysansats. Det teoretiska ramverket i uppsatsen var Goffmans teori om Stigmatisering, Scheffs begrepp Sociala band samt Queerteorin som samhällsbakgrund. Resultatet påvisade transpersonernas bristande livsvillkor i samhället. Det framkom att informanterna präglades av en komplex livssituation där samtliga nämnde att deras identitetsförändring haft en negativ inverkan på deras liv. Detta har skapat en psykisk ohälsa som bland annat uttryckts genom självdestruktivitet. Samhället behöver utveckla sin förståelse och kunskap inom ämnet. Vi ser att vidare forskning i ämnet är viktigt för att förbättra samhällets kunskap och synsätt i hopp om att skapa ett mer jämlikt samhälle. / The essay addresses transgender life stories and how their development affected them. The purpose of the study is to create an increased understanding of the development of identity in transgender and how it affects their life conditions. The main question of the essay is: How do the transgender tell recount their identity development and in what way are the informants affected by being seen as deviating in their life stories? A qualitative interview method with seven transgender was used in the implementation of the study. The study has a phenomenologically motivated methodology and a hermeneutic analysis approach. Goffman's theory of Stigmatization was used as the theoretical framework as well as Scheff's concept Social Bonds and Queer theory to describe the background of society. The results demonstrated the transgender's lack of life conditions within the society. It emerged that the informants were characterized by a complex life situation where all mentioned that their identity change had a negative impact on their lives. This has resulted in mental ill-health which was expressed by self-destructiveness. Society needs to develop its understanding and knowledge in this subject and we note that further research is important for improving society's knowledge and approach to transgenders in hope of creating a more equal society.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Farrell J. Webb / The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between chronic stressors-believed to be a condition present by race, sex, and social class and Well-being when mediated by individual resources and perceptions. Additionally, this study examined the utility of the proposed ABC-WB Model of Well-Being adapted from the ABC-X Model. The data used in this dissertation were gleaned from the 2004 General Social Survey which contained a weighted sample of 3,260 respondents. Several observed indicators were used to define each of the latent constructs corresponding to theoretical variables of the ABC-WB model. Each of these constructs contributed to the overall model in some way despite some inconsistent findings. The utility of the model was examined with multiple indicators for Stressor. None of the four research hypotheses were supported by the tested models. The data models were then respecified. This process did not produce any working structural models as well. Nevertheless, the findings revealed that well-being was an important factor to consider in the ABC-WB model. Despite the shortcomings of the model the stressor measurement revealed a direct but mild relationship with well-being. In all the models, Stressor was tempered by Resources and Perceptions both of which had a strong relationship with well-being. The selected models suggested that despite the lack of fit, largely to do with data restrictions rather than model specificity, the overall ABC-WB model has research potential.

Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Farrell J. Webb / The purpose of this thesis was to examine the well-being of adults from divorced and non-divorced family backgrounds. The thrust of this thesis was to examine if and how adult well-being is influenced by family background factors, specifically support, safety, religiosity and spirituality. Data for this analysis come from the National Survey of the Moral and Spiritual Lives of Children of Divorce, a nationally representative sample of 1,510 adults ages 18-35, evenly divided by either divorced or non-divorced backgrounds. Using Social Learning and Social Exchange Theories, a path model was created to inform and guide this investigation. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify similarities or differences within and between groups and test hypotheses. Results indicate that adults from divorced homes, lower in spirituality and higher in religiosity experience lower well-being than adults from non-divorced homes, those with higher spirituality or lower religiosity. Childhood religiosity was not related to adult well-being for those from a divorced background. However, childhood religiosity demonstrated a positive relationship with adult well-being for adults from non-divorced backgrounds. The path model uncovered that, among other variables, income and family support were important predictors of well-being across groups. For the divorce group, education appears to be uniquely salient, while spirituality is more influential for the non-divorce group.