The aging process is often coupled with major life changes such as retirement, death of friends and family members, and declines in physical and psychological functioning. Intuitively, any one or a conjunction of these events might be expected to lead to decreases in positive affect (PA) and increases in negative affect (NA). However, older adults tend to be emotionally positive and stable even late in life. Thus, it is possible that emotion-based strategies for coping with the challenges presented in later life can be used effectively by older adults, even amidst potential vulnerabilities in other domains. The design of effective interventions and technologies aimed at facilitating this coping process, will depend on understanding that emotions can influence health in different ways. Affect level and intraindividual variability (IIV) are independently related to distal factors such as personality and health-related outcomes such as immune functioning and mortality, among others. By nature, emotions are subject to daily fluctuations that cannot be captured by investigation of mean affect levels alone. Research on affect IIV has focused primarily on whether there are stability differences in younger and older adults. In general, older adults tend to be more stable, perhaps because the failure to regulate emotions is particularly detrimental for older adults’ physiological health. It is therefore important to understand how proximal factors in everyday life lead to intraindividual emotional changes. The primary goal of this study was to identify the factors occurring within older adults’ daily lives that predicted emotional deviations and to determine whether individuals differed in the types of factors that were emotionally-relevant. As such, it was imperative to employ a methodology that could differentiate the factors that evoked consistent emotional responses across all individuals from the factors whose impact on affect were person-dependent. Specifically, participants were given online surveys three times per day for 20 consecutive weekdays that included assessments of their current positive and negative emotional states and questions (at least once per day) about their stress, pain, sleep quality, life space, physical activity, and social activity. Multilevel modeling (MLM) was used to determine if there was significant affect IIV for these older adults and how much IIV could be explained by these proximal predictors. This analysis approach was used because it is well-suited for nested data (in this case, observations nested within-persons) and does not assume independence of observations (which is a concern when individuals receive repeated assessments). Additionally, MLM analyzes the complete dataset rather than complete cases (individuals), which allowed for comparison of fixed effects regression models and random effects regression models. Random effects models, which are the hallmark of MLM, enabled the analysis of potential individual differences in the within-person relationships between the predictors and affect. As expected, there was significant affect IIV in these older adults for both PA and NA. The predictors of PA and NA were analyzed first in isolation (referred to as “isolated models”) and then when controlling for the other proximal variables (referred to as “full models”). The random effects isolated models were generally better fitting than the fixed effects isolated models, indicating that the models that did not constrain individual predictor-affect slopes to be the same across persons (random) were more accurate representations of the observed data than models that constrained individuals’ slopes to be the same (fixed). Full fixed slopes and full random slopes models were built in stepwise fashion based on the results of the isolated models. Again, the random effects full models better fit the observed data than the fixed effects models for both PA and NA, providing strong evidence in favor of the hypothesis that a larger percentage of affect IIV would be explained when allowing individual differences in the within-person predictor-affect relationships. The full random models accounted for 32% of the PA IIV, and 45% of the NA IIV. These were both better fitting than their respective null models, indicating that overall, the proximal predictors accounted for significant proportions of the within-person PA and NA variance. Certain factors accounted for larger percentages of the IIV than others and in general, there were differences between the PA and NA model in terms of which factors led to emotional fluctuations. Subjective health accounted for the largest percentage of PA IIV and stress accounted for the largest percentage of NA IIV. Additionally, subjective health, life space, stress, and pain were significant unique predictors of PA, NA, or both. However, there were specific unique effects across both PA and NA, namely, the slope variances for stress and pain. Follow-up analyses were unable to account for these slope variances using person-level predictors. In essence, an individual’s emotional reactivity to pain and stress did not depend on his or her overall mean level of those factors, or of the other daily predictors. This provided further evidence that PA and NA should be treated as separable variables (e.g., it is possible for a daily event to decrease older adult’s positivity without necessarily increasing their negativity) but also highlighted factors that have pervasive influences on emotion regardless of valence, which is harmonious with models of affect that propose a dynamic relationship between PA and NA. The results from this study have theoretical and practical implications. Theories on emotional stability often focus on if and why older adults are more stable than younger adults. Findings of the present study both support and expand upon these theories by identifying within an older adult population, which proximal factors were likely to cause emotional deviations after partialling out the effects of other daily variables, including factors that were previously unstudied in this domain. The analysis methodology implemented in the present research allowed for direct investigation of whether certain individuals were more prone to the influences of these factors than others. These results are discussed in the context of coping and resiliency theories that posit individual differences in emotional responses to stimuli based on these capabilities. From a practical perspective, these results highlight that the design of interventions and technologies intended to provide older adults with effective skills and resources to maintain or improve their emotional well-being should be tailored to individuals’ affective profiles.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to find variables related to positive attitudes to physical education (PE) and strong sense of coherence (SOC) among adolescents. METHODS: The study included three parts: seven physical tests; a questionnaire which included ways of living, attitudes to PE, and subjective health, the 13-question version of SOC; and information on every student's grades. The study group comprised 301 teenagers (131 girls and 170 boys, aged 16-19 years) attending upper secondary school. Positive odds ratio was used in the logistic regression analyses with SOC and attitudes to PE as dependent variables. RESULTS: Variables related to positive attitudes to PE were strong SOC, high physical capacity, high leisure-time physical activity (PA), high grades in PE, and little time spent watching TV. Variables related to strong SOC were positive attitudes to PE, high grades in PE, very good subjective health, and feeling comfortable in school. Highest physical capacity, highest mean grades, and highest grades in PE were found among adolescents who reported exercise four times or more per week. CONCLUSIONS: An interrelation between attitudes to PE and SOC was shown. The relation between positive attitudes to PE and high scores in SOC indicated that past experiences of PA and PE could contribute to the development of SOC, and actual levels of SOC could influence the persistent attitudes to PE and be important for lifelong PA. One means of identification of favourable or unfavourable health behaviour among young people might be through PA patterns, and relations between attitudes to PE and SOC.

Tyrimo tikslas - nustatyti patiriamų patyčių darbe, psichosocialinių stresorių darbe ir darbuotojų subjektyviai vertinamos sveikatos sąsajas. Tyrime dalyvavo 167 vieno didžiojo Lietuvos miesto įmonės, susijusios su prekių gamyba, darbuotojos moterys. Patiriamoms patyčioms darbe įvertinti buvo naudojamas Patikslintas negatyvių veiksmų klausimynas (NAQ-R) (Einarsen, Hoel, Notelaers, 2009). Klausimynas sudarytas iš 22 klausimų. Psichosocialinius stresorius darbe įvertinti buvo naudojamas trumpasis klausimynas įvertinti psichosocialinius rizikos veiksnius (SIMPH) (Notelares, De Witte, Van Veldhoven, &Vermunt, 2007). Klausimynas sudarytas iš 36 klausimų. Darbuotojų subjektyviai vertinamai sveikatai įvertinti buvo naudojamas klausimynas, kurį sudaro 20 klausimų, susijusisų su nusiskundimais sveikata (Smith, Johal, Wadsworth et al., 2000). Tyrimo metu buvo atlikta faktorinė analizė ir išskirti šeši faktoriai, iš kurių penki buvo naudoti duomenų analizėje (nusiskundimai, susiję su peršalimu, su nuovargiu ir stresu, galvos ir nugaros skausmai, nusiskundimais, susiję su virškinimo ir kvėpavimo sistema). Taip pat buvo įtrauktas klausimas apie asmens subjektyvų savo sveikatos vertinimą – „Kaip įvertintumėte savo bendrą sveikatos būklę?“ (McDowell, 2006). Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad tam tikri psichosocialiniai stresoriai darbe yra susiję su patyčiomis darbe, taip pat su nusiskundimais sveikata ir prasčiau subjektyviai vertinama darbuotojų sveikata bei vyresniu amžiumi. Dažniau... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of the study was to assess the relationships among women‘s bullying at work, psychosocial stressors at work and subjectively assessed health. The subjects of the study were 167 women who work in an organization related to production of goods in one of the biggest cities of Lithuania. For the assessment of bullying at work, Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R) was used (Einarsen, Hoel, Notelaers, 2009). It consists of 22 items. For the assessment of psychosocial stressors at work, Short Inventory to Monitor Psychosocial Hazards (SIMPH) was used (Notelares, De Witte, Van Veldhoven, &Vermunt, 2007). It consists of 36 items. The questionnaire of health symptoms was used for the assessment of subjective health (Smith, Johal, Wadsworth et al., 2000). It consists of 20 items. Factor analysis was done, six factors were developed, five factors were used for the further data analysis. Factors were named as follows: symptoms of cold, symptoms of tiredness and stress, headaches and back pain, symptoms of the digestive system and symptoms of the respiratory system, an additional question was used: „In general, how would you rate your overall health now?“. The results of the study showed that some psychosocial stressors at work are related to bullying at work, health symptoms, lower assessment of subjective health, and older age. More frequent bullying at work is related to some health symptoms, lower assessment of subjective health, also older age and lower education level... [to full text]

Tyrimo tikslas - identifikuoti mokslininkų bendruomenei būdingas kūrybinio darbo sąlygas bei atskleisti jų sąsajas su subjektyvia mokslininkų sveikata. Siekiant įgyvendinti tyrimo tikslą buvo remiamasi trianguliacijos principu ir renkami empiriniai duomenys tiek kiekybinio, tiek kokybinio tyrimo būdu. Pilotinio tyrimo metu buvo atlikti 6 interviu su skirtingose studijų kryptyse dirbančiais mokslininkais, kurių pagrindu buvo identifikuoti su kūrybiniu darbu susiję darbo sąlygų komponentai ir sukonstruotas kiekybinio tyrimo instrumentas. Tuo tarpu kiekybinis platesnės apimties tyrimas sudarė sąlygas atskleisti 272 Lietuvoje dirbančių mokslininkų nuomones apie jų mokslinio darbo sąlygas bei subjektyvią sveikatą. Empiriniai duomenys parodė, kad mokslininkų darbui būdingos specifinės kūrybinio darbo sąlygos, kurios leidžia kalbėti ir apie šios darbo srities sąlygojamą poveikį mokslininkų sveikatai. Tyrimo dalyvių nuomone, mokslinė veikla - tai nuolatinio kūrybinio proceso (95,6%), intensyvaus mąstymo (95,6%) ir dėmesio koncentravimo ties skirtingomis darbinėmis užduotimis (78,7%) reikalaujantis darbas. Mokslininkų darbo specifika susijusi su lanksčiomis, aiškiai neapibrėžtomis darbinėmis užduotimis, mobilia darbo aplinka, bendradarbiavimu paremtais santykiais mikro lygmenyje, konkurencingais santykiais už bendradarbių kolektyvo ribų, lanksčiu darbo laiko rėžimu bei asmeninio gyvenimo ir darbo derinimo charakteristikomis. Atsižvelgus į išskirtus darbo sąlygų indikatorius... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of research – to identify the creative work conditions in community of Lithuanian scientist and reveal their relationship with subjective scientists health. In order to implement the objective of this study was used the triangulation principle and the empirical data were collected both by quantitative and qualitative research methods. In pilot study were carried out six interviews with informants from different study areas of science, which led to identify the creative work-related working conditions. Based on revealed components were designed quantitative research instrument. Meanwhile, the broader quantitative study made possible to reveal opinions of 272 Lithuanian scientist’s about their scientific work conditions and subjective health. Empirical data shows that researchers work in specific creative work conditions, which enable to talk about features of scientist’s subjective health in the context of creative work. On the basis of the survey participants opinion, the scientific activities are defined as work, which require constant creative process (95,6%), intensive thinking (95,6%) and the concentration of attention on different working tasks (78,7%). The specifics of scientists creative work associated with flexible, clearly uncertain working tasks, mobile work environment, collaborative relationships at micro level, competitive relationships outside close scientists group, flexible working time schedule and the characteristics of personal - professional... [to full text]

Darbo tikslas. Įvertinti vartotojų požiūrį į ekologiškus maisto produktus ir nustatyti sąsajas su subjektyviu sveikatos vertinimu. Tyrimo metodika. Anketinės apklausos metu buvo siekiama išsiaiškinti Kauno miesto suaugusių vartotojų požiūrį į ekologiškus maisto produktus, įvertinti vartotojų informuotumą apie ekologiškų maisto produktų ženklinimą, išsiaiškinti kriterijus pagal kuriuos vartotojai renkasi ekologiškus maisto produktus. Tyrimo metu buvo išdalinta 317 anketų, iš kurių pilnai ir tinkamai užpildytos sugrįžo 263 anketos (atsako dažnis 82,96 proc.) Apklausoje dalyvavo – 84 vyrai ir 179 moterys. Kokybinių požymių statistinis ryšys vertintas remiantis chi kvadrato (χ2) bei z kriterijais. Siekiant įvertinti vartotojų informuotumo apie ekologiškų maisto produktų ženklinimą lygį bei ekologiškų maisto produktų vartojimo sąsajas su subjektyviu sveikatos vertinimu buvo skaičiuotas šansų (galimybių) santykis. Rezultatų skirtumas laikytas statistiškai reikšmingu, kai paklaidos tikimybė (p) <0,05. Rezultatai. 67,5 proc. respondentų teigė, kad vartoja ekologiškus maisto produktus, iš jų daugiau moterų nei vyrų. 2-3 kartus per savaitę ekologiškus produktus teigė, kad vartojo 39,2 proc. moterų ir 37,0 proc. vyrų. Įvertinus sąsajas tarp subjektyvaus respondentų vertinimo apie ekologiškų maisto produktų ženklinimą Lietuvoje ir tikrojo žinių įvertinimo pagal atpažintus logotipus, paaiškėjo, kad tarp teigusių, kad žino kaip yra ženklinami ekologiški maisto produktai, iš tikrųjų žino... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Aim of the study. To evaluate consumers attitude towards organic food and its relation with subjective health estimation. Methods. The study included anonymous questionnaire for adult consumers in Kaunas city to investigate the attitude towards organic food, to evaluate the knowledge of organic food labelling and the motives of the consumers in purchasing organic food. During the study 317 questionnaires were given to the consumers and 263 returned properly fulfilled (response rate 82.96%). 84 men and 179 women participated in the study. Qualitative statistical relations of the variables were analysed by using Chi-squared and z criteria. The knowledge level of the organic food labelling and the associations between organic food consumption and the subjective health estimation were valued by odds ratio. The statistically significant difference were identified when (p)<0.05. Results. 67,5% of all respondents, the bigger proportion of women than men of the study, stated consuming organic food. Organic food was consumed mostly 2-3 times per week by 39.2% of women and 37.0% of men. The results showed that comparing subjective knowledge of the organic food labelling in Lithuania and the knowledge by practically identified labels by the respondents, the respondents who told that they know the organic food labelling, really know only 15.5% of respondents and previously existing labelling know 34.5%; responders who told that they know the labelling of organic food but really they do... [to full text]

There is no secret that we now spend more time than ever on our phones. Today, social media is an important part of our daily lives, and many people's lives revolve around numerous applications. As a result, many people's social networks are heavily reliant on these apps. Being continually connected to various applications might have an impact on an individual's subjective health in relation to Instagram. With the support of prior studies on the social media platform Instagram, we can see how comments and photographs published on Instagram have influenced young women's subjective health. It indicates that young women suffer from feelings such as worry and low self-esteem, as well as eating disorders, which might be related to their use of Instagram. The goal of this study is to determine whether young males face subjective health problems as a result of their use of social media, Instagram. Also  discussed in this paper is the impact of masculine illustration and representation on Instagram on young men. This study is based on societal expectations that emerge from Instagram, in order to acquire a more comprehensive knowledge of Instagram and men's perceived subjective health. This qualitative paper based of semi-structured interviews with young men aged 20 to 25 years old finds no definitive link between young men's health and their perception of masculinity on Instagram. However, all participants express concern that Instagram may have a destructive impact on their subjective health. For the reason that these individuals state that they are continuously subliminally attempting to showcase their masculinity on Instagram. This is accomplished by using ideas and concepts from Goffman's dramaturgical point of view, Connell's masculinity theory, and Mead's symbolic interaction.

Tyrime dalyvavo 283 tiriamieji (138 vaikinai ir 145 merginos). Tiriamąją imtį sudarė Kauno m. ir Kauno rajono vidurinių mokyklų 9 -11 klasių moksleiviai. Paauglių fizinio aktyvumo lygis buvo vertinamas naudojant „Modifikuotą tarptautinį fizinio aktyvumo klausimyną“ (IPAQ- International Physical Activity Questionnaire; Ainsworth, Levy, 2004; Volbekienė, 2006), emociniams bei elgesio ypatumams nustatyti naudotas „11-18 metų jaunuolio savęs vertinimo klausimynas“ (ASEBA – YSR 11/18, Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assesment - Youth Self Report; Achenbach, 2001; Žukauskienė, 2006). Sveikata vertinta darbo autoriaus sudarytu klausimynu. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad paauglių fizinis aktyvumas susijęs su sveikata ir kai kuriais emociniais bei elgesio ypatumais: fiziškai aktyvesni paaugliai geriau vertino savo sveikatą, jų nerimo/ depresijos išreikštumas buvo žemesnis lyginant su fiziškai pasyvesnių paauglių grupe. Didėjant vaikinų fiziniam aktyvumui jų agresyvumas didėja. Fizinio aktyvumo lygis neturėjo ryšio su merginų agresyvumu, paauglių delinkventiniu elgesiu ir užsisklendimu. / The study was conducted among 283 teenagers (138 boys and 145 girls). The selection was made from the 9-11th form students in Kaunas City and District secondary schools. The level of physical activeness was measured according to The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (Ainsworth, Levy, 2004; trans by Volbekiene, 2006). Emotional and behavioural aspects were evaluated using The Questionnaire of Self Assessment for 11-18 year olds (ASEBA- YSR 11/18, Achenbach, 2001, trans by Zukauskiene, 2006). Health levels were assessed using a questionnaire constructed by the author of the study. The results of the study have indicated the link between teenagers’ physical activeness and their health, some emotional and behavioural aspects: more physically active teenagers evaluated their health better; their anxiety/depression indicators were lower compared to those of the less physically active. Whilst the aggression in boys grew respectively with rising physical activeness, such a link wasn’t found in girls. No connection between physical activeness and teenagers’ delinquent behaviour or shyness was determined.

Episodic memory (EM) displays the most prominent age-related decline. However, this decline could possibly be minimized by engaging in a physically active and cognitively stimulating lifestyle. A way to measure the self-perceived ability to engage in such a lifestyle is with subjective health estimations, which have been associated with objective health. The Subjective Health Horizon Questionnaire (SHH-Q) measures estimated individual maximum age to engage in activities in relation to four lifestyle dimensions: Novelty, Body, Work and Life Goals. Among these, Novelty is suggested to be associated with EM performance. Thus, in this study, the first aim is to corroborate that the SHH-Q items align according to the hypothesized dimensions. The second aim is to assess whether any of the dimensions are associated with EM. In this cross-sectional study 129 Swedish participants, aged 69-73, were evaluated with the SHH-Q and three EM tests. Statistical analyses included Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for aim 1 along with a correlation- and linear regression analysis for aim 2. The results showed that the SHH-Q items aligned with the four dimensions as expected, but that the linear regression model with the SHH-Q in relation to EM was not significant. However, a significant positive zero-order correlation between Novelty and EM (r(90) = .19, p = .04) was found. The association between Novelty and EM highlights the possibility that engaging in novelty-oriented exploration, such as new experiences and environments, may be associated with preserved EM performance at older ages. Future research should investigate the neural correlates of this association. / Episodminnet har visat en stark åldersrelaterad försämring. Denna nedgång skulle möjligen kunna minimeras med en fysiskt aktiv och kognitivt stimulerande livsstil. Ett sätt att mäta den självupplevda förmågan att engagera sig i en sådan livsstil är med subjektiva hälsomått, som även har associerats med objektiv hälsa. Subjective Health Horizon Questionnaire (SHH-Q) mäter uppskattad individuell maxålder för engagemang i aktiviteter i relation till fyra dimensioner av livsstil: Novelty, Body, Work och Life Goals. Bland dessa föreslås Novelty vara associerad med episodminnesprestation. Det första målet med denna studie är att korroborera att frågorna i SHH-Q kan delas in i de tidigare föreslagna dimensionerna. Det andra målet är att bedöma om någon av dimensionerna är förknippade med episodminnet. I denna tvärsnittsstudie utvärderades 129 svenska deltagare i åldern 69-73, med SHH-Q och tre EM-tester. Statistiska analyser inkluderar principiell komponentanalys för mål 1 tillsammans med en korrelations- och linjär regressionsanalys för mål 2. Resultatet visade att SHH-Q frågorna kan delas in i de fyra dimensionerna som förväntat, men den linjära regressionsmodellen med SHH-Q i relation till episodminne var inte signifikant. Däremot fanns en signifikant positiv korrelation mellan Novelty och episodminne (r(90) = .19, p = .04). Associationen mellan Novelty och episodminne betonar möjligheten att engagemang i novelty-orienterat utforskande, såsom nya erfarenheter och miljöer, kan vara associerat med bevarad episodminnesprestation vid högre ålder. Framtida forskning bör utforska de neurala korrelaten av denna association.

Aging in the new millennium is greatly influenced by both global and region-specific factors. In Asia, the aged population is increasing at a faster rate than both Europe and North America, making issues related to older adults needing immediate attention of researchers & planners. This study aims at identifying the predictors of successful aging. Successful aging as a construct often has an integration of good social engagement, sense of purpose in life, maintaining cognitive capacity and functional autonomy. One hundred fifty participants in India completed the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire, Geriatric Depression Scale, Health Awareness Schedule, and the Leisure Time Activity Record. Firstly, it is mainly evident that social support network is larger for older adults residing in a joint family as compared to a nuclear family setup. Further, married males in a joint family have the largest network size compared to all the other groups. The study however, reveals an interesting reverse trend of widowed females having a larger network size compared to widowed males. Statistical analysis found measures of successful aging to be highly correlated with each other, with subjective health and depression being significant predictors of life satisfaction. Further, life satisfaction, depression levels, and leisure time activities were all significant predictors of subjective health. Significant gender differences were found on life satisfaction and subjective health with married males living in joint families reporting the highest scores on all the above measures. In addition, widowed women showed the highest levels of depression, which relates to their lower life satisfaction, poor ratings of health and low involvement in leisure activities. The study achieved a higher understanding of successful aging and presented a novel finding of educational level being significantly correlated with all measures of successful aging. This study is the first of its kind to measure successful aging in an urban Asian-Indian population. However, more research is needed to examine other age-related variations to enable generalization of results to a larger culturally diverse population.

Mit der vorliegenden Arbeit werden aktuelle Anwendungsbereiche der Lebensqualitätsforschung innerhalb der klinischen Medizin dargestellt. Besonderes Gewicht wurde dabei auf die Erläuterung der Grundlagen der Lebensqualitätsforschung und der derzeit verbreiteten Konzepte, die Diskussion aktueller und zukünftiger Messmethoden sowie die Darstellung einiger typischer Anwendungen gelegt. Der letzte Teil der Arbeit weist auf die bereits erkennbaren Grenzen und ethischen Konsequenzen dieser Forschungsrichtung hin. In der Habilitationsschrift werden verschiedene Originalarbeiten zusammengefasst, denen jeweils eine allgemeine Einführung zur leichteren thematische Einordnung vorangestellt ist. / This volume demonstrates the present scope of 'Quality of Life' research within a clinical context. Different chapters describe the foundations and the development of 'Quality of Life' research, presently used concepts, discussions about appropriate measurement models and some perspectives for an improvement of psychometric methods. Further, different applications and purposes to use 'Quality of Life' instruments in a clinical context are demonstrated. The last part discusses particular ethical consequences and other limitations of 'Quality of Life' research. All chapters combine introductory sections with published original works.