The influence of daily spiritual experiences and gender on subjective well-being over time in cancer survivors

Cancer survivors are at risk for poor subjective well-being, but the potential beneficial effect of daily spiritual experiences is unknown. Using data from the second and third wave of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, we examined the extent to which daily spiritual experiences at baseline moderate the association between subjective well-being at baseline and approximately 10 years later in cancer survivors ( n = 288). Regression analyses, controlled for age, educational attainment, and religious/spiritual coping, showed that daily spiritual experiences moderated the association between life satisfaction at baseline and follow-up. Specifically, high spiritual experiences enhanced life satisfaction over time in cancer survivors with low life satisfaction at baseline. Also, daily spiritual experiences moderated the association between positive affect at baseline and follow-up, though this moderating effect was different for women and men. No moderating effect emerged for negative affect.

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LIFE AFTER 100: IS GOD THE SECRET TO A SATISFYING AND PURPOSEFUL LIFE?

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.1931 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S524-S525

Author(s):

Nadia Firdauysa ◽

Jyoti Bhatta ◽

Alex J Bishop ◽

Tanya Finchum ◽

James Grice

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Purpose In Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Analysis Method ◽

Ordinal Analysis ◽

C Value ◽

The Relationship ◽

Over Time

Abstract Data from N = 111 centenarians (M = 100.88; SD = 1.48) residing in Oklahoma was used to examine patterns in the relationship between the God oriented vs. non-God oriented longevity secrets and subjective well-being. Observational Oriented Modeling (OOM) was then used to conduct an ordinal analysis using concatenated ordering to produce degree of fitness between data and underlying patterns in life satisfaction and purpose-in-life across three time points. OOM is a data analysis method used to evaluate fitness of proposed patterns to data called PCC. Results indicated that centenarians maintaining a God-oriented longevity secret fit a decreased pattern in life satisfaction (PCC = 25.00, c-value = .09); whereas centenarians not maintaining a God-oriented longevity secret fit the same pattern (PCC = 49.18, c-value = .06). Meanwhile, centenarians having a God-oriented longevity secret fit a decreased pattern of purpose-in-life (PCC = 71.43, c-value =.12); whereas centenarians having a non-God oriented longevity secret fit the same pattern (PCC = 53.45, c-value = .28). In comparison to centenarians who acknowledged something other than God as the secret to their longevity, those who cite God as the reason for longevity tend to proportionately maintain a more satisfying view of life, yet experience a deteriorating sense of purpose over time. Results indicate that longevity secrets reflect divergent patterns in subjective well-being among persons living beyond 100 years. This has implications relative to how geriatric practitioners design interventions, services, or programs to enhance quality-of-life for long-lived adults.

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Long-Run Effects of Lottery Wealth on Psychological Well-Being

The Review of Economic Studies ◽

10.1093/restud/rdaa006 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 87 (6) ◽

pp. 2703-2726 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Erik Lindqvist ◽

Robert Östling ◽

David Cesarini

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Well Being ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Domain Specific ◽

Important Mediator ◽

Long Run ◽

Over Time ◽

Overall Life Satisfaction

Abstract We surveyed a large sample of Swedish lottery players about their psychological well-being 5–22 years after a major lottery event and analysed the data following pre-registered procedures. Relative to matched controls, large-prize winners experience sustained increases in overall life satisfaction that persist for over a decade and show no evidence of dissipating over time. The estimated treatment effects on happiness and mental health are significantly smaller. Follow-up analyses of domain-specific aspects of life satisfaction implicate financial life satisfaction as an important mediator for the long-run increase in overall life satisfaction.

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The Efficacy of a Peer-Led Versus Nurse-Led Self-Management on the Subjective Well-Being of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Jundishapur Journal of Chronic Disease Care ◽

10.5812/jjcdc.103036 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Maryam Azizi ◽

Najmeh Javan ◽

Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Mirzaei ◽

Seyyed Abolfazl Vagharseyyedin

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Management Training ◽

Well Being ◽

Satisfaction With Life Scale ◽

Self Management ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Positive Experience ◽

Negative Experience ◽

Over Time

Background: Subjective well-being (SWB) can be a buffer against mental health problems. Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) tend to experience low levels of subjective well-being. Objectives: The two objectives were (1) to examine whether peer-led and nurse-led self-management training can improve SWB of patients with MS and (2) to compare the effect of these two interventions on SWB of patients with MS. Methods: In this trial, 81 patients were randomly assigned to either nurse-led (n = 41) or peer-led (n = 40) groups. Both groups participated in six weekly-based 1.5‐hr self-management sessions. The cognitive and affective components of SWB were evaluated using the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Scale for Positive and Negative Experience, respectively. Results: Life satisfaction increased in both groups over time (P < 0.001), although it was not significantly different between the two groups (P > 0.05). Positive and negative experiences increased in both groups over time (P < 0.05), but the increase in positive experience in the peer-led group was significantly larger than those in the nurse-led group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Peer-led and nurse-led self-management training, are feasible tools to enhance the cognitive component of SWB, i.e., life satisfaction. Considering the affective component of SWB, positive experience in the peer-led group improved better than in the nurse-led group over time. Therefore, if healthcare providers improve the SWB of patients with relapsing-remitting MS, the self-management intervention led by peers is preferred than nurse-led self-management training.

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Social Structure and Personality During the Process of Radical Social Change: A Study of Ukraine in Transition

Comparative Sociology ◽

10.1163/1569133043019735 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 3 (3-4) ◽

pp. 239-284 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Vladimir Paniotto ◽

Melvin Kohn ◽

Valeriy Khmelko ◽

HO-Fung Hung

Keyword(s):

Social Change ◽

Social Structure ◽

Past Research ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

Social Stability ◽

Individual Personality ◽

The Times ◽

Over Time

AbstractThis paper investigates the relationships of social structure and personality during a period of radical social change attendant on the early stages of the transformation of Ukraine from socialism to nascent capitalism. It does so by analyzing data secured from face-to-face interviews with a representative sample of urban Ukrainian men and women in 1992-93, together with a follow-up survey three to three and a half years later of all those respondents who at the time of the initial survey either were employed or were seeking paid employment.We found that the over-time correlations – the stabilities – of two underlying dimensions of personality – self-directedness of orientation and a sense of well-being or distress – were startlingly low, by comparison not only to the United States at a time of much greater social stability, but also to Poland at the same time as the Ukrainian study, albeit at a later stage of transition. The stability of a third fundamental dimension of personality – intellectual flexibility – was higher than those of self-directedness of orientation and distress, but considerably lower than past research had led us to expect. Still, despite massive changes in social and economic conditions and great instability of personality, the relationships of social structure with personality were remarkably consistent over time and, with the partial exception of those with the sense of wellbeing or distress, were quite similar to those of both socialist and advanced capitalist societies during times of apparent social stability. Our analyses suggest that consistency in the relationships between social structure and personality despite great change both in social structure and in personality results from the continued stability of proximate conditions of life that link position in the larger social structure to individual personality, and the continued strength of those linkages. Notable among these proximate conditions, for those people who were employed at the times of both the baseline and follow-up surveys, is the substantive complexity of their work.

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Debt and Subjective Well-Being: Does the Type of Debt Matter?

Swiss Journal of Sociology ◽

10.2478/sjs-2020-0022 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 445-465

Author(s):

Tristan Coste ◽

Caroline Henchoz ◽

Boris Wernli

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Well Being ◽

The Elderly ◽

Financial Satisfaction ◽

Longitudinal Analyses ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Different Types ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Payment Arrears ◽

Over Time

AbstractBased on longitudinal analyses of data from the Swiss Household Panel, this paper investigates the effect of different types of debt on two evaluative measures of subjective well-being: financial satisfaction and life satisfaction. Payment arrears reduce financial satisfaction more than loans or the accumulation of different types of debt (arrears and loans). This negative effect is stable over time. Conversely, each additional year with arrears decreases life satisfaction, confirming the overall and general negative effect of arrears on all domains of daily life, especially for the elderly.

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Development of Subjective Well-Being in Adolescence

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16193690 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (19) ◽

pp. 3690 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ricarda Steinmayr ◽

Linda Wirthwein ◽

Laura Modler ◽

Margaret M. Barry

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Economic Status ◽

Well Being ◽

Report Cards ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Longitudinal Assessment ◽

Growth Curve Models ◽

Academic Tracks ◽

Time Changes ◽

Over Time

Despite the importance of subjective well-being (SWB) for students’ mental and physical health, there is a lack of longitudinal studies investigating the development of SWB in adolescents and what factors are associated with it over time. The present study seeks to shed further light on this question by investigating adolescents longitudinally. A sample of German academic tracks students (N = 476) from five schools were followed longitudinally over a time period of 30 months with four measurement points from Grade 11 to Grade 13. Alongside the longitudinal assessment of SWB (mood and life satisfaction), a range of other factors were also assessed at t1 including; demographic factors (sex, age, socio-economic status (HISEI)), intelligence, grades (report cards provided by the schools), personality (neuroticism, extraversion) and perceived parental expectations and support. Latent growth curve models were conducted to investigate the development of SWB and its correlates. On average, mood and life satisfaction improved at the end of mandatory schooling. However, students significantly differed in this pattern of change. Students’ life satisfaction developed more positively if students had good grades at t1. Furthermore, even though introverted students started with lower life satisfaction at t1, extraverts’ life showed greater increases over time. Changes in mood were associated with socio-economic background; the higher the HISEI the more positive the change. As social comparisons in school performance are almost inevitable, schools should intervene to buffer the influence of school grades on students’ SWB.

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National longitudinal evidence for growth in subjective well-being from spiritual beliefs

Journal of Health Psychology ◽

10.1177/13591053211009280 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 135910532110092

Author(s):

Benjamin Highland ◽

Everett L Worthington ◽

Don E Davis ◽

Chris G Sibley ◽

Joseph A Bulbulia

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Well Being ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Traditional Religion ◽

Spiritual Beliefs ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Life Force ◽

Industrial Societies ◽

Nationally Diverse ◽

Over Time

Previous research finds an association between spirituality and subjective well-being. However, the widespread use of poorly defined concepts of spirituality, tautological spirituality scales, and heavy reliance on cross-sectional samples cast doubts on prior findings. Here, we leverage ten waves of panel data from a nationally diverse longitudinal study to systematically test whether having spiritual beliefs leads to growth in personal well-being and life satisfaction ( N = 3257, New Zealand, 2010–2020). Contrary to previous research, we find that belief in a spirit or life force predicts lower personal well-being and life satisfaction. However, in support of previous speculation, belief (relative to disbelief) in a spirit or life force predicts increasing personal well-being and life satisfaction over time. These findings are robust even while accounting for known demographic influences; they even hold among those who believe in a God but disbelieve in a spirit or life force. The recent growth in spiritual beliefs and decline in traditional religion across many industrial societies motivates further causal investigations of the mechanisms by which spiritual beliefs lead to growth in subjective well-being.

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Inequalities in Life Expectancy and All-Cause Mortality in the United States by Levels of Happiness and Life Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Study

International Journal of MCH and AIDS (IJMA) ◽

10.21106/ijma.392 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 305-315

Author(s):

Hyunjung Lee ◽

Gopal K. Singh

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Life Expectancy ◽

Global Health ◽

Mortality Risk ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

All Cause Mortality ◽

The Impact

Background: Despite having one of the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita levels, United States (US) ranks lower in subjective well-being, including happiness and life satisfaction, compared with European countries. Studies of the impact of happiness and life satisfaction on life expectancy and mortality in the US are limited or non-existent. Using a national longitudinal dataset, we examined the association between levels of happiness/life satisfaction and US life expectancy and all-cause mortality. Methods: We analyzed the 2001 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) prospectively linked to 2001-2014 mortality records in the National Death Index (NDI) (N=30,377). Cox proportional hazards regression was used to model survival time as a function of happiness, life satisfaction, and sociodemographic and behavioral covariates. Results: Life expectancies at age 18 among adults with high levels of happiness and life satisfaction were, respectively, 7.5 and 8.9 years higher compared to those with low levels of happiness and life satisfaction. In Cox models with 14 years of mortality follow-up, all-cause mortality risk was 82% higher (hazard ratio [HR]=1.82; 95% CI=1.59,2.08) in adults with little or no happiness, controlling for age, and 36% higher (HR=1.36; 95% CI=1.17,1.57) in adults with little/no happiness, controlling for sociodemographic, behavioral and health characteristics, when compared with adults reporting happiness all of the time. Mortality risk was 107% higher (HR=2.07; 95% CI=1.80,2.38) in adults who were very dissatisfied with their life, controlling for age, and 39% higher (HR=1.39; 95% CI=1.20,1.60) in adults who were very dissatisfied, controlling for all covariates, when compared with adults who were very satisfied. Conclusions and Global Health Implications: Adults with higher happiness and life satisfaction levels had significantly higher life expectancy and lower all-cause mortality risks than those with lower happiness and satisfaction levels. These findings underscore the significance of addressing subjective well-being in the population as a strategy for reducing all-cause mortality. Key words: • Inequalities • Disparities • Happiness • Life satisfaction • Life expectancy • Mortality • Longitudinal • Social determinants Copyright © 2020 Lee and Singh. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in this journal, is properly cited.

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Executive Function and Subjective Well-being in Middle and Late Adulthood

The Journals of Gerontology Series B ◽

10.1093/geronb/gbz006 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 75 (6) ◽

pp. e69-e77 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Wei Xing Toh ◽

Hwajin Yang ◽

Andree Hartanto

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Executive Function ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

Sense Of Control ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Positive Reappraisal ◽

Late Adulthood ◽

Mediation Effects

Abstract Objectives A growing body of research has investigated psychosocial predictors of subjective well-being (SWB), a key component of healthy aging, which comprises life satisfaction and affective well-being. However, few studies have examined how executive function (EF)—a collection of adaptive, goal-directed control processes—could affect SWB in middle and late adulthood. Methods By analyzing a nationally representative adult cohort ranging from the early 30s to early 80s from the Midlife Development in the United States 2 study, we examined two potential mediators (i.e., sense of control vs positive reappraisal) that could underlie the relation between EF and SWB. Further, we assessed how these mediational pathways would differ across midlife and older adulthood. Results Our results revealed that sense of control, but not positive reappraisal, significantly mediated the relation between EF and life satisfaction and affective well-being. Moreover, these mediation effects were significantly moderated by age, with more pronounced effects among older adults. Discussion We found that EF in later adulthood facilitates a sense of control over obstacles that interfere with the attainment of goals, which in turn is associated with greater life satisfaction and positive affect. This underscores the role of EF as an increasingly valuable resource that buffers against declines in sense of control and SWB in late adulthood.

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A comparative study of factors explaining declining levels in adolescents’ life satisfaction: the importance of school well-being

10.31235/osf.io/42sd8 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jose Marquez ◽

Joanna Inchley

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Decomposition Analysis ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

Information And Communications Technology ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

International Student Assessment ◽

Ict Use

Recent research has shown that adolescents’ subjective well-being and positive mental health is declining in many countries. Many studies exploring factors potentially driving these trends have highlighted the increasing role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in young people’s lives, and social media use in particular. However, some studies suggest that factors in the school domain may also be important. Using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study, we investigate a series of factors explaining declining life satisfaction (LS) in eight countries with the largest declines in LS among 15-year-old adolescents in the period 2015-2018 (Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the United States, Japan, Ireland and France), with a focus on gender differences. We conducted a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis of the cohort gap in LS in relation to three key domains: school well-being, material well-being and ICT use. We find that the decline in LS was largely due to students having more negative experiences at school. This explained approximately 20-65% of the cohort gap in LS, with the exception of Japan. Changes in material well-being and ICT use explained 5-10% and only in some countries. Results vary across nations and in Japan these differ significantly from those observed in the other countries. Some gender differences were evident, for example, increases in time spent playing video games had a negative impact on LS among girls but not boys. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

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