scholarly journals Happy with Your Capabilities? Valuing ICECAP-O and ICECAP-A States Based on Experienced Utility Using Subjective Well-Being Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 498-510
Author(s):  
Sebastian Himmler ◽  
Job van Exel ◽  
Werner Brouwer

Background. The ICECAP-O and the ICECAP-A are validated capability well-being instruments. To be used in economic evaluations, multidimensional instruments require weighting of the distinguished well-being states. These weights are usually obtained through ex ante preference elicitation (i.e., decision utility) but could also be based on experienced utility. Objective. This article describes the development of value sets for ICECAP-O and ICECAP-A based on experienced utility and compares them with current decision utility weights. Methods. Data from 2 cross-sectional samples corresponding to the target groups of ICECAP-O and ICECAP-A were used in 2 separate analyses. The utility impacts of ICECAP-O and ICECAP-A levels were assessed through regression models using a composite measure of subjective well-being as a proxy for experienced utility. The observed utility impacts were rescaled to match the 0 to 1 range of the existing value set. Results. The calculated experienced utility values were similar to the decision utility weights for some of the ICECAP dimensions but deviated for others. The largest differences were found for weights of the ICECAP-O dimension enjoyment and the ICECAP-A dimensions attachment and autonomy. Conclusions. The results suggest a different weighting of ICECAP-O and ICECAP-A levels if experienced utility is used instead of decision utility.

GeroPsych ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lia Oberhauser ◽  
Andreas B. Neubauer ◽  
Eva-Marie Kessler

Abstract. Conflict avoidance increases across the adult lifespan. This cross-sectional study looks at conflict avoidance as part of a mechanism to regulate belongingness needs ( Sheldon, 2011 ). We assumed that older adults perceive more threats to their belongingness when they contemplate their future, and that they preventively react with avoidance coping. We set up a model predicting conflict avoidance that included perceptions of future nonbelonging, termed anticipated loneliness, and other predictors including sociodemographics, indicators of subjective well-being and perceived social support (N = 331, aged 40–87). Anticipated loneliness predicted conflict avoidance above all other predictors and partially mediated the age-association of conflict avoidance. Results suggest that belongingness regulation accounts may deepen our understanding of conflict avoidance in the second half of life.


Author(s):  
Emily Brindal ◽  
Jillian C Ryan ◽  
Naomi Kakoschke ◽  
Sinead Golley ◽  
Ian T Zajac ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, social distancing practices were introduced to curb infection rates in many countries. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of these restrictions on behaviours and well-being and whether individual differences predict changes in well-being. Methods Australian adults participated in a cross-sectional, online survey during May 2020. The survey captured demographic information; health behaviours; personality traits; life satisfaction and COVID-19-related attitudes, financial concerns, perceived risks and impacts. Results In total, 3745 (86.8% of 4313) participants completed all items. Participants were mostly female (85.7%) and 56.4 years (standard deviation [SD] = 12.6) on average. Over 95.0% of the sample indicated they had been social distancing or isolating. Health behaviours and well-being had generally worsened, with social connections being the most negatively affected. Life satisfaction was significantly lower since restrictions. For changes in life satisfaction, extroversion was a risk factor and openness to experience was a protective factor. Conclusions Overall, well-being was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated social distancing particularly in this sample containing mainly older women. In future, it will be crucial to understand why and who may be differentially affected, to encourage behaviours that are protective of well-being.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 602
Author(s):  
Ing-Chung Huang ◽  
Pey-Lan Du ◽  
Long-Sheng Lin ◽  
Tsai-Fei Lin ◽  
Shu-Chun Kuo

Background: Apart from the workplace, drawing support from family and religion is critical to maintaining the well-being of high-technology employees. Relying on the job demands-resources model and the positive affective spillover effect, the aim of this study was to investigate the mediated relationship of family support, work engagement and subjective well-being, and the moderating effect of religious attendance on the mediated relationship. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was adopted. Mediation and moderated mediation were tested using the PROCESS macro v3.5 for the SPSS supplement. Purposive sampling was used for the distribution of questionnaires to high-technology employees in Taiwan. Results: Results from the data of 603 high-technology employees indicated that family support, work engagement, and subjective well-being exhibited a significant mediated relationship, and the mediated relationship was stronger among individuals with religious attendance experience. Conclusions: This study emphasizes the driving effect of family support on high-technology employee well-being and the moderating effect of religious attendance as a situational strength. We recommend closely attending to employee well-being because doing so is conducive to both the personal quality of life of employees and the sustainable development of organizations.


2021 ◽  
pp. 223386592110117
Author(s):  
Robert Davidson ◽  
Alexander Pacek ◽  
Benjamin Radcliff

While a growing literature within the study of subjective well-being demonstrates the impact of socio-political factors on subjective well-being, scholars have conspicuously failed to consider the role of the size and scope of government as determinants of well-being. Where such studies exist, the focus is largely on the advanced industrial democracies of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. In this study, we examine the size of the public sector as a determinant of cross-national variation in life satisfaction across a worldwide sample. Our findings strongly suggest that as the public sector grows, subjective well-being increases as well, conditional on the extent of quality of government. Using cross-sectional data on 84 countries, we show this relationship has an independent and separable impact from other economic and political factors.


Author(s):  
David Bartram

AbstractHappiness/well-being researchers who use quantitative analysis often do not give persuasive reasons why particular variables should be included as controls in their cross-sectional models. One commonly sees notions of a “standard set” of controls, or the “usual suspects”, etc. These notions are not coherent and can lead to results that are significantly biased with respect to a genuine causal relationship.This article presents some core principles for making more effective decisions of that sort.  The contribution is to introduce a framework (the “causal revolution”, e.g. Pearl and Mackenzie 2018) unfamiliar to many social scientists (though well established in epidemiology) and to show how it can be put into practice for empirical analysis of causal questions.  In simplified form, the core principles are: control for confounding variables, and do not control for intervening variables or colliders.  A more comprehensive approach uses directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to discern models that meet a minimum/efficient criterion for identification of causal effects.The article demonstrates this mode of analysis via a stylized investigation of the effect of unemployment on happiness.  Most researchers would include other determinants of happiness as controls for this purpose.  One such determinant is income—but income is an intervening variable in the path from unemployment to happiness, and including it leads to substantial bias.  Other commonly-used variables are simply unnecessary, e.g. religiosity and sex.  From this perspective, identifying the effect of unemployment on happiness requires controlling only for age and education; a small (parsimonious) model is evidently preferable to a more complex one in this instance.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Dadaczynski ◽  
Claudia Kotarski ◽  
Katharina Rathmann ◽  
Orkan Okan

PurposeSchool principals are generally seen as key facilitators for the delivery and long-term implementation of activities on school health promotion, including health literacy. However, there is little evidence on the health literacy and health status of this occupational group. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the health literacy of school principals and its association with mental health indicators.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional online survey with German school principals and members of the management board (vice principals) was conducted (n = 680, 68.3% female). Demographic (gender, age) and work characteristics (type of school, professional role) as well as health literacy served as independent variables. Mental health as a dependent variable included well-being, emotional exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints. Next to uni- and bivariate analysis, a series of binary logistic regression models was performed.FindingsOf the respondents, 29.2% showed a limited health literacy with significant differences to the disadvantage of male principals. With regard to mental health, respondents aged over 60 years and those from schools for children with special educational needs were less often affected by low well-being as well as frequent emotional exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints. Taking into account demographic and work characteristics, regression models revealed significant associations between a low level of health literacy and poor mental health across all indicators.Research limitations/implicationsThe cross-sectional nature of this study does not allow to draw conclusions about the causal pathways between health literacy and mental health. Although the sample has been weighted, the results cannot be generalized to the whole population of school principals. There is a need for evidence-based interventions aiming at promoting health literacy and mental health tailored to the needs of school principals.Originality/valueThis is the first study to investigate health literacy and its association with health indicators among school principals.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 2073-2073
Author(s):  
P.-M. Llorca ◽  
L. Samalin ◽  
O. Blanc ◽  

Schizophrenia is a severe and disabling disorder, which affects multiple functional domains adversely.Several factors like premorbid functioning and psychopathological symptoms can affect functional outcome. Residual psychopathology after an acute exacerbation has a variable influence, going from a weak correlation to positive symptoms to clear association of negative symptoms with reduced social functioning to widespread influence of cognitive symptoms.We performed a cross-sectional evaluation in a sample of 296 schizophrenic patients for demographic, functional characteristics (using different scales: Functional Recovery Scale in Schizophrenia (FRSS), Subjective Well-being Scale (SWN-K), Quality of Life Scale (QLS)) and symptomatic (using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)). Exploratory multivariate analyses were conducted and a model with “functioning” as a latent variable was proposed and tested. Results: Using the 5 clinical dimensions of the PANSS, negative, cognitive and excitation factors are significant predictors of functioning. The model was constructed with “functioning” defined as a latent variable; indicators are sub-scores on FRSS, SWN-K, QLS and exogenous variables included symptomatology, Duration of Untreated Psychosis and educational level. The negative and cognitive dimensions are highly correlated via the latent variable to the 3 dimensions of functioning evaluated by the FRSS: “daily life”, “social functioning” and “treatment” and the QLS sub-scores (“interpersonal”, “common object”, “instrumental role”). Educational level is significantly linked to functioning but not DUP. The model emphasizes the need for treatment strategies that have an effect on negative and cognitive factors, to improve functioning in schizophrenia.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Shi ◽  
Simone Maria da Silva Lima ◽  
Caroline Maria de Miranda Mota ◽  
Ying Lu ◽  
Randall S Stafford ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Multimorbidity is the co-occurrence of two or more chronic diseases. OBJECTIVE This study, based on self-reported medical diagnosis, aims to investigate the dynamic distribution of multimorbidity across sociodemographic levels and its impacts on health-related issues over 15 years in Brazil using national data. METHODS Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, hypothesis tests, and logistic regression. The study sample comprised 679,572 adults (18-59 years of age) and 115,699 elderly people (≥60 years of age) from the two latest cross-sectional, multiple-cohort, national-based studies: the National Sample Household Survey (PNAD) of 1998, 2003, and 2008, and the Brazilian National Health Survey (PNS) of 2013. RESULTS Overall, the risk of multimorbidity in adults was 1.7 times higher in women (odds ratio [OR] 1.73, 95% CI 1.67-1.79) and 1.3 times higher among people without education (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.28-1.41). Multiple chronic diseases considerably increased with age in Brazil, and people between 50 and 59 years old were about 12 times more likely to have multimorbidity than adults between 18 and 29 years of age (OR 11.89, 95% CI 11.27-12.55). Seniors with multimorbidity had more than twice the likelihood of receiving health assistance in community services or clinics (OR 2.16, 95% CI 2.02-2.31) and of being hospitalized (OR 2.37, 95% CI 2.21-2.56). The subjective well-being of adults with multimorbidity was often worse than people without multiple chronic diseases (OR=12.85, 95% CI: 12.07-13.68). These patterns were similar across all 4 cohorts analyzed and were relatively stable over 15 years. CONCLUSIONS Our study shows little variation in the prevalence of the multimorbidity of chronic diseases in Brazil over time, but there are differences in the prevalence of multimorbidity across different social groups. It is hoped that the analysis of multimorbidity from the two latest Brazil national surveys will support policy making on epidemic prevention and management.


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