Rural Experiments with the Management of Basic Resources. Key Characteristics of European Ecovillages Aiming at Partial Self-Sufficiency in Water, Food and Energy

Abstract The goal of this paper is to provide a preliminary analysis of European ecovillages considered as rural grassroots experiments with the sustainable management of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. The article presents empirical data on the management of basic resources in 60 European ecovillages collected with an online survey in 2020. The results show that a vast majority of ecovillages pursue some self-sufficiency in food, water or energy, and that 50% of them seek some self-sufficiency in all three of these resources. However, ecovillages do not try to be completely self-sufficient but rather aim at achieving feasible levels of self-sufficiency complemented with local and regional cooperation. While the role of ecovillages in driving conventional rural growth is limited, they can help in guiding sustainability transitions by illustrating opportunities and difficulties of reducing resource consumption of settlement units without reducing personal and communal well-being.

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COVID-19 Barometer: Social Opinion – What Do the Portuguese Think in This Time of COVID-19?

Portuguese Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1159/000513740 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Ana Rita Pedro ◽

Ana Gama ◽

Patrícia Soares ◽

Marta Moniz ◽

Pedro A. Laires ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Services ◽

Online Survey ◽

Well Being ◽

Point Of View ◽

Daily Lives ◽

The People ◽

Huge Impact ◽

The Impact ◽

Continue Monitoring

The COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges to the global community, reinforcing the role of public health in society. The main measures to combat it had (and still have) a huge impact on the daily lives of citizens. This investigation aimed to identify and monitor the population’s perceptions about how it faced this period and the impact on health, well-being, and daily life. In this study, we describe the main trends observed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of mental health status, confidence in the capacity of the health services to respond to the pandemic, and the use of health services by participants. The online survey collected responses from 171,947 individuals ≥16 years of age in Portugal, over a period of 15 weeks that started on 21 March 2020. Participants could fill the questionnaire once or weekly, which enabled us to analyse trends and variations in responses. Overall, 81% of the respondents reported having felt agitated, anxious, or sad during the COVID-19 pandemic; 19% did not experience these feelings. During the confinement period, the proportion of participants feeling agitated, anxious, or sad every day/almost every day ranged between 20 and 30%, but since the deconfinement this proportion decreased. Around 30% reported having more difficulty getting to sleep or to sleep all night; 28.4% felt more agitated; 25.5% felt sadder, discouraged, or cried more easily; and 24.7% felt unable to do everything they had to do, women more frequently than men. Overall, 65.8% of the participants reported feeling confident or very confident in the health services’ capacity to respond to the challenges associated with the pandemic, and this confidence increased over time. Concerning the people who needed a consultation, 35.6% had one in person and 20.8% had one remotely, but almost 44% did not have one due to cancellation by the service (27.2%) or their own decision not to go (16.3%). At this unusual time in which we find ourselves and based on our findings, it is essential to continue monitoring how the population is facing the different phases of the pandemic until it officially ends. Analysing the effects of the pandemic from the point of view of citizens allows for anticipating critical trends and can contribute to preventative action.

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Dealing With the Pandemic of COVID-19 in Portugal: On the Important Role of Positivity, Experiential Avoidance, and Coping Strategies

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.647984 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Maria José Ferreira ◽

Rui Sofia ◽

David F. Carreno ◽

Nikolett Eisenbeck ◽

Inês Jongenelen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

Coping Strategies ◽

Experiential Avoidance ◽

Online Survey ◽

Critical Role ◽

Well Being ◽

Coping With Stress ◽

Self Blame ◽

And Coping

The global COVID-19 pandemic crisis has caused an unprecedented impact on most areas of people’s lives. Thus, framed within the scope of Existential Positive Psychology (PP2.0), this study aimed at assessing the psychological distress of adults living in Portugal during the first national lockdown, how they are coping with stress, as well to contribute to a deeper understanding about the role that positivity, experiential avoidance, and coping strategies have in psychological distress and well-being. For this purpose, 586 Portuguese adults (73% females) ranging between 18 and 78 years old (M = 38.96, SD = 12.20) completed an online survey during the initial phase of the pandemic crisis in Portugal. Findings suggest that experiential avoidance was the strongest predictor of a negative response (depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, and negative emotions), whereas positivity was a better predictor of psychological well-being and lower levels of depression. Additionally, self-blame, behavioral disengagement, and emotional venting were strong risk factors for psychological distress, whereas positive reframing, planning, and acceptance were associated with more positive outcomes. These findings highlight the critical role of experiential avoidance on individuals’ psychological distress and the essential contribution of positive life orientation in promoting flourishing. By offering a better understanding of the complex navigation through the dialectics between positive and negative life features, this study provides important and useful cues for psychological interventions directed at promoting a more positive and adaptive human functioning even through such potential adverse and painful life events.

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Mobile internet and consumer happiness: the role of risk

Internet Research ◽

10.1108/intr-11-2016-0340 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 785-803 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ge Zhan ◽

Zhimin Zhou

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Online Survey ◽

Well Being ◽

Mobile Internet ◽

Moderating Effects ◽

Content Type ◽

Frequency Of Use ◽

The Impact ◽

Or Applications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of mobile internet (MI) use and risk factors on MI happiness. Design/methodology/approach An online survey with 521 MI users was conducted to test the direct and moderating effects of risk factors on MI happiness. Findings The results provide evidence that there is a non-linear relationship between variety of use and MI happiness, and consumers become happier with increased frequency of use. The results also indicate that the privacy risk and task risk reduce MI happiness, and both types of risks moderate the inverted U-shaped relationship between variety of use and MI happiness. Research limitations/implications This study reconciles two opposing theories, stimulation vs displacement, on the impact of internet use on consumer well-being. The findings suggest that the stimulation effect of MI use is associated with an intermediate level of usage variety, while social displacement is more likely connected with higher- or lower-variety of use. Risk plays an important role in exploring the boundary conditions of both theories. The findings also have important implications to the debate over the role of privacy in consumer adoption of internet services or applications. Originality/value This study reconciles two opposing theories, stimulation vs displacement, on consumer happiness by elaborating the role of risk associated with MI use.

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Mediators of Differences Between Employed and Unemployed in Life Satisfaction and Emotional Well-being

Journal of Happiness Studies ◽

10.1007/s10902-021-00466-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Filip Fors Connolly ◽

Tommy Gärling

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Time Use ◽

Online Survey ◽

Time Pressure ◽

Negative Mood ◽

Well Being ◽

Financial Satisfaction ◽

The Unemployed ◽

The Relationship

AbstractPrevious research has shown that the unemployed has lower life satisfaction than the employed but that their emotional well-being may not differ. The aim is to investigate the role of mediators with bearings on these differences between the employed and unemployed in emotional well-being compared to life satisfaction. Participants were 3,463 employed and 452 unemployed living in five Western countries. They answered questions in an online survey. The results showed that the employed had both higher life satisfaction and emotional well-being. Mediation analysis replicated previous results in that the relationship between unemployment and life satisfaction was mediated by financial satisfaction. The relationship with emotional well-being was mediated by satisfaction with time use which was higher for the employed than the unemployed. Financial satisfaction was also a mediator of the relationship with emotional well-being, both directly and through satisfaction with time use. Although the unemployed felt lower time pressure than the employed, this factor was not a strong mediator of the relationship with emotional well-being, neither directly nor through satisfaction with time use. A possible explanation for the differences in the results for emotional well-being is that a negative mood is less associated with work than found in previous research.

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Benefit-finding buffers the effects of quarantine on older adults’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.2674 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 722-722

Author(s):

Fan Zhang ◽

Sheung-Tak Cheng

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Social Isolation ◽

Online Survey ◽

Protective Factor ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Well Being ◽

Benefit Finding ◽

Anxiety Depression ◽

Moderating Role

Abstract Objective Older adults’ health and well-being may suffer due to prolonged social isolation leading to loneliness and increased stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study aimed to address the role of benefit-finding, defined as the capacity to derive meaning and positive aspects from stressful situations, in older adults’ adaptation to the effects of quarantine. Methods 421 participants aged 50 or above in China participated in an online survey to study the effects of quarantine on loneliness, stress, anxiety, depression and life satisfaction, and the moderating role of benefit-finding. Results The results showed that quarantine was basically unrelated to any outcome. Further analysis showed, however, that the effect of quarantine varied by levels of benefit-finding. Only people with lower benefit-finding reported a higher level of loneliness, perceived stress, anxiety and depression, but no relationships were found at higher benefit-finding. Conclusions The findings extended our understanding of the role of benefit-finding in buffering the negative impact of adversity on older people. By mitigating the effects of prolonged social isolation, benefit-finding served as a protective factor in older people’s adaptation to the sequelae of this pandemic.

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Race, Ethnicity and Subjective Well-Being: Exploring the Disparities in Life Satisfaction Among Whites, Latinx, and Asians

International Journal of Wellbeing ◽

10.5502/ijw.v11i2.1451 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 51-72

Author(s):

Tim Wadsworth ◽

Philip M. Pendergast

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Preliminary Analysis ◽

Social Economic ◽

Well Being ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Blacks And Whites ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

Racial And Ethnic Disparity ◽

The Relationship

While much research has been done on the causes and correlates of subjective well-being over the last two decades, a relatively small number of studies have addressed disparities in subjective well-being between various racial and ethnic groups. Recently more research has addressed the differences between blacks and whites, and begun to unpack the causes for these differences. A smaller number of studies have started to look at differences between white and Latinx respondents. In the present work we add to this literature by examining differences in life satisfaction between white, Latin and Asian respondents, as well as the persistence of these differences after controlling for a variety of social, economic and lifestyle variables. After assessing how much of the racial and ethnic disparity between these groups can be explained by such factors, we present additional preliminary analysis that begins to explore the role of culture in understanding the relationship between race, ethnicity and subjective well-being.

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Does being a grateful person increase one’s level of well-being? The mediating role of indebtedness

10.1101/344440 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

G Bernabé-Valero ◽

C Moret-Tatay ◽

T Navarro-Sancho

Keyword(s):

Measurement Instrument ◽

Well Being ◽

Mediation Model ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Self Sufficiency ◽

Two Samples ◽

Definition Of ◽

High Consistency ◽

The Relationship

In this work, we define gratitude, paying attention to interpersonal gratitude and its relationship with dispositional debt. We examined the disposition to feel indebted through analysis of convergence and divergence, exploratory and confirmatory analysis of the most used measurement instrument. The Revised Indebtedness Scale depicted a four factor solution interrelated with a high consistency of content, which allows their labeling and describing. To do this, two samples of university students were selected; one of the sample sizes had 229 Spanish participants and the other 200 participants. Subsequently, a mediation model was tested in which the “Self-sufficiency and discomfort in receiving help” factor mediates the relationship between interpersonal gratitude and the “Positive relations with others” dimension of the Wellbeing scale. The results are discussed in relation to the need for conceptual definition of the constructs in Positive Psychology.

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Well-Being and Loneliness in Swiss Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Social Relationships

The Gerontologist ◽

10.1093/geront/gnaa194 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Birthe Macdonald ◽

Gizem Hülür

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Adverse Effects ◽

Social Relationships ◽

Online Survey ◽

Well Being ◽

Stressful Event ◽

Functional Feature ◽

Social Distancing ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background and Objectives The current COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures are an extreme stressor that might result in negative emotional experiences and feelings of loneliness. However, it is possible that social relationships might have a protective effect. In the present study, we examine how the COVID-19 pandemic affected older adults’ well-being and loneliness, and the role of structural and functional characteristics of social relationships. Research Design and Methods We use data from 99 older adults in Switzerland who participated (a) in a three-week micro-longitudinal study on social relationships and well-being in 2019 and (b) in a weekly online survey during four weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown. Results Our findings show that the global pandemic had substantial adverse effects on older adults’ emotional well-being and loneliness. In addition, aspects of social relationships were related to loneliness both before and during the pandemic. Only one functional feature of social relationships (satisfaction with communication during the pandemic) buffered adverse effects of the major stressful event. Discussion and Implications Although the social distancing measures during COVID-19 presented a major stressor for older adults’ well-being and loneliness, being able to maintain social communication to a satisfactory level during that time reduced this effect. Therefore, enabling older adults to stay in touch with their social circle based on their personal preferences might reduce the impact that any future lockdown might have on their well-being.

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The Influence of COVID-19 Stress on Psychological Well-Being Among Vietnamese Adults: The Role of Self-Compassion and Gratitude

10.31219/osf.io/mbg6z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Helpe Pape

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Online Survey ◽

Human Life ◽

Well Being ◽

World Health ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Self Compassion

COVID-19 has become an epidemic affecting all aspects of human life. Vietnam is now encountering the COVID-19 second wave, which puts the mental health of Vietnamese people at risk. Due to the adverse psychological effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic on human psychological well-being in these challenging times, the aims of this study are to examine the relationship between self-compassion and psychological well-being and the role of gratitude and COVID-19 stress as a multimediators model in a cross-sectional study. Participants include 509 Vietnamese adults (Mage = 31.71; SD = 7.28 years) recruited through an online survey. A 26-item Self-Compassion Scale was used to measure self-compassion, gratitude was measured by the 6-item Gratitude in the COVID-19, psychological well-being was measured by the World Health Organization Well-Being Index, and the COVID-19 Stress Scale was used to measure stress and fears symptoms caused by the pandemic. The results support 3 main findings: (a) self-compassion has a direct influence on the psychological well-being (effect = 0.50, p < .001, 95% confidence interval [CI; 0.43, 0.57]), (b) the mediating role of gratitude in this model was significant (effect = 0.07, 95% CI [0.04, 0.10]), and (c) the mediating role of COVID-19 stress and fears in this model was also significant (effect = 0.02, 95% CI [0.01, 0.04]). The study’s results also show that increasing self-compassion and gratitude could help to improve psychological well-being and reduce the influence of COVID-19 stress and fears on the individuals’ mental health.

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The Key Characteristics and Role of Peer Support in the Aftermath of Victimization: A Scoping Review

Trauma Violence & Abuse ◽

10.1177/15248380211043826 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 152483802110438

Author(s):

Pien van de Ven ◽

Sonja Leferink ◽

Antony Pemberton

Keyword(s):

Peer Support ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Traffic Accidents ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Well Being ◽

Future Research ◽

Search Terms ◽

Key Characteristics ◽

Victimization Experience

Topic: Currently, research into the key elements and role of peer support in the aftermath of victimization is limited. This study reviews the types of evidence available, clarifying key concepts in the literature, examining how research is conducted and identifying key characteristics or factors related to peer support in the aftermath of a victimization experience. Method: A scoping review was performed for peer-reviewed papers using predefined search terms. Studies addressing peer support among victims and survivors of crime, traffic accidents, calamities, suicide, and veterans were included. Selection was based on title and abstract and resulted in 16 papers eligible for review. An inductive thematic analysis was used to synthesize data and findings. Findings: Empirical studies into the key elements and role of peer support in the aftermath of victimization are limited in availability and scattered in terms of approach to research (e.g., methodology, type of respondents, type of peer support) and focus (such as focus on effects on mental health and well-being, on key elements or an evaluation of a support program). Studies mainly have an explorative and interpretative character. Key elements, operationalizations, positive outcomes and negative outcomes of peer support are discussed. Conclusion and discussion: The currently available knowledge on peer support in the aftermath of victimization lacks four points: cross-cultural studies, lived experiences as empirical findings, a variety of victimization events and longitudinal studies. Moreover, it is argued that future research should be improved by adopting a contextual and narrative approach.

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