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The fundamental association between mental health and life satisfaction: results from successive waves of a Canadian national survey.

ABSTRACT: A self-reported life satisfaction question is routinely used as an indicator of societal well-being. Several studies support that mental illness is an important determinant for life satisfaction and improvement of mental healthcare access therefore could have beneficial effects on a population's life satisfaction. However, only a few studies report the relationship between subjective mental health and life satisfaction. Subjective mental health is a broader concept than the presence or absence of psychopathology. In this study, we examine the strength of the association between a self-reported mental health question and self-reported life satisfaction, taking into account other relevant factors.We conducted this analysis using successive waves of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) collected between 2003 and 2012. Respondents included more than 400,000 participants aged 12 and over. We extracted information on self-reported mental health, socio-demographic and other factors and examined correlation with self-reported life satisfaction using a proportional ordered logistic regression.Life satisfaction was strongly associated with self-reported mental health, even after simultaneously considering factors such as income, general health, and gender. The poor-self-reported mental health group had a particularly low life satisfaction. In the fair-self-reported mental health category, the odds of having a higher life satisfaction were 2.35 (95% CI 2.21 to 2.50) times higher than the odds in the poor category. In contrast, for the "between 60,000 CAD and 79,999 CAD" household income category, the odds of having a higher life satisfaction were only 1.96 (95% CI 1.90 to 2.01) times higher than the odds in the "less than 19,999 CAD" category.Subjective mental health contributes highly to life satisfaction, being more strongly associated than other selected previously known factors. Future studies could be useful to deepen our understanding of the interplay between subjective mental health, mental illness and life satisfaction. This may be beneficial for developing public health policies that optimize mental health promotion, illness prevention and treatment of mental disorders to enhance life satisfaction in the general population.

SUBMITTER: Lombardo P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5848433 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The fundamental association between mental health and life satisfaction: results from successive waves of a Canadian national survey.

Lombardo Patrick P Jones Wayne W Wang Liangliang L Shen Xin X Goldner Elliot M EM

BMC public health 20180312 1

<h4>Background</h4>A self-reported life satisfaction question is routinely used as an indicator of societal well-being. Several studies support that mental illness is an important determinant for life satisfaction and improvement of mental healthcare access therefore could have beneficial effects on a population's life satisfaction. However, only a few studies report the relationship between subjective mental health and life satisfaction. Subjective mental health is a broader concept than the pr ...[more]

PMID: 29530010

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Project description:BackgroundChanges in demographics and composition of pharmacy faculty, along with faculty perceived stress, work-life balance and career satisfaction have yet to be fully documented.ObjectiveTo compare recent results from a national survey of work-life balance and career satisfaction of United States (U.S.) pharmacy faculty with results obtained from a similar survey from 2012.MethodsA 46-item anonymous survey administered via Qualtrics (Provo, UT) was sent to members of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) in 2018. Information regarding demographics, stress, work-life balance, career satisfaction and intent to leave academia was collected. Although not part of the previous survey, participant information related to bullying and abuse in the pharmacy academic work was also gathered. While actual p-values are reported for all comparisons, a more conservative p-value of 0.01 was chosen a priori to indicate significance as multiple comparisons were made.ResultsA total of 1090 pharmacy faculty completed the survey, comparable to the number obtained in 2012 (n = 811). Overall response rates were similar for both years. The majority of pharmacy faculty in 2018 were female, white, married or with partner, worked in a pharmacy practice department and for a public institution. Notable differences between surveys included an increase in females, more associate professors and an increase in non-white faculty in 2018, relative to 2012. Stress, as measured by mean Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) scores was also significantly higher in 2018 (16.0 ± 6.6 vs. 13.5 ± 6.7, p < 0.01) relative to 2012. Faculty from 2018 were significantly less likely to report an intention to remain in academia (61.8% vs 86.3%, p < 0.01), relative to 2012. A sizable number of pharmacy faculty surveyed in 2018 also reported observing or experiencing hostility in the workplace, which included either bullying or verbal or physical abuse.ConclusionsThe makeup of pharmacy educators has evolved quickly over the last several years to comprise more female and associate professors who work within a pharmacy practice department. Also noteworthy is the significant increase in self-reported stress over the six-year timeframe. The direct implications of these findings are unknown but suggest that pharmacy academia is maturing in rank and changing to reflect the current pharmacy workforce (i.e., more females and additional clinical practice roles). Increases in responsibility likely accompany these maturing roles and may, along with other factors, contribute to the observed changes in the reported stress levels among faculty. Further research is called for regarding the reported hostility in pharmacy academic workplace and dovetails with concurrent work being done on citizenship and organizational citizenship behavior among pharmacy faculty. Findings of the study may aid pharmacy school administrators and stakeholders with plans to recruit, develop and retain faculty.

Project description:BackgroundDespite explicit policies and reporting mechanisms in academia designed to prevent harassment and ensure respectful environments, sexual harassment persists. We report on a national survey of Canadian medical students' experiences of sexual harassment perpetrated by faculty, patients and peers, their responses to harassment, and their suggestions for improving the learning environment.MethodsWith ethics approval from all 17 Canadian universities with medical schools, an invitation to participate in an anonymous, electronic survey was included in three Canadian Federation of Medical Students' newsletters (2016). Narrative information about sexual harassment during medical training, perpetrators, ways of coping, sources of support, formal and informal reporting/discussion, and suggestions for change was sought. Three authors then conducted a qualitative analysis and identified emergent themes.FindingsWhen asked to estimate the number of occurrences of SH experienced during medical school, 188 students reported 807 incidents perpetrated by peers, patients, and, to a lesser extent, faculty. Perpetrators were almost always men and 98% of victims were women. What emerged was a picture of social, educational, and individual conditions under which sexual harassment becomes normalised by faculty, peers and victims. Students often tried to ignore harassment despite finding it confusing, upsetting, and embarrassing. They offered strategies for schools to raise awareness, support students, and prevent or mitigate harms going forward.InterpretationSexual harassment is a part of the Canadian medical education environment where most who reported harassment are subject to the dual vulnerabilities of being learners and women. Although survey respondents recognised the systemic nature of the problem, as individuals they often described shame and self-blame when victimised, came up with solutions that implied they were the problem, and often reported thinking silence was less risky than confrontation or official reporting. Many participants believed in the transformative power of education - of themselves and faculty - as a means of improving the medical environment whilst we await social change.

Dataset Information

The fundamental association between mental health and life satisfaction: results from successive waves of a Canadian national survey.

Publications

The fundamental association between mental health and life satisfaction: results from successive waves of a Canadian national survey.

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