The plasticity of well-being: A training-based framework for the cultivation of human flourishing.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Dahl CJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7768706 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
The plasticity of well-being: A training-based framework for the cultivation of human flourishing.
Dahl Cortland J CJ Wilson-Mendenhall Christine D CD Davidson Richard J RJ
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20201207 51
Research indicates that core dimensions of psychological well-being can be cultivated through intentional mental training. Despite growing research in this area and an increasing number of interventions designed to improve psychological well-being, the field lacks a unifying framework that clarifies the dimensions of human flourishing that can be cultivated. Here, we integrate evidence from well-being research, cognitive and affective neuroscience, and clinical psychology to highlight four core ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:In this article, we develop a measure of complete well-being. The framework is derived from the theoretical model of human flourishing understood as a state in which all aspects of a human life are favorable. The approach extends beyond psychological well-being and reflects the World Health Organization definition of health that not only considers the health of body and mind but also embraces the wholeness of the person. The Well-Being Assessment (WBA) is a comprehensive instrument designed to assess holistic well-being in six domains: emotional health, physical health, meaning and purpose, character strengths, social connectedness, and financial security. Although each of these domains is distinct, all of them are nearly universally desired, and all but financial security constitute ends in themselves. Data were collected from a representative sample of working adults. A sample of 276 employees participated in the pilot, 2,370 participated in the first wave and 1,209 in the second wave of the survey. The WBA showed a good fitting (40 items, six factors), satisfactory reliability, test-retest correlation, and convergent/discriminant validity in relation to stability over time and relevant health measures, as well as a good fit to the data that were invariant over time, gender, age, education, and marital status. The instrument can be of use for scientists, practitioners, clinicians, public health officials, and patients. Adoption of more holistic measures of well-being that go beyond psychological well-being may help to shift the focus from health deficiencies to health and well-being promotion.
| S-EPMC8097094 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundSeveral large-scale studies and reviews have reported both negative and positive associations of social media use with well-being, suggesting that the findings are more complex and need more nuanced study. Moreover, there is little or no exploration of how social media use in adolescence influences flourishing, a more all-encompassing construct beyond well-being, including six sub-domains (i.e., happiness, meaning and purpose, physical and mental health, character, close social relationships, and financial stability). This paper aims to fill this gap by understanding how adolescents might flourish through social media activities by fulfilling the basic needs pointed out by the Self-Determination Theory, i.e., relatedness, autonomy, and competence.MethodsThe study is drawn on cross-sectional data collected from 1,429 Swiss adolescents (58.8% females, Mage = 15.84, SDage = 0.83) as part of the HappyB project in Spring 2022. Self-reported measures included the Harvard Adolescent Flourishing scale, positive and negative online social experiences, self-disclosure on social media, and social media inspiration. Control variables included, among others, self-esteem, ill-being, and personality.ResultsAfter applying Bonferroni's correction, results of the hierarchical regression analyses showed that positive social media experiences (β = 0.112, p < 0.001) and social media inspirations from others (β = 0.072, p < 0.001) and for others (β = 0.060, p = 0.003) were positively associated with flourishing. Flourishing was inversely associated with negative social media experiences (β = -0.076, p < 0.001). Among covariates, self-esteem (β = 0.350, p < 0.001), ill-being (β = -0.252, p < 0.001), perceived school environment (β = 0.138, p < 0.001), self-reported level of physical activity (β =0.109, p < 0.001), and perceived socio-economic status (β = -0.059, p = 0.001) were all related to flourishing. In contrast, gender, high school year, age, perceived stress, and personality (extraversion and neuroticism) were not.ConclusionUsing a well-being framework to investigate social media use in adolescents is needed to go beyond the ill-being perspective. Our results align with the needs pointed out by the Self-Determination Theory. Carrying out social media activities in a way that promotes-rather than diminishes-flourishing should be included as an additional good habit influencing adolescents' development. We suggest that interventions aiming to foster adolescents' flourishing should include curricula aiming to promote a good use of social media through positive online social relationships and inspirational contents.
| S-EPMC10116992 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesClinician well-being has been recognised as an important pillar of healthcare. However, research mainly addresses mitigating the negative aspects of stress or burnout, rather than enabling positive aspects. With the added strain of a pandemic, identifying how best to maintain and support the well-being, satisfaction and flourishing of general practitioners (GPs) is now more important than ever.DesignSystematic review.Data sourcesWe searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, CINAHL and Scopus from 2000 to 2020.Study selectionIntervention studies with more than 50% GPs in the sample evaluating self-reported well-being, satisfaction and related positive outcomes were included. The Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool was applied.ResultsWe retrieved 14 792 records, 94 studies underwent full-text review. We included 19 studies in total. Six randomised controlled trials, three non-randomised, controlled trials, eight non-controlled studies of individual or organisational interventions with a total of 1141 participants. There were two quasi-experimental articles evaluating health system policy change. Quantitative and qualitative positive outcomes were extracted and analysed. Individual mindfulness interventions were the most common (k=9) with medium to large within-group (0.37-1.05) and between-group (0.5-1.5) effect sizes for mindfulness outcomes, and small-to-medium effect sizes for other positive outcomes including resilience, compassion and empathy. Studies assessing other intervention foci or other positive outcomes (including well-being, satisfaction) were of limited size and quality.ConclusionsThere is remarkably little evidence on how to improve GPs well-being beyond using mindfulness interventions, particularly for interventions addressing organisational or system factors. This was further undermined by inconsistent reporting, and overall high risk of bias. We need to conduct research in this space with the same rigour with which we approach clinical intervention studies in patients.Prospero registration numberCRD42020164699.Funding sourceDr Diana Naehrig is funded through the Raymond Seidler PhD scholarship.
| S-EPMC8375719 | biostudies-literature
Project description:There is notorious inconsistency regarding mental health benefits of dog ownership, partially due to repeated cross-sectional studies comparing dog owners and non-owners, without taking into account the heterogeneity of dog-owner dyads, especially the activities with which the owners are involved. This study aimed to develop a comprehensive framework of the most important dog human related activities and their impact on owner well-being. Six focus groups with 35 dog owners were conducted, and their audio transcripts thematically analysed. Dog human related activities and themes of activities were linked to their reported changes in well-being through matrix coding. A framework of 58 dog human related activities linked with their specific hedonic well-being, life satisfaction and eudaimonic well-being outcomes was generated. Most activities were reported to improve owner's well-being, (e.g. human-dog tactile interaction increases owner's self-esteem), and a minority was mainly associated with negative outcomes. The richness of the framework presented in this study reinforces the importance of assessing dog ownership well-being outcomes based on specific dog human related activities with which dog owners are involved. This new and systematic investigative approach should decrease inconsistencies in the field and facilitate mental health interventions and study designs of a higher level of evidence.
| S-EPMC7347561 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The complex nature of mental well-being is reflected in the great diversity of variables thought to represent aspects of mental flourishing. Discovering the underlying structure of mental well-being is important for a full understanding of this complex construct. Using data from 3 countries (the United States, Japan, and Iran), we performed multi-dimensional scaling to analyze the representation of 9 hedonic and eudaimonic well-being variables in a 2-dimensional psychological space. The analyses revealed 2 interpretable underlying dimensions across cultures and gender groups. The first dimension-eudaimonic well-being versus hedonic well-being-is well-known to well-being researchers. The second dimension-existential relatedness versus Epicurean independence-has not been recognized before. Existential relatedness is the characteristic of being meaningfully interconnected with things other than oneself, and is mainly based on the variables positive relations with others, personal growth, purpose in life, and life satisfaction. Epicurean independence is the characteristic of being relatively free of painful experiences and not feeling the need to have ones' views accepted by anyone but oneself. Epicurean independence is mainly based on the variables autonomy and absence of negative affect. We explain these dimensions in detail and discuss the implications for well-being research and policy.
| S-EPMC6436799 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionIndigenous people, including Māori in New Zealand, face many inequities in health and the determinants of health. Historically, the analysis and reporting of Indigenous health in the literature has usually taken a western medical view, often with a descriptive and deficit-oriented approach-ignoring the holistic nature of Indigenous health. This project takes a nondeficit approach and is interested in the factors that support the health and well-being of Indigenous people, including Māori. Flourishing is a recent and increasingly used term within the well-being literature; however, concepts, theories and determinants related to Indigenous flourishing are largely unknown. This scoping review aims to identify, describe and synthesise the nature and extent of the current empirical literature related to concepts, theories and determinants of Indigenous flourishing, in health and well-being contexts.Methods and analysisScoping review methods and guidelines included in the framework developed by Arksey and O'Malley, and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews, will be followed for best practice and reporting of this scoping review. The literature for this review will be identified by searching the following databases: Medline (OVID), EMBASE (Ovid), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Scopus, MAI journal, the Cochrane Library and Google Scholar. The research team has formulated a systematic search strategy, which will be restricted to articles published between January 1970 and May 2020 and published in the English language. Two reviewers will independently screen eligible studies for final study selection. A third reviewer will resolve any discrepancies that arise. Data from included studies will be extracted and included in thematic analysis, using a tool developed iteratively by the research team.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was not required for this review. Dissemination of results will include publication in peer-reviewed journal articles, presentation of results at conferences and interactive discussions with a project expert advisory group. This scoping review also informs a larger project, examining the long-term health and flourishing of Māori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand and their whānau (families).
| S-EPMC7878123 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The mental health crisis in graduate education combined with low treatment rates among engineering graduate students underscores the need for engineering graduate programs to provide effective methods to promote well-being. There is an extensive body of neuroscience research showing that contemplative practices, such as mindfulness, produce measurable effects on brain function and overall well-being. We hypothesized that a mindfulness-based training program designed for engineering graduate students would improve emotional well-being and, secondarily, enhance research capacity. An initial pilot study was conducted at a single institution (Phase 1), followed by a larger study conducted at both the original and a second institution (Phase 2) to gather additional data and show the program's transferability. The program comprised eight weekly mindfulness training sessions. Individuals in the study were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or wait-list control group. We administered pre- and post-test surveys with quantitative measures designed to assess emotional and physical well-being, as well as creativity, research satisfaction, and desire to contribute to the betterment of society. Participants also completed a summative survey to evaluate the impact of the program on their well-being and research. Analysis revealed statistically significant findings: improved emotional health, decreased neuroticism, increased positive affect, decreased negative affect, and increased mindfulness in the intervention groups compared to the control groups. Intervention groups in Phase 2 also reported statistically significant improvement in satisfaction with their research. Our findings suggest that mindfulness training has the potential to play a vital professional and personal development role in graduate engineering education.
| S-EPMC10032494 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Comparative ageing research is a flourishing field, partly because of European funding in this area. Comparing different societies and cultures seems especially fruitful for the analysis of societal and cultural factors in development over the life course. From a nomothetic perspective, the aim of comparisons is the search for similarities and communalities in different societies and cultures; from an idiographic perspective, researchers are looking for societal and cultural specificity and distinctiveness. However, the potentials of comparative ageing research are not fully realized for the time being. In many cases, there is little theorizing as to whether there should be differences (or similarities) in ageing processes across countries, societies, or cultures. This paper discusses theoretical aims and ambitions of comparative ageing research in general. Comparative theories are sketched which could serve as a basis for comparative ageing research, and ageing theories are discussed which could be modified to be used in comparative research. The rationale of comparative ageing research is described and illustrated through empirical examples. Epistemological and methodological pitfalls (problems of conceptual, operational, functional, and measurement equivalence) are a substantial obstacle to comparative ageing research. Hence, merits and limitations of comparative designs and sampling procedures are considered.
| S-EPMC5546340 | biostudies-other
Project description:People migrate from rural to urban areas. In the meantime, the benefits of staying in greener areas are also known. People's preferences might be different by area that is composed of several land types. If so, the effect of particular land cover on human well-being is different spatially. The spatial analysis is required to formulate effective land-use policies. Here we show that urban land, water, and grassland are positively related to human well-being, whereas bare land is negatively associated in Japan. A 1 [Formula: see text] increase in the area of urban land per capita in a city is equivalent to an about 346 USD increase in the individual annual income of all the people in the city. Additionally, monetary values of areas of water, crops, and bare land per capita are 102, - 30, and - 268 [Formula: see text]. Furthermore, the spatial context matters to the relationship between land cover and human well-being. This paper investigates the monetary values of several land types and their spatial variability, which provides insights to make better usage for land cover.
| S-EPMC8342716 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Adolescence is not only typically considered a time of good health but also characterized by an emergence of risk factors that may have long-term consequences for well-being that represents strong predictors of adverse health outcomes. The aim of the study is to assess adolescence well-being through the development of an integrated Well-Being Index (WBI) including variables of lifestyle habits, social context, emotional status, and mental skills. One thousand two hundred forty-eight healthy adolescents (Female 48%; Male 52%; mean age 13 years) were recruited from five Italian junior high schools, by KIDSCREEN-52 and cognitive processing using the Stroop Test. School performance was estimated by questions concerning the scholastic achievement. Social context was the most important predictor of perceived well-being (? = 0.972, SE = 0.014, p < 0.0001), with parent relation (p < 0.0001) as the most observed variable. Subsequently, WBI was strongly represented by lifestyle habits (? = 0.954, SE = 0.017, p < 0.000) with autonomy (p < 0.0001), and emotional status (? = 0.949, SE = 0.017, p < 0.000) with psychological well-being perception (p < 0.0001). Finally, mental skills (?= -0.1417, SE = 0.031, p < 0.0.00) was the least important predictor for the WBI index (p < 0.0001). Personalised (P) WBI was obtained by the sum of each centered and scaled WBI variable, weighted by the corresponding ratio between factor loading and residual variance. Social context was the more important predictor of WBI, followed by lifestyle, emotional factors, and lastly mental skills. PWBI provides an integrated and personalized perspective of adolescents' well-being, on the basis of a cooperation between school, family, and community with the common intent to promote and protect adolescent health.
| S-EPMC7223052 | biostudies-literature