Description:
Background: Social wellbeing factors such as loneliness and social support have a major impact on the health of older adults and can contribute to physical and mental wellbeing. However, with increasing age, social contacts and social support typically decrease and levels of loneliness increase. Group social engagement appears to have additional benefits for the health of older adults compared to socialising individually with friends and family, but further research is required to confirm whether group activities can be beneficial for the social wellbeing of older adults. Methods: This one-year longitudinal mixed methods study investigated the effect of joining a community group, offering a range of social and physical activities, on social wellbeing of adults with a mean age of 70. The study combined a quantitative survey assessing loneliness and social support (n = 28; three time-points, analysed using linear mixed models) and a qualitative focus group study (n = 11, analysed using thematic analysis) of members from Life Activities Clubs Victoria, Australia. Results: There was a significant reduction in loneliness (p = 0.023) and a trend toward an increase in social support (p = 0.056) in the first year after joining. The focus group confirmed these observations and suggested that social support may take longer than 1 year to develop. Focus groups also identified that group membership provided important opportunities for developing new and diverse social connections through shared interest and experience. These connections were key in improving the social wellbeing of members, especially in their sense of feeling supported or connected and less lonely. Participants agreed that increasing connections was especially beneficial following significant life events such as retirement, moving to a new house or partners becoming unwell. Conclusions: Becoming a member of a community group offering social and physical activities may improve social wellbeing in older adults, especially following significant life events such as retirement or moving-house, where social network changes. These results indicate that ageing policy and strategies would benefit from encouraging long-term participation in social groups to assist in adapting to changes that occur in later life and optimise healthy ageing.
Description:
Background: Social wellbeing factors such as loneliness and social support have a major impact on the health of older adults and can contribute to physical and mental wellbeing. However, with increasing age, social contacts and social support typically decrease and levels of loneliness increase. Group social engagement appears to have additional benefits for the health of older adults compared to socialising individually with friends and family, but further research is required to confirm whether group activities can be beneficial for the social wellbeing of older adults. Methods: This one-year longitudinal mixed methods study investigated the effect of joining a community group, offering a range of social and physical activities, on social wellbeing of adults with a mean age of 70. The study combined a quantitative survey assessing loneliness and social support (n = 28; three time-points, analysed using linear mixed models) and a qualitative focus group study (n = 11, analysed using thematic analysis) of members from Life Activities Clubs Victoria, Australia. Results: There was a significant reduction in loneliness (p = 0.023) and a trend toward an increase in social support (p = 0.056) in the first year after joining. The focus group confirmed these observations and suggested that social support may take longer than 1 year to develop. Focus groups also identified that group membership provided important opportunities for developing new and diverse social connections through shared interest and experience. These connections were key in improving the social wellbeing of members, especially in their sense of feeling supported or connected and less lonely. Participants agreed that increasing connections was especially beneficial following significant life events such as retirement, moving to a new house or partners becoming unwell. Conclusions: Becoming a member of a community group offering social and physical activities may improve social wellbeing in older adults, especially following significant life events such as retirement or moving-house, where social network changes. These results indicate that ageing policy and strategies would benefit from encouraging long-term participation in social groups to assist in adapting to changes that occur in later life and optimise healthy ageing.
Description:
Objectives: Living alone is a risk factor for depressive symptoms among older men, and is likely to occur due to belongingness needs being unmet. It is proposed the living alone-sense of belonging and living alone-depressive symptoms relations are stronger for gay men than heterosexual men, due to different family circumstances. This research tested a moderated mediation model, specifically whether the relationship between living alone and depressive symptoms is mediated by sense of belonging, and whether the living alone-sense of belonging and living alone-depressive symptoms relationships are moderated by sexual orientation. Method: A community sample of 169 Australian gay men aged 65 to 93 years and 187 Australian heterosexual men aged 65 to 94 years completed the Psychological subscale of the Sense of Belonging Instrument and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results: Results supported the simple mediation model, with living alone being associated directly and indirectly with depressive symptoms via sense of belonging. The conditional indirect effect of living alone on depressive symptoms via sense of belonging was not significant, and therefore the moderated mediation model was not supported. Conclusion: Results imply that older men who live alone are at increased risk of depressive symptoms directly and indirectly via lower levels of sense of belonging.
Description:
A high sense of belonging to the community and physical activity are associated with improved mental health in older people. The present study tested a model incorporating physical activities performed alone and with others as predictors of sense of belonging, depression and suicide ideation. One hundred and ninety four retired adults (87 males, 107 females, mean age 68 years) completed the Yale Physical Activity Survey, the Sense of Belonging Instrument, the Suicide Subscale of the General Health Questionnaire and the Zung Depression Inventory. Within the context of the model, neither participating in physical activities alone, nor with at least one other person, predicted sense of belonging, depression or suicide ideation. Having the abilities and motivation to belong was a predictor of participating in physical activities with others and actual feelings of belonging and contributed to predicting mental health in retirees. It was concluded that simply performing activities with others was not associated with a sense of belonging or mental health. Rather, sense of belonging may need to be facilitated in order for mental health to be enhanced.
Description:
Conservation of resources theory is employed to examine the effect of workplace support on thriving at work and the mediation of thriving at work on the workplace support and life satisfaction relationship using data on white-collar workers in China. We find that workplace support is positively related to thriving at work and thriving at work is positively related to life satisfaction. We also find that thriving at work fully mediates the relationship between life satisfaction and supervisor support, while the relationship between life satisfaction and coworker support is partially mediated by thriving at work. Consistent with the COR caravan and spillover hypothesis, we conclude that thriving at work is a mechanism that transmits the positive effects of workplace support on life satisfaction. The research findings suggest that an increase in workplace support can benefit both individuals and organizations by improving individuals' thriving at work and life satisfaction.
Description:
Objectives: Higher levels of depression have been documented among older adults who reside in an assisted living facility, compared with those who remain in their own homes. The aims of the current study were to test whether the relationship between housing type and depressive symptoms was mediated by a sense of belonging and whether housing type and sense of belonging interact to influence the depressive symptoms among older adults (moderation model).Method: A sample of 257 older adults who lived in their own homes and 166 older adults who lived in an assisted living facility completed the psychological subscale of the Sense of Belonging Instrument and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.Results: Results showed that a sense of belonging partially mediated the relationship between housing type and depressive symptoms, such that living in a nursing home was associated with lower levels of belonging, and lower levels of belonging were, in turn, associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Residing in an assisted living facility was associated with depressive symptoms at low and average levels of belonging.Conclusion: Results highlight the need for more research on the role of sense of belonging as an influencing factor on depressive symptoms among institutionalised older adults for both theoretical and treatment goals.
Description:
Continued rural maternity closure across Australia has seen impacts on women and families such as financial pressures, quality and safety concerns, and emotional pressure. This review aimed at understanding how media coverage of rural maternity and closure are presented and what impact this may have on maternity service sustainability. This research seeks to examine media discourse and characteristics of online newspaper articles related to rural maternity services. A narrative review was conducted using thematic discourse analysis to examine online newspaper content published in Victoria, Australia from 2010 to June 2021. Local maternity services were a source of community interest for rural people. Coverage of negative outcomes for mothers and babies was highlighted by rural newspapers however, increased content over the last 12-month period focused on community support for the sustainability of rural maternity services. Recent community support in newspaper articles coincided with maternity services reviews and retaining some of these rural services. Community support in media may provide a protective social pressure, leading rural health services to consider this when reviewing the sustainability or closure of rural maternity services. Media attention about sustaining local maternity services by highlighting issues and representing community voices may influence health executive to consider opportunities to remodel and sustain high-quality and safe maternity care in rural settings. Knowing how rural health executives consider media, community pressure, and how it impacts expediency of maternity service closure decisions is unknown and an important gap in knowledge to explore and understand.
Description:
Continued rural maternity closure across Australia has seen impacts on women and families such as financial pressures, quality and safety concerns, and emotional pressure. This review aimed at understanding how media coverage of rural maternity and closure are presented and what impact this may have on maternity service sustainability. This research seeks to examine media discourse and characteristics of online newspaper articles related to rural maternity services. A narrative review was conducted using thematic discourse analysis to examine online newspaper content published in Victoria, Australia from 2010 to June 2021. Local maternity services were a source of community interest for rural people. Coverage of negative outcomes for mothers and babies was highlighted by rural newspapers however, increased content over the last 12-month period focused on community support for the sustainability of rural maternity services. Recent community support in newspaper articles coincided with maternity services reviews and retaining some of these rural services. Community support in media may provide a protective social pressure, leading rural health services to consider this when reviewing the sustainability or closure of rural maternity services. Media attention about sustaining local maternity services by highlighting issues and representing community voices may influence health executive to consider opportunities to remodel and sustain high-quality and safe maternity care in rural settings. Knowing how rural health executives consider media, community pressure, and how it impacts expediency of maternity service closure decisions is unknown and an important gap in knowledge to explore and understand.
Description:
A telephone survey was used to examine rural residents' (n=102) perceptions and knowledge of a well-established national telephone counselling and referral service-Lifeline. Residents in rural Australia experience generally poorer access and availability to health-related services than their metropolitan counterparts. They may also have problems with confidentiality and stigmatisation in using what services are available in their area. Although this was a non-comparative study, it was reasoned that these barriers to help-seeking in rural areas would mean their population would know and value a service such as Lifeline, which provides equitable and anonymous support and referrals to all Australians. The results showed that the service was known, valued, and supported strongly by the respondents. The findings supported the belief that telephone counselling and referral has an important and unique place in rural health support and referral.
Description:
A telephone survey was used to examine rural residents' (n=102) perceptions and knowledge of a well-established national telephone counselling and referral service-Lifeline. Residents in rural Australia experience generally poorer access and availability to health-related services than their metropolitan counterparts. They may also have problems with confidentiality and stigmatisation in using what services are available in their area. Although this was a non-comparative study, it was reasoned that these barriers to help-seeking in rural areas would mean their population would know and value a service such as Lifeline, which provides equitable and anonymous support and referrals to all Australians. The results showed that the service was known, valued, and supported strongly by the respondents. The findings supported the belief that telephone counselling and referral has an important and unique place in rural health support and referral.
Description:
•Maternal depression in pregnancy was not predictive of postpartum maternal emotional availability (EA).•Maternal depression in pregnancy was not associated with perceived social support.•Depressive symptoms negatively predict maternal EA when partner support is low.•Depressive symptoms negatively predict maternal EA when family support is low.•Support from friends is not a moderator between depressive symptoms and maternal EA. Social support theory suggests that parental social support may influence the nature of early parenting behaviours and specifically the mother-infant relationship. This study examines whether support from a partner, friends or family is associated with differences in quality of mother-infant interactions in the context of maternal depression. 210 women were followed from early pregnancy to six months postpartum within Australian pregnancy cohort, the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study (MPEWS). Mother-infant interactions within a standardised observation at six months postpartum were measured by the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales using total scores of the parental scales. In early and late pregnancy and at six months postpartum, mothers rated perceived maternal social support from a partner, family and friends using subscales of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Depression was measured in early pregnancy and at six months postpartum using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV-TR, with repeated measurement of depressive symptoms by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Data was analysed using structural equation models. There were significant interactions between depressive symptoms in early pregnancy and perceived maternal support from a partner (B = .18, 95% CI = 03, .31) and separately from family (B = .12, 95% CI = .03, .32) in predicting maternal emotional availability. No such interaction was found for support from friends. While partner and family support moderated the association between early depressive symptoms and emotional availability, there were no direct associations between maternal depressive disorder in early pregnancy and perceived support, and further, maternal depression was not a significant predictor of emotional availability. Future studies should consider extending measurement of the mother-infant relationship beyond the EA Scales, inclusion of a measure of maternal childhood trauma, and replicating our findings. Maternal perception of partner and family support in the postpartum is a predictor of the association between early pregnancy depressive symptoms and maternal emotional availability.
Description:
Background: Improving our understanding of the relationship between maternal depression and parenting stress is likely to lie in the range of additional factors that are associated with vulnerability to depression and also to parenting stress. Objectives: To examine the role of trauma and partner support, in understanding the relationship between perinatal depression and parenting stress. Methods: This study utilises data from 246 women in a pregnancy cohort study that followed women from early pregnancy until their infant was 12 months. Included were both women with a diagnosis of depression and those without depression. The measures included Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Social Support Effectiveness Questionnaire and the Parenting Stress Index. Results: We found women with depression were more likely to report a history of childhood trauma. Depressive symptoms were positively associated with parenting stress while partner support was negatively associated with parenting stress. The protective role of partner support for parenting distress was observed in those with no history of childhood abuse and low depressive symptoms, but not in those with a trauma history and high depressive symptoms. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of early trauma in understanding the protective role of support on the relationship between parenting and depression. These findings can inform future studies and the refinement of future interventions aimed at both perinatal depression and parenting.
Description:
This study examined the applicability of the compensatory, risk protective, and protective-protective models of resiliency to explain the association of depressive symptoms (outcome factor) with rumination (potential risk factor) and social support and sense of belonging (protective factors). A community sample of 179 Australian women between the ages of 18-64 participated. Results supported the compensatory models for both protective factors. Results did not support the risk-protective or protective-protective models. The results of this study indicate that interventions aimed at reducing depressive symptoms among women who ruminate should be focused on increasing either protective factor, and that little value is accrued in attempting to increase both protective factors.
Description:
There is an established relationship between depression and sexual functioning in women. However, there is limited research examining the relationship between perinatal depression and sexual functioning. This study draws on the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study and reports on 211 women recruited in early pregnancy and followed to 12 months postpartum. Women were assessed for depression using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV, repeated measurement of depressive symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and sexual functioning using the Female Sexual Functioning Inventory. Data were also collected on antidepressant use, mode of delivery, history of childhood trauma, breastfeeding and partner support. Women showed a decline in sexual functioning over pregnancy and the first 6 months postpartum, which recovered by 12 months. For women with depression, sexual functioning was lower throughout pregnancy and continued to be lower at 6 months postpartum than those without depression. Ongoing depressive symptoms at 12 months were also associated with lower sexual functioning. Sexual functioning was not predicted by mode of delivery, antidepressant use or childhood trauma. Breastfeeding predicted lower sexual functioning only at 6 months. Higher partner support predicted higher female sexual functioning. Pregnancy and the postpartum are a time of reduced sexual functioning for women however, women with depression are more likely to have lower levels of sexual functioning and this was not predicted by antidepressant use. In women with perinatal depression, consideration of the impact on sexual functioning should be an integral part of care.
Description:
Most would agree, people like to be appreciated for who they are and for the work they do. Yet, the process resulting in employees feeling appreciated is not well understood. Further, appreciation in the workplace is complex, when considering the concept’s multifaceted nature. Workplace-relevant research supports hypotheses that being appreciated at work is associated with desirable employee outcomes such as enhanced subjective well-being (SWB), higher levels of job satisfaction and performance, creativity while also benefiting organisations through higher employee productivity. Some authors even suggest that being appreciated links to physical well-being. Regardless, empirical evidence supporting a putative relationship between appreciation and key workplace outcomes (SWB, job satisfaction and happiness) is lacking; This represents a knowledge gap in the management literature. An important related question concerns optimal ways that managers can express appreciation to their employees at work, and conversely, employee preferences for the form of appreciation that they receive from their manager. Past studies investigating the influence of appreciation in the workplace, though informative, have failed to apply a rigorous process to identify forms of appreciative behaviour. To advance knowledge on forms of workplace appreciation endowed by supervisors, and how this may influence employees, the first study aim was to identify and appraise the underlying components of appreciation-type behaviours. Hence, the supervisor-employee relationship forms the central component for this study. The second study aim was to identify whether and how supervisor-enacted appreciative behaviours influence selected employee work outcomes. A review of literature pertinent to the research aims provided theoretical foundations for understanding appreciative behaviours in the workplace. These included social relationships, human motivation, workplace sources of support, dispositional versus behavioural approaches to appreciation, selected aspects of leadership and the theorised function of workplace appreciation. From this, a conceptual model of an iterative workplace appreciation cycle was proposed to support the study aims. To meet the research aims, a two-phase study approach was adopted. Firstly, a qualitative study investigated the construct of expressed appreciation (phase 1). Here, expressed supervisor appreciative behaviours were identified through 19 one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with employees from a variety of professions and employment sectors. Through a rigorous thematic analysis, five supervisor appreciative behavioural themes (Interest, Rewards, Acknowledgment, Trust and Endorsement) were established to determine what (forms of appreciative behaviours enacted by supervisors). This first thematic framework was complemented by three outcome-related themes (Cognisance, Confirmation and Commendation) capturing the why (with regard to why employees feel appreciated) as a second thematic framework. Phase 2 of the study employed an online quantitative survey directly informed by phase 1 results. The hypothetical what and why constructs forming workplace appreciative behaviours were each developed as itemised scales (20-item and 12-item, respectively). An online survey instrument gathered employee (N=206) responses for itemised scales plus workplace outcome scales measuring SWB, job satisfaction and job commitment. Factor analysis of the 20-item what scale identified workplace appreciation behaviours endowed by supervisors to comprise a three-factor structure (factors labelled acknowledgement, trust and reward). A 12-item scale representing why employees feel appreciated provided a one-factor solution. Subsequent multiple regressions revealed the factors of acknowledgement and trust to be associated (p<.05) with job satisfaction, job commitment and overall well-being. Reward was not associated with any measured employee workplace outcome. Relationships of workplace appreciation factors with other measured variables including employee age, gender and workplace role were identified. The study findings provide both theoretical and practical contributions concerning the roles of and importance of supervisor appreciative behaviours manifest in the workplace. Supervisor acknowledgment is theorised to provide a foundation for developing a positive supervisor-employee relationship with trust conveyed over time to realise positive employee and organisational outcomes. Building on this, further studies are recommended to confirm this study’s results across a range of workplaces and for other national cultures.
Description:
Most would agree, people like to be appreciated for who they are and for the work they do. Yet, the process resulting in employees feeling appreciated is not well understood. Further, appreciation in the workplace is complex, when considering the concept’s multifaceted nature. Workplace-relevant research supports hypotheses that being appreciated at work is associated with desirable employee outcomes such as enhanced subjective well-being (SWB), higher levels of job satisfaction and performance, creativity while also benefiting organisations through higher employee productivity. Some authors even suggest that being appreciated links to physical well-being. Regardless, empirical evidence supporting a putative relationship between appreciation and key workplace outcomes (SWB, job satisfaction and happiness) is lacking; This represents a knowledge gap in the management literature. An important related question concerns optimal ways that managers can express appreciation to their employees at work, and conversely, employee preferences for the form of appreciation that they receive from their manager. Past studies investigating the influence of appreciation in the workplace, though informative, have failed to apply a rigorous process to identify forms of appreciative behaviour. To advance knowledge on forms of workplace appreciation endowed by supervisors, and how this may influence employees, the first study aim was to identify and appraise the underlying components of appreciation-type behaviours. Hence, the supervisor-employee relationship forms the central component for this study. The second study aim was to identify whether and how supervisor-enacted appreciative behaviours influence selected employee work outcomes. A review of literature pertinent to the research aims provided theoretical foundations for understanding appreciative behaviours in the workplace. These included social relationships, human motivation, workplace sources of support, dispositional versus behavioural approaches to appreciation, selected aspects of leadership and the theorised function of workplace appreciation. From this, a conceptual model of an iterative workplace appreciation cycle was proposed to support the study aims. To meet the research aims, a two-phase study approach was adopted. Firstly, a qualitative study investigated the construct of expressed appreciation (phase 1). Here, expressed supervisor appreciative behaviours were identified through 19 one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with employees from a variety of professions and employment sectors. Through a rigorous thematic analysis, five supervisor appreciative behavioural themes (Interest, Rewards, Acknowledgment, Trust and Endorsement) were established to determine what (forms of appreciative behaviours enacted by supervisors). This first thematic framework was complemented by three outcome-related themes (Cognisance, Confirmation and Commendation) capturing the why (with regard to why employees feel appreciated) as a second thematic framework. Phase 2 of the study employed an online quantitative survey directly informed by phase 1 results. The hypothetical what and why constructs forming workplace appreciative behaviours were each developed as itemised scales (20-item and 12-item, respectively). An online survey instrument gathered employee (N=206) responses for itemised scales plus workplace outcome scales measuring SWB, job satisfaction and job commitment. Factor analysis of the 20-item what scale identified workplace appreciation behaviours endowed by supervisors to comprise a three-factor structure (factors labelled acknowledgement, trust and reward). A 12-item scale representing why employees feel appreciated provided a one-factor solution. Subsequent multiple regressions revealed the factors of acknowledgement and trust to be associated (p<.05) with job satisfaction, job commitment and overall well-being. Reward was not associated with any measured employee workplace outcome. Relationships of workplace appreciation factors with other measured variables including employee age, gender and workplace role were identified. The study findings provide both theoretical and practical contributions concerning the roles of and importance of supervisor appreciative behaviours manifest in the workplace. Supervisor acknowledgment is theorised to provide a foundation for developing a positive supervisor-employee relationship with trust conveyed over time to realise positive employee and organisational outcomes. Building on this, further studies are recommended to confirm this study’s results across a range of workplaces and for other national cultures.