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1 – 9 of 9Fiorella Pia Salvatore, Ajka Relja, Ivona Šimunović Filipčić, Ozren Polašek and Ivana Kolčić
The impact of eating habits on mental health is gaining more attention recently. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between mental distress and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The impact of eating habits on mental health is gaining more attention recently. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between mental distress and the Mediterranean diet (MD) in a community-dwelling adult population of Dalmatia, Croatia.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants from the “10,001 Dalmatians” study from the Island of Korcula and the City of Split were included (n=3,392). Lifestyle habits were investigated using a self-administered questionnaire, while mental distress was evaluated using the General Health Questionnaire-30 (GHQ-30) in a cross-sectional design. MD compliance was assessed using the Mediterranean Diet Serving Score. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used in the analysis.
Findings
MD compliance was associated with lesser mental distress (ß=−1.96, 95% CI −2.75, −1.17; p<0.001). Inverse association was found between mental distress and higher intake of fruits (ß=−0.64; 95% CI −0.89, −0.39; p<0.001), vegetables (ß=−0.39; 95% CI −0.65, −0.13; p=0.003), olive oil (ß=−0.30; 95% CI −0.56, −0.04; p=0.022) and legumes (ß=−0.83; 95% CI −1.66, 0.00; p=0.049). Mental distress was more intense in women, older participants, those with worse material status, subjects with previously diagnosed chronic diseases and in current smokers.
Originality/value
This study suggests beneficial association of MD and overall mental health, offering important implications for public health provisions. Since the literature search did not reveal any previous study on the association between the MD and GHQ-based mental distress in the general population, this study delivers interesting results and fills this knowledge gap.
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Disaster relief workers experience psychological and physical needsas a direct consequence of their disaster involvement. While this impacthas been acknowledged, relatively little…
Abstract
Disaster relief workers experience psychological and physical needs as a direct consequence of their disaster involvement. While this impact has been acknowledged, relatively little is known about the nature of the psychosocial demands generated by prolonged exposure. Developing both comprehensive preparatory and support programmes for relief workers will require that the nature of these demands, their impact on personnel, and their implications for disaster management are documented. Describes the experiences of a group of nurses who provided relief care in Romanian orphanages in the aftermath of the 1989 revolution in that country. Suggests that prolonged disaster exposure creates specific personal demands and operational problems. Problems were described in relation to operational practices and national issues (e.g. political and cultural factors). Describes the implications of these factors for relief worker wellbeing and relief operation effectiveness, together with suggestions for managing these demands.
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Nicole K. Lee, Ann Roche, Vinita Duraisingam, Jane A. Fischer and Jacqui Cameron
– The purpose of this paper is to identify mental health interventions within male-dominated industries.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify mental health interventions within male-dominated industries.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was undertaken, examining mental health interventions within male-dominated industries. Major electronic databases, grey literature and reference lists for English language studies published January 1990-June 2012 were searched. Independent extraction of the studies was completed by two reviewers using predefined data fields including study quality measures.
Findings
Five studies met inclusion criteria. The available evidence suggests that effective interventions to address anxiety and depression in male-dominated industries include: improving mental health literacy and knowledge, increasing social support, improving access to treatment, providing education for managers and addressing workload issues.
Practical implications
Working conditions and the workplace can have a significant impact on a worker's mental health. Work-related factors including working conditions, job demands and social support in the workplace are particularly important for the mental health workers. Indeed, poor work conditions have been associated with poorer mental health outcomes in particular anxiety and depression, however, little work has been conducted on mental health interventions in the workplace and further the impact on male-dominated industries.
Originality/value
Overall, the body of evidence supporting effective interventions for mental health problems among workers in male-dominated industries is limited. Nonetheless, the evidence does suggest that mental health interventions in male-dominated industries is logistically feasible and can have some positive impact on the mental health of workers, particularly for high prevalence low severity disorders such as anxiety and depression.
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Emmanuel Apergis, Andreas Markoulakis and Iraklis Apergis
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of stress and work from home and their influence on the frequency of praying (spirituality) and attending ritual services…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of stress and work from home and their influence on the frequency of praying (spirituality) and attending ritual services (religiosity).
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing from a data set from Understanding Society (COVID-19 study) in the UK from 5,357 participants, this study specifies a two-level mixed-effects ordered-probit regression to test the main hypotheses and chi-square (x2) analysis, gamma (γ) and tau-b (τb) for checking the robustness of this study results.
Findings
The findings of this study exhort with statistical confidence that spirituality is positively related to religiosity. Working from home positively influences individuals’ spiritual and religious needs, while attending religious services in person is associated with less stress. Females have been found to be more likely to pray rather than attend religious services.
Originality/value
This study investigates the role of work from home and stress on spirituality and religiosity, two key elements often forgotten in personal life and copying. This paper considers spirituality as the frequency of praying, while religiosity is the frequency of attending rituals, which religion has institutionalised.
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Kevin Wynne, Douglas Leary and Jay Sholes
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of Hurricane Sandy and a series of snowstorms that affects two universities in the northeast.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of Hurricane Sandy and a series of snowstorms that affects two universities in the northeast.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey instrument was used to assess the educational impact that these storms had on the college students at two AACSB business schools located in the New York City area. Utilizing 519 observations from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and 441 observations from the snowstorms in the Spring of 2015, the paper is able to document the impact these natural disasters had on the college students in a few selected areas. The paper conducts univariate t-statistics for mean differences, principal component analysis determining eigenvalues, and a multivariate logit model using log likelihood functions.
Findings
The empirical results illustrate that the two different events had different impacts upon the students. In addition, the events in certain circumstances had different impacts upon the student responses between the two universities. Students perceived an increase in preparation by the faculty more significantly when make-up classes were conducted in classrooms as opposed to additional online work. Dorm residents at the suburban university felt greater financial hardship than their counterpart dorm residents at the urban university. Commuter students overall felt an increase in concerns related to their overall education.
Originality/value
The empirical results are robust to multiple specifications, and the authors are able to identify the predominate factors that affected the students during the two natural disasters. The unique survey based nature of the data set provides valuable insights into the students’ behavior that has not previously been documented.
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Robert Hill, Peter Ryan, Polly Hardy, Marta Anczewska, Anna Kurek, Ian Dawson, Heli Laijarvi, Katia Nielson, Klaus Nybourg, Iliana Rokku and Colette Turner
Working in mental health services has always been recognised as a stressful occupation and many studies have attested to the high levels of stress and burnout. This study examined…
Abstract
Working in mental health services has always been recognised as a stressful occupation and many studies have attested to the high levels of stress and burnout. This study examined comparative levels of stress among inpatient and community mental health staff across five European countries.Using a quasi experimental pre‐test post‐test design, data was collected from staff at baseline, six months and 12 months. This paper examines data from the baseline period. Staff working in acute inpatient wards and community mental health teams in Denmark (Aarhus, Storstrøm), Finland (Tampere), Norway (Bodo), Poland (Warsaw) and the UK (Cambridge), were asked to complete the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) (Maslach, & Jackson, 1986), the Mental Health Professional Stress Scale (Cushway, Tyler & Nolan, 1996) and a demographic questionnaire designed for this study. Results on the MBI are reported in this article. Both community and inpatient teams reported high levels of burnout. There was evidence to suggest that burnout differed by site but not by team type. The English teams scored highest in emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Relatively high levels of work‐related personal accomplishment were reported across all of the sites.
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Suggests that although stress research has burgeoned in recent years, little attention has been paid to the relationship between leisure satisfaction, work stress and…
Abstract
Suggests that although stress research has burgeoned in recent years, little attention has been paid to the relationship between leisure satisfaction, work stress and psychological wellbeing. Presents data from secondary school teachers in a major UK city. A validated teacher stress measure comprising role‐related, task‐based, and environmental stress was used to tap the nature and prevalence of teacher stress. Results showed that overall teacher stress arose from five main areas: role‐related issues (e.g. overload, conflict, ambiguity); general job satisfaction; life satisfaction; supervisory support; and student discipline problems. A positive association was found between the amount of work stress reported and poor psychological health as measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). While no strong relationship was found between leisure satisfaction and stress, overall leisure satisfaction was significantly correlated with life satisfaction. The findings provide evidence that relaxational leisure satisfaction could well be a moderator of occupational stress for some teachers.
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Chris Fitch, Sarah Hamilton, Paul Bassett and Ryan Davey
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the evidence on the extent to which personal debt impacts on mental health, and mental health on personal debt.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the evidence on the extent to which personal debt impacts on mental health, and mental health on personal debt.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper systematically reviews the English‐language, peer‐reviewed literature, 1980‐2009, drawing on 14 databases across the medical, business, legal, and social science fields.
Findings
From 39,333 potential papers identified, 39,283 were excluded, and 50 were reviewed using a narrative analysis approach. Among nine longitudinal studies, three controlled for psychiatric morbidity or psychological wellbeing at baseline, income/wealth, and other socio‐economic variables. From these, two reported indebtedness or an increase in debt levels associated with subsequently poorer mental health, while one study found no such relationship. While methodological limitations make it difficult to definitively demonstrate whether indebtedness causes poorer mental health, plausible data exist which indicate that indebtedness may contribute to the development of mental health problems, and mediate accepted relationships between poverty, low income, and mental disorder.
Research limitations/implications
Existing research either uses definitions of “debt” which lack specificity, or definitions of “mental health” which are too broad‐brushed. A more sensitive set of core questions is needed. Further longitudinal research is also a key priority.
Practical implications
Those working with people with debt problems need to be aware of the potential risk of reduced mental wellbeing or mental disorder.
Originality/value
The mental health of individuals living with indebtedness has become a recent concern for the health and financial services sectors. However, no systematic reviews have so far been conducted.
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Gerard W. Toh, Wee Ling Koh, Jack Ho, Jackson Chia, Ad Maulod, Irene Tirtajana, Peter Yang and Mathia Lee
Health disparities affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) populations have been reported in many countries. For Singapore, no large quantitative studies…
Abstract
Purpose
Health disparities affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) populations have been reported in many countries. For Singapore, no large quantitative studies on mental health and well-being in the local LGBTQ community have been published. The authors conducted a community-based survey (National LGBT Census Singapore, 2013; NLCS2013) that covered a comprehensive set of demographic, social and health indicators. Here, the authors investigated mental health status and its correlates in 2,350 LGBTQ individuals within the NLCS2013 sample.
Design/methodology/approach
The NLCS2013 was an anonymous online survey conducted amongst self-identified LGBTQ adults (aged ≥ 21 years) residing in Singapore. The survey included the World Health Organisation Well-being Index (WHO-5) as a measure of mental well-being, with low WHO 5 scores (<13/25) indicating poor mental well-being. The authors analysed relationships between low WHO-5 score and a range of respondent characteristics using multivariate logistic regression.
Findings
Strikingly, 40.9% of 2,350 respondents analysed had low WHO-5 scores, indicating poor mental well-being. Parental non-acceptance, experience of conflict at home and bullying/discrimination in the workplace or educational environments were all significantly associated with poor mental well-being. Conversely, community participation appeared protective for mental well-being, as respondents who participated in LGBTQ community organisations or events were less likely to have poor mental well-being than non-participants.
Originality/value
The NLCS2013 represents one of the first broad-based efforts to comprehensively and quantitatively capture the sociodemographic and health profile, including mental health status, within Singapore’s resident LGBTQ population. These findings affirm the need to address the mental health needs of LGBTQ individuals in Singapore and to foster safe spaces and allyship.
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