Health Risk Behaviors in Insured and Uninsured Community Health Center Patients in the Rural US South

Introduction: The impact of health behaviors on the leading causes of death across the USA has been well demonstrated. However, limited focus has been placed on the leading health risk behaviors of rural Federally-Qualified Health Center (FQHC) patients, a particularly underserved group. The current study was undertaken to examine the most common risk-taking behaviors of rural FQHC patients and to examine if risk-taking behaviors vary between insured and uninsured patients. Methods: A convenience sample of 199 patients was recruited at an FQHC in the rural US South. Participants completed a battery of demographic and health risk behavior assessments. Results: The most common risk behaviors were eating fried foods, not eating five servings of vegetables per day, not eating three servings of fruit per day, drinking caloric beverages, not exercising regularly, not wearing a seatbelt, having sex without a condom and smoking. Uninsured patients were more likely to talk on their cell phones while driving (p Conclusions: Rural FQHC patients demonstrated high levels of behavioral and health risk-taking, including dietary-, exercise- and traffic-related risks, in a context where traditional prevention methods have failed to penetrate. Differences exist between insured and uninsured patients, indicating that the reasons behind behavioral risk-taking may be context-specific and need to be explored further to help identify intervention targets that are culturally and situationally appropriate for diverse rural groups

The Holistic Life-Crafting Model:A Systematic Literature Review of Meaning-Making Behaviors

Pursuing meaningful life experiences is vital for wellbeing and health. Crafting strategies, such as job crafting and work-life balance crafting, have been developed to create meaning in specific life domains. However, these strategies share common underlying behaviors that transcend specific contexts. Building on this understanding, we propose a comprehensive “holistic life-crafting” approach that integrates overlapping behaviors from various crafting strategies. This study aims to clarify the theoretical conceptualization of life-crafting by identifying common strategies and behaviors underlying different meaning-making crafting approaches. Through a systematic literature search of six databases between January and April 2022, we identified 16,479 published records. Using predefined inclusion–exclusion criteria, 51 records (reflecting five crafting approaches, resulting in 223 different crafting behaviors) remained. Through content analysis, we grouped these behaviors into seven broader crafting strategies, forming the “holistic life-crafting” approach. Findings suggest that life-crafting is a holistic, continuous process of proactive meaning-making by intentionally balancing life demands with available resources and altering life’s cognitive, environmental, interest, relational, skill, and task-related aspects to promote personal growth and wellbeing. The holistic approach encompasses cognitive, environmental, interest, relational, resources-demands, skill, and task crafting strategies. This framework provides a comprehensive understanding of how individuals can actively shape their lives to promote more meaningful life experiences across different domains. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO, identifier CRD42022333930.</p

Positive Organisational Psychology 2.0: Embracing The Technological Revolution

Positive Organisational Psychology (POP) has experienced significant growth in the past two decades, contributing to our understanding of work-related well-being and performance. However, the discipline is now on the cusp of a new wave of research and innovation that may reshape its discourse. This paper introduces the concept of ‘Positive Organisational Psychology 2.0’ (POP 2.0) as an evidence-based, data-driven field that utilizes technological advancements and human-centred design to understand and enhance positive characteristics of individuals, organisations, and society for optimal psychological functioning, wellbeing, and performance. The paper begins with an overview of POP’s emergence, highlighting its key characteristics and exploring the factors behind its rapid growth and declining relevance. We then conceptualize POP 2.0, outline its defining features, and advocate for a broader scope, expanded focal audience, enhanced methodologies, and transformative role shifts for practitioners. We conclude by outlining opportunities, challenges and perspectives for the next wave of innovative research

Increasing Character Strength Knowledge, Interest, and Skill: Preliminary Evidence for a Collaborative and Multimethod Assessment Procedure

Introduction: The study’s objective was to evaluate whether a qualitative, collaborative, and multimethod assessment protocol increased reports of character strength interest, knowledge, and perceived skills. Methods: Thirty-two participants completed three phases of data collection. Participants were first screened for well-being, which was used as an auxiliary covariate to order participants into experimental conditions. Selected participants were randomly assigned to a control or collaborative and multimethod assessment (card sort × qualitative interview) condition. Participants completed pre- and post-measures of strength interest, knowledge, and perceived skill. In the final phase, second phase participants were invited to report on strength-related outcomes 24 h post-administration using an online survey. Results: A series of 2 (Assessment Condition) × 3 (Time) mixed ANOVAs were analyzed. Results revealed a significant assessment condition by time interaction for strength knowledge and perceived skill. Participants in the collaborative and multimethod assessment condition reported higher strength knowledge and perceived skills compared to control participants. These effects were maintained for 24 h. Conclusion: The findings offer preliminary yet sizable support for using collaborative and multimethod assessment procedures to increase strength knowledge and perceived skill. Because of the qualitative, collaborative, and individualized nature of our assessment protocol, the findings offer a low-cost and contextually bound pathway to increase strength-based outcomes

The academic task performance scale:psychometric properties, and measurement invariance across ages, genders and nations

Academic task performance (TP) refers to the proficiency with which students perform in academic tasks through making the right choices and completing core tasks central to their academic studies, on time and to specification. We adapted Koopmans et al.’s task performance scale (TPS) for use within tertiary education and investigated its psychometric properties, internal consistency and measurement invariance across age, gender and national groups in university students (n = 3,265). The results showed that a hierarchical ESEM model with one higher-order task performance factor consisting of time management and task efficiency fitted the data best. The TPS exhibited full measurement invariance across gender and age groups, implying that the latent mean scores can be used to determine differences. However, invariance could only partially be established for national cohorts, implying that cross-national comparisons may not be possible. These findings offer preliminary support for the TPS as a valid instrument for gauging students’ academic task performance.</p

The Holistic Life-Crafting Model: a systematic literature review of meaning-making behaviors

Pursuing meaningful life experiences is vital for wellbeing and health. Crafting strategies, such as job crafting and work-life balance crafting, have been developed to create meaning in specific life domains. However, these strategies share common underlying behaviors that transcend specific contexts. Building on this understanding, we propose a comprehensive “holistic life-crafting” approach that integrates overlapping behaviors from various crafting strategies. This study aims to clarify the theoretical conceptualization of life-crafting by identifying common strategies and behaviors underlying different meaning-making crafting approaches. Through a systematic literature search of six databases between January and April 2022, we identified 16,479 published records. Using predefined inclusion–exclusion criteria, 51 records (reflecting five crafting approaches, resulting in 223 different crafting behaviors) remained. Through content analysis, we grouped these behaviors into seven broader crafting strategies, forming the “holistic life-crafting” approach. Findings suggest that life-crafting is a holistic, continuous process of proactive meaning-making by intentionally balancing life demands with available resources and altering life’s cognitive, environmental, interest, relational, skill, and task-related aspects to promote personal growth and wellbeing. The holistic approach encompasses cognitive, environmental, interest, relational, resources-demands, skill, and task crafting strategies. This framework provides a comprehensive understanding of how individuals can actively shape their lives to promote more meaningful life experiences across different domains.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO, identifier CRD42022333930

Examining the Role of Adverse Life Events And Daily Hassles in Suicide

Exceeding previously available studies in both scope and depth, the two-volume Suicide: A Global Issue explores and explains both why suicides-and suicide attempts-occur and what can be done to prevent them. The first volume, Understanding, considers factors that may play into the choice to take one\u27s life, discussing forces as varied as culture, psychology, religion, and biology. The second volume, Prevention, covers steps that can be taken to prevent suicide, whether individually or by society as a whole. Articles by widely respected experts consider questions such as why people kill themselves, why some countries have extremely high suicide rates, and whether the treatment of suicidal individuals actually prevents them from taking their lives. Each chapter presents incidents, research, and actions from nations around the globe, as well as from the United States

Schemas Mediate the Link between Procrastination and Depression: Results from the United States and Pakistan

The current study extended the Procrastination-Health model by examining a multiple mediation model, with two cognitive schemas (defectiveness; insufficient self-control) serving as mediators. The models were as follows: procrastination defectiveness depression; procrastination insufficient self-control depression. Participants included 412 (271 women, 141 men) United States (U.S.) and 240 (107 women, 133 men) Pakistani college students, who responded via self-report questionnaires. In the U.S. sample, results revealed a non-significant direct effect between procrastination and depression after consideration for the two cognitive schemas, suggesting the schemas completely mediated the model. Both defectiveness and insufficient self-control schemas were significant individual mediators. In the Pakistani model, results revealed a significant direct effect and indirect effect through the two cognitive schemas, indicating partial mediation. Only the indirect path through defectiveness schemas was significant in the Pakistani model. Given slight differences in the two models, a moderated-mediation model was analyzed to determine if the strength of the direct and indirect effects varied by nationality. The strength of the direct and indirect effects was not moderated by nationality. Overall, this is the first study to identify cognitive mediators in the procrastination-depression relationship. Such findings represent a significant extension of the Procrastination-Health model and offer some unique cognitive insights into culturally sensitive conceptualizations and treatments for depression

The Poverty-Related Stress Scale: Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Measure Assessing Poverty-Related Stressors

Background: Poverty-related stress plays a pivotal role in mediating the impact of poverty on behavioral health outcomes. However, existing research on adult poverty-related stress suffers from limited scope and inadequate measurement approaches. To address these shortcomings, our study undertakes a comprehensive investigation to develop and validate a multidimensional Poverty-Related Stress Scale (PRSS).Methods: A multi-study research design was employed to develop and validate the PRSS. Study 1 (N = 206) established a multidimensional framework for poverty-related stress by exploring the factor structure and internal consistency of our measure. Study 2 (N = 400) evaluated nuanced psychometric properties, including factorial validity, internal consistency, and temporal invariance, using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and modern exploratory structural equation models (ESEM). Lastly, Study 3 (N = 470/219) examined the criterion validity of our scale by investigating its concurrent and predictive relationships with depression, anxiety, and flourishing.Results: The findings consistently supported a hierarchal ESEM model for overall poverty-related stress, reflecting the dynamic interaction among three stressors: noise disturbance, housing dysfunction, and financial distress. This model exhibited temporal invariance, with different studies reliably measuring distinct components of poverty-related stress. Concurrent validity was demonstrated by significant associations between overall poverty-related stress and theoretically relevant constructs, such as depression, anxiety, and flourishing, at different time points. Additionally, predictive validity was established, showing poverty-related stress measured at Time 1 accounted for variations in depression, anxiety, and flourishing at Time 2. The results provide robust evidence for the validity and reliability of the PRSS as a tool for measuring poverty-related stress and its underlying factors.Conclusions: Our findings offer compelling preliminary support for the utility of our measure. Further research and potential clinical applications are discussed to deepen the understanding of poverty-related stress and its implications for behavioral health outcomes.<br/

Coping with Depression: College Students\u27 Perceived Barriers and Preferences for Formal and Informal Psychological Help

Introduction: Adults aged 18 to 25 years have the highest rates of depression (11.1%) in the US, and are least likely to receive treatment (SAMHSA, 2012). The purpose of this study was to identify perceived barriers to seeking depression counseling and explore preferred choices of help among college students. Methods: College students (n=188) completed surveys assessing current and past depression, formal and informal help-seeking behavior, perceived barriers to seeking counseling, and most frequently utilized interventions. Descriptive statistics were calculated to assess depression prevalence, frequency of perceived barriers, and participation in depression interventions. Chi-square tests were performed to examine the relation between perceived depression and measured depression based on CESD-20 diagnostic criteria. Results: Significantly more participants meeting depression diagnostic criteria reported never being depressed, χ2(2,N = 153)=14.418, (p \u3c.01). Of these, 55.2% did not seek professional help. A majority of participants (74%) reported engaging in physical activity, spending time with friends (65%), family (61%), and learning relaxation (48%) to cope with depression. Based on mean scores, top barriers to seeking counseling were difficulty talking to someone they don’t know (2.56), motivating themselves (2.54), stigma (2.52), and being seen emotional (2.51). Discussion: There is a need to develop screeners to identify students suffering from depression and increase self-awareness of depression. A better understanding of college students’ barriers to seeking psychological treatment may assist in designing interventions to decrease reluctance towards professional psychological help. Alternative choices of help that are most preferred by college students must be supported to ensure protective factors for depression