An amended form of the Older American's Status and Needs Assessment Questionnaire assessed the prevalence of adjustment, as measured by the Bradburn Affect Scale, in a random stratified sample of 301 female and 140 male elderly rural residents in Allegany County, New York. The relationship between adjustment and biosocial, demographic, social, and…

Psychological well-being has been shown to be significantly influenced both by daily and major life events. The impact of two types of daily events on reports of physical and mental well-being was investigated in a multiple-time measurement design. Demand events which occur independently of one's volition, and desire events which arise from one's…

On December 12, 1985, a charter airline carrying 248 United States soldiers crashed and burned after a refueling stop in Gander, Newfoundland, killing all on board. After the crash, family assistance workers were appointed to help the surviving family members of each dead soldier. This study attempted to: (1) identify the major areas of stress for…

Comparison processes play an important role in any kind of judgment, including judgments about one's well-being. To find out how information about one's own life influences judgments of well-being, two experiments were conducted with a sample of 52 students. It was hypothesized that spatial, temporal, and social distance would influence judgments.…

While published recommendations for housing design and neighborhood planning for older people continue to proliferate, these standards and criteria are rarely subjected to empirical testing. In this study, objective field assessments, using objective measures of residential quality, measured residential resources for meeting life maintenance and…

Models of well being and human functioning have traditionally been based on empirical studies done with children and young adults. As part of an ongoing research program to develop and test a model of effective functioning and positive health in older adults, 31 elderly individuals (7 males, 24 females), with a mean age of 73.58 years, completed…

The birth of a child represents an important normative transition for the infant's mother and her close social network members that may affect both the mother's personal well-being and the quality of her interpersonal realationships. Participants included 47 mothers of infants treated in neonatal intensive care units, and 36 mothers of healthy…

The second in a series, this volume highlights 18 indicators of children's well-being in the 50 states and presents case studies of 5 states' strategies to prevent various problems among the birth to 5-year-old population. Indicators are grouped according to factors that may place young children at risk; these include: (1) mandatory kindergarten…

Regeneration is a new way of thinking about the environment and about ourselves, based on hope, optimism, and the ability of people and nature to renew from within. Regenerative environmental education reaches beyond the classroom and into the student's life and community. This collection of activities provides students with ideas and experiences…

Conceptualization of the lives of adult women and the forces affecting their well-being have concentrated on five constructs: (1) chronological age; (2) menopause and the empty nest; (3) marital status; (4) parity; and (5) multiple role involvement as a source of stress. A re-examination of these variables focused on the concerns and…

This health education guide for grade one is divided into six sections. A statement of the sub-goal for each section prefaces an outline for achieving that goal: (1) social-emotional well-being: to enhance self-awareness and increase skills that promote personal development and successful relationships; (2) physical well-being: to increase…

A wide range of interesting observations of the past decade, which may now cast their shadow as the health communication paradigm of the forthcoming decade, can be clarified and correlated. One example of effective communication therapy was Norman Cousins's hospitalization with the crippling disease, "ankylosing spondylitis." Using large doses of…

This study explores the validity of a construct of cognitive spirituality as measured by a recent measure, the "Spirituality Index of Well-Being," in a sample of Catholic high school students. Spirituality on this scale is conceptualized as a composite of life scheme (having meaning in one's life) and generalized self-efficacy. Construct-based…

Occupational status is a key component of identity and self-worth for men. But little research has been done on the influence of working status on women, particularly during life cycle transitions or periods of crisis. To examine the impact of employment status on the self-esteem, psychological well-being and physical health of women at mid-life,…

Most research examining the relationship between sex role orientation and psychological well-being has been guided by either the congruence, androgyny, or masculinity model. The congruence model predicts that low self-esteem and high depression are consequences of gender/sex role incongruence. The androgyny model predicts that high self-esteem and…