The structure of psychological life satisfaction: insights from farmers and a general community sample in Australia

The wellbeing paradox in Hungarian local sustainable agriculture: a health psychology approach

BACKGROUND

The literature suggests that farmers' work involves a number of operational difficulties. Although alternative food networks address the majority of their problems, they can potentially generate new hardships. The aim of this study is to examine the situational and engagement-related work difficulties associated with the everyday world of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmers.

METHODS

This study used the health psychology approach, namely interpretive phenomenology, to understand the social determinants of farmers' working lives in CSA and to explore mental health challenges within the practices of local sustainable farming. To collect data, semi-structured, in-person interviews were conducted with CSA farmers in Hungary.

RESULTS

Our study shows that new modes of consumer-producer connectivity create novel situations and issues which farmers are forced to address. Three personal experiential themes emerge from the data to describe CSA farmers' work difficulties: (1) Conflicted autonomy; (2) The pressure of boxes; (3) Social overload. The difficulties for CSA farmers seem to be rooted in the economic characteristics of alternative agriculture where farmers organize food production for the satisfaction of consumer needs. In addition, structural conditions require several different CSA farmer roles, which could even be conflicting.

CONCLUSION

This study provides participants' perspectives on the health and wellbeing costs of sustainable farming. Newer producer-consumer connections require both time and experience and involve extra effort or skills, but farmers often lack these abilities. The results show how perceptions of work processes relate to the general framework of CSA, which necessitates a distinct strategy for farm management.

Socioeconomic Impacts of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Mental Health and Life Satisfaction of the Japanese Population

COVID-19 has been a global challenge ever since its emergence, with reports suggesting negative effects on the mental health and well-being of people. We investigated the associations of the socioeconomic changes driven by the pandemic, illness, well-being, and fear of COVID-19 in Japan. Totally, 565 Japanese individuals completed an online survey, including questions on their self-restraint and changing incomes, and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale; Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale; and present, past, and future life satisfaction scale. Analysis using structural equation models revealed that refraining from going out was a predictor of illness due to the fear of COVID-19. Decreased income predicted increased illness, but was not due to fear of COVID-19. These results suggested that the interaction between decreased time outside and increased fear of COVID-19 could affect illness. Our study suggests the role of fear of COVID-19 during pandemic and the socioeconomic impacts on mental health.

Quantifying Ecological Well-Being Loss under Rural–Urban Land Conversion: A Study from Choice Experiments in China

Rural–urban land conversion has led to the degradation of agricultural system ecological services, and therefore human ecological well-being. There is a need to transform the non-marketed value of ecosystem services provision into a monetary loss of ecological well-being in rural–urban land conversion, which could serve as a basis for ecological compensation. In this paper, a choice experiment method is adopted to investigate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of rural and urban residents in six cities of three provinces selected from different regions in China. The results reveal that the attributes reflecting the ecological well-being of rural and urban residents are experiencing different degrees of decline. Two attributes, health and security, show the most obvious decline among all ecological well-being attributes for urban residents. In view of stakeholders, rural residents are facing a greater decline in ecological well-being than urban residents, which is mainly driven by their different linkages and interactions with the agro-ecosystem. In terms of regional comparisons, residents in the central region (Hubei Province) of China are subject to the sharpest decline in ecological well-being, followed by those living in the western region (Guizhou Province) and the eastern region (Guangdong Province). These differences are basically determined by their land resource conditions and socioeconomic circumstances. This paper argues that it is pressing to establish an ecological compensation mechanism to regulate rural–urban land conversion and maintain human ecological well-being.

Climate change, food systems and population health risks in their eco-social context

The establishment of ecological public health as crucial to modern public health is overdue. While the basic concepts have been gestating for decades, receptivity within broader public health has been limited. This position is changing, not least as the population-level impacts of climate change and, more broadly, of limits to growth are emerging from theory and forecasting into daily reality. This paper describes several key elements of ecological public health thinking. These include the 'environmental' risks to human health (often systemic and disruptive, rather than local and toxic) posed by climate change and other forms of adverse global environmental change. Closer recognition of the links between social and environmental factors has been urged--an 'eco-social' approach--and, relatedly, for greater co-operation between social and natural sciences. The authors revisit critics of capitalism who foresaw the global capture and transformation of ecosystems for material human ends, and their resultant despoliation. The perennial call within public health to reduce vulnerability by lessening poverty is more important than ever, given the multifactored threat to the health of the poor which is anticipated, assuming no radical strategies to alleviate these pressures. But enhanced health security for the poor requires more than the reconfiguring of social determinants; it also requires, as the overarching frame, ecological public health.

Perceived profitability and well-being in Australian dryland farmers and irrigators

OBJECTIVE

To describe the relationship between self-reported farm profitability and farmer well-being, and to explore potential implications for farmer assistance policy.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional analysis of farmers from Regional Wellbeing Survey data (wave 1, 2013) and comparison between groups.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were 1172 dryland farmers (35% women) and 707 irrigators (24% women).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

The Personal Wellbeing Index and the Kessler 10-item measure of general psychological distress.

RESULTS

There is a consistent and significant relationship between higher profitability, greater well-being and less distress among dryland farmers and irrigators.

CONCLUSIONS

The relationship between farm profitability and the well-being of Australian dryland farmers and irrigators has the potential to inform farmer assistance policy. Assistance programs can be more effective if they explicitly incorporate a profitability assessment into their targeting and eligibility requirements and a well-being component into program design and delivery.

SETTING

Rural Australia.

INTERVENTION

Not applicable.

The mediating role of resilience in the relationship between stress and life satisfaction among Chinese medical students: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

The psychological distress of medical students has been widely acknowledged. However, few studies focused on positive well-being among medical students. The purpose of this study was to investigate related demographic factors of life satisfaction among Chinese medical students, to examine the relationship between stress and life satisfaction among this group of people, and to explore the mediating role of resilience in this relationship.

METHODS

This multicenter cross-sectional study was carried out in June 2014. Self-reported questionnaires consisting of Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (RS-14), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), as well as demographic section were distributed to students at four medical colleges and universities in Liaoning province, China. A total of 2925 students (effective response rate: 83.6%) became our subjects. Hierarchical linear regression models were used to explore the mediating role of resilience.

RESULTS

Among the demographic factors, life satisfaction was significantly different in gender (P = 0.001) and study programs (P < 0.001). Stress was negatively correlated with life satisfaction (r = -0.35, P < 0.01). After adjusting for the demographic factors, stress accounted for 12% of the variance in life satisfaction (β = -0.34, P < 0.001) while resilience explained an additional 18% of the variance (β = 0.46, P < 0.001). Resilience functioned as a partial mediator in the relationship between stress and life satisfaction among Chinese medical students.

CONCLUSIONS

Both stress and resilience played a big role in life satisfaction among Chinese medical students. Besides reducing perceived stress, the university authorities should adopt evidence-based intervention strategies to enhance their resilience in order to promote life satisfaction among the students.

Health risks faced by Turkish agricultural workers

Background. Individuals who make a living through agriculture and animal husbandry are faced with a variety of physical and psychological health risks. In many international studies, it has been shown that these risks can result in disease. The purpose of this study is to summarize the health risks faced by Turkish agricultural workers. Materials and Methods. This study used a nonrandom, convenience sample. The biopsychosocial health statuses of 177 farmers from 11 central villages in Kars, Turkey, were examined. Results. It was determined that the depression rate among the study group was 62.1%, the rate of physical health problems was 52.0%, and the rate of social isolation was 53.7%. There was a statistically significant difference between the depression scale scores and lower education levels, having ≥ three children, and physical health problems, as well as the physical condition of the farmers' homes. There was a significant difference between poor physical health and older age, lower education levels, having ≥ three children, and social isolation. Conclusions. In providing data-based evidence, it is believed that this study will contribute considerably to understanding the causality of health problems in this population and in planning the development of public health and veterinary services based on regional needs.

Drought as a mental health exposure

The mental health impact of drought is poorly quantified and no previous research has demonstrated a relationship between distress and explicit environmentally based measures of drought. With continuing climate change, it is important to understand what drought is and how it may affect the mental health. We quantified drought in terms of duration and intensity of relative dryness and identified drought characteristics associated with poor mental health to evaluate any vulnerability in rural and urban communities. Our methods involved analysis of 100-year longitudinal records of monthly rainfall linked to one wave (2007-2008) of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. Cluster analysis was used to characterise different patterns of dryness and linear regression analysis was used to examine associations with participant distress, as well as the moderating role of rural locality. The results showed that, during a seven-year period of major and widespread drought, one pattern of relative dryness (extreme cumulative number of months in drought culminating in a recent period of dryness lasting a year or more) was associated with increased distress for rural but not urban dwellers. The increase in distress was estimated to be 6.22%, based on 95% confidence intervals. Thus, we show that it is possible to quantitatively identify an association between patterns of drought and distress.