Search Results (13,269)

Academic well-being is often examined as an individual condition or support need, but less is known about how students construct well-being during transition into demanding pedagogical environments. This qualitative study explores how first-semester students in a Danish Problem-Based Learning (PBL) university understood and sustained academic well-being. Semi-structured interviews with 17 students from health-related and engineering/technology-related programs were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings show that academic well-being was experienced as transition work: students made academic demands meaningful through relevance and purpose, developed confidence through emerging competence, negotiated support and vulnerability in teamwork, and managed autonomy within pedagogical and institutional structures. The study contributes to higher education research by showing how academic well-being emerges through interactions among intrapersonal resources, peer collaboration, and learning environments. It argues that transition support in PBL contexts should scaffold autonomy, collaboration, belonging, and academic meaning-making rather than treating well-being as an individual student responsibility alone. Full article

This scoping review examines how leadership shapes employees’ mental health in disruptive, uncertain organizational contexts between 2020 and 2025. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a systematic search across Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and PsycINFO yielded 43 eligible sources (30 empirical, 13 conceptual/theoretical). Data were extracted and synthesized through critical interpretive synthesis. Findings indicate that transformational, ethical, servant, inclusive, and health-oriented leadership are associated with favorable well-being outcomes and with psychosocial resources including psychological safety, trust, and psychological capital. Conversely, authoritarian, toxic, destructive, and laissez-faire leadership are associated with burnout, psychological distress, organizational silence, and turnover intentions. Building on these observed associations, the interpretive synthesis generates three theoretically plausible propositions: leaders’ emotional regulation may condition the protective potential of prosocial leadership; resource depletion under disruption may contribute to the intensification of dysfunctional leadership; and psychological safety, trust, and psychological capital may operate as interconnected mechanisms linking leadership with emotional exhaustion and resilience. These propositions represent synthesis-generated relationships requiring direct empirical testing rather than effects established by the reviewed evidence. Synthesizing these insights, this review proposes a dynamic emotional regulation framework of leadership under disruption. Rather than viewing leadership through static styles, the framework conceptualizes it as a relational, context-sensitive process whose implications for occupational mental health depend on psychosocial and contextual conditions. Full article

Background/Objectives: Grandparent caregiving is a common and demanding role, and perceived economic strain is among the more consistent correlates of caregiver well-being. Guided by Hill’s ABC-X family stress model, this study examined whether perceived economic strain was associated with quality of life (QoL) among U.S. caregiving grandparents through two caregiving appraisals, caregiver burden and caregiver ambivalence, and whether perceived residential area type (a single self-classification item, with higher scores indicating a more urban perception) moderated the ambivalence–QoL relation. Methods: Participants included 424 caregiving grandparents recruited through an opt-in online panel. QoL was measured with the two-item WHOQOL-BREF general facet. Storage codes for the health-satisfaction item were verified against the survey instrument; a scoring error affecting them was corrected, and all results reflect the corrected scoring. A serial mediation model (PROCESS Model 6) and a moderated serial mediation model (PROCESS Model 87) were tested, controlling for age, sex, and marital status entered as categorical indicators, with percentile bootstrap confidence intervals (5000 samples). Results: Perceived economic strain was strongly and negatively associated with QoL (total effect B = −4.64, p < 0.001; the full QoL regression model explained 38% of the variance, R² = 0.38). Greater strain was associated with greater burden, and burden with greater ambivalence, but the hypothesized negative serial pathway was not supported, and the serial indirect relation was positive and small (effect = 0.20, 95% CI [0.04, 0.41]). Perceived area type moderated the ambivalence–QoL relation (interaction B = 0.63, p = 0.002). Ambivalence was associated with lower QoL among grandparents who perceived their communities as small towns (B = −3.97) and with higher QoL among those with urban (B = 0.93) or major metropolitan (B = 1.09) perceptions. The moderation held across robustness checks, including an ordinal specification of the outcome, but did not replicate with an objective metropolitan versus nonmetropolitan indicator. Conclusions: The findings are cross-sectional, come from a relatively advantaged and nonrepresentative sample, and rest on brief measures, so causal conclusions are not warranted, and practice implications remain preliminary. Even so, the results support the idea that the meaning of caregiving ambivalence for well-being may depend on the kind of community caregivers believe they live in, and the strong relation between perceived economic strain and QoL supports continued attention to financial hardship in policies and programs serving caregiving grandparents. Full article

For those convinced that theology is about reconciling faith and reason or offering a reasonable account of Christian beliefs and ways of living, the task has become a huge challenge in recent times. This is because reason appears now, both as too demanding in its scientific form and too bewildered in many postmodern and critical expressions. Nevertheless, a deeper perspective can discern interesting developments that open new windows of opportunity for a well-informed theology. This article explores four such scenarios: identifying expressions of reason in each social system and understanding their function; researching beliefs and the process of believing as an essential cognitive function with its rational demands; studying religion, health and well-being to discover the healthy dimension of faith; and recent developments in science and theology, or theology engaging with and learning from science. In all these areas, we can see a growing and much-needed collaboration between faith and reason, and their inevitable plural expressions. Full article

Parenting programs in Aotearoa New Zealand are typically designed by and for non-Indigenous parents of non-disabled children, yet are routinely promoted to all families, including Māori (the Indigenous people of Aotearoa) and families of disabled children, despite limited cultural relevance. This paper describes and discusses the co-creation of a culturally responsive program for whānau (families) of a disabled child, undertaken over three years using a participatory, culturally informed approach. Drawing on key practices from te Ao Māori (the Māori worldview)—including whakawhanaungatanga (relationship building), tuakana-teina (peer-to-peer support), and koha atu koha mai (reciprocity)—the team developed and iteratively tested a wānanga-style program across three stages of development (foundation building, program drafting, and program testing). Evaluation data was collected from participants (n = 16), facilitators (n = 3), and authors, using anonymous online surveys (participants, facilitators), in-person discussion (facilitators), and reflective observation (authors). Data analysis was pragmatic and participatory in design, prioritizing collective sense-making. Findings indicate that whānau highly valued dedicated time for wellbeing reflection, culturally grounded content (particularly the Whiti Te Rā wellbeing model), peer connection, and practical supports such as on-site childcare. The paper reflects on the intentionality required for working together, including the need to center Māori knowledge, flatten power dynamics, and slow down program development to prioritize relationship over output. This work contributes to community psychology and public health scholarship as an example of decolonial, anti-racist practice in community health program design. This paper offers a template for how culturally responsive, co-created program design and delivery can work in practice. Full article

Background: Despite the rapid proliferation of mobile health applications in oncology, real-world uptake, determinants of use, and patient needs among breast cancer patients remain insufficiently described, particularly in the German healthcare context. This study aimed to assess health app use in breast cancer patients and to identify sociodemographic, lifestyle, and psychosocial correlates. Methods: We conducted a non-interventional, cross-sectional, anonymous paper-based survey among adult breast cancer patients receiving outpatient, day-care, or inpatient treatment, or follow-up at a tertiary university hospital (July 2022–January 2023). Descriptive statistics and group comparisons with false discovery rate correction and multivariable logistic regression were used to examine associations between app use and sociodemographic, lifestyle, and psychosocial variables. Results: A total of 202 patients were included (mean age 56.4 ± 13.8 years). Health app users were significantly younger than non-users (51.7 ± 11.0 vs. 64.7 ± 13.8 years, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.08). Age was the only variable that was independently associated with the use of health apps in the multivariable analysis (adjusted OR 0.43 per 10 years, 95% CI 0.29–0.64). Health app use showed no significant associations with indicators of physical fitness or lifestyle, perceived social support, or emotional burden. Health and fitness apps were the most frequently used app category (77.4%). Physicians were the most frequently consulted source of medical information (77.6%), and only one participant reported having received a digital health application on prescription. Conclusions: In this breast cancer cohort, health app use was common and age-associated. Given patients’ reliance on physicians and the near-absent DiGA prescription rate, age-sensitive implementation strategies and structured clinician guidance are needed to support equitable digital engagement in breast cancer care. Full article

Telework has expanded rapidly, and understanding the behaviors employees enact under it has become correspondingly important. This study develops an integrative conceptual framework specifying the multidimensional nature of telework behavior. A systematic literature review following PRISMA identified 114 review articles, which were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory. Six behavioral dimensions were identified, covering performance, communication, environmental, task, policy, and well-being conduct. Antecedents were grouped into individual factors, job characteristics, organizational norms, technological factors, and work environment factors. Outcomes were grouped into job satisfaction, productivity, turnover, health and well-being, work–life balance, and social isolation. Three contextual moderators were identified, namely telework modality, telework preference, and cultural and national context. Fourteen propositions link these categories and are advanced as testable claims rather than established findings, since they are derived from published review evidence and have not been empirically tested. The framework proposes telework behavior as the construct through which the conditions of remote work are translated into employee and organizational outcomes, and it specifies a content domain from which measures of the construct can be developed. It also indicates where organizations can direct policy, training, and intervention. Full article

Background: HIV-related stigma and discrimination remain barriers to equitable HIV prevention, treatment, and well-being in Thailand despite their longstanding inclusion in the national HIV response. This study examined contemporary experiences of stigma and discrimination among people living with HIV. Methods: The people living with HIV Stigma Index 2.0 was a community-led mixed-methods study conducted from August 2022 to January 2023. The quantitative survey enrolled 2508 people living with HIV from 24 provinces covering all 13 health regions, including general adults living with HIV, four key population groups, migrant workers, and young people. A nested qualitative study included 174 in-depth interviews across six population groups. Results: Sixteen percent of participants reported HIV-related discrimination in healthcare services in the previous 12 months, 4.7% reported community stigma in the past 12 months, 39.0% reported internalized stigma, and 2.7% experienced rights abuse in the past 12 months. Younger people living with HIV reported significantly higher levels of healthcare discrimination, community stigma, internalized stigma, and rights abuse than older participants and the general people living with HIV reference group. Compared with general people living with HIV, sex workers and people who use drugs reported significantly higher levels of community stigma; men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who use drugs, and migrant workers reported significantly higher internalized stigma; and transgender people and sex workers reported significantly higher levels of rights abuse. Qualitative findings highlighted anticipated and enacted stigma, confidentiality concerns, internalized stigma, intersecting identities, rights violations, and resilience. Conclusions: HIV-related stigma remains evident in healthcare, community, and personal domains. Younger people living with HIV and key populations were particularly vulnerable to HIV-related stigma, discrimination, and rights abuse. Responses should combine updated public communication, stigma-free and person-centered healthcare, protection of privacy and rights, support for internalized stigma and mental well-being, and sustained leadership of people living with HIV. Full article

Background: Slowing the progression of dementia and maintaining mental and social health and well-being are important aspects of health and healthcare for people living with dementia (PLwD). Relationships with family caregivers and unique caregiver insights are also important aspects of the health and well-being of PLwD. Methods: A group-based gaming system was developed to promote health and well-being for PLwD through movement, cognitive exercises, and social interaction. Included were family caregivers of clients living with mild- or moderate-stage impairment in an adult day center selected for the gaming intervention. Prior to implementing the intervention, three separate focus groups were conducted with 21 caregivers of PLwD, divided into each of the three focus groups based on their availability, to explore what it is like to care for someone living with dementia, their loved ones’ mood, and their questions or concerns regarding the gaming intervention. Responses were thematically analyzed. Results: In total, 21 caregivers participated in the focus groups. Six themes were identified: mutuality and strategies for coping with varying emotions; new challenges and successes with connecting and relating; multidimensional challenges with adjusting to decline, help-seeking, and providing care; community, social support, and resilience; technology and community resources as tools to ease caregiving burdens, and interest in digital gaming for PLwD. Conclusions: Our results suggest that group-based digital gaming interventions may be useful to both caregivers and PLwD, by offering meaningful opportunities for social engagement. Full article

Freshwater biodiversity underpins ecosystem functioning and human well-being. As the most diverse taxonomic groups in freshwater ecosystems, benthic invertebrates are widely employed as bioindicators for aquatic monitoring and health assessment. In this study, environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding was used to reveal the diversity and spatiotemporal variations in benthic invertebrates in the Hun River Basin (the middle and upper reaches). Sampling was conducted in spring, summer, and autumn, with sites arranged to cover both anthropogenic activities and watershed environmental conditions. A total of 3 phyla, 7 classes, 18 orders, 56 families, 114 genera, and 161 species were detected. Insecta was the predominant class, and the combined EPT taxa (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera) along with Diptera accounted for 64.71%, 74.18%, and 68.75% of the total taxa in spring, summer, and autumn. Community composition exhibited variations across both seasonal and spatial scales, as reflected by differences in OTU richness, dominant taxa and their relative sequence abundances, and alpha diversity indices. The top 10 dominant genera were all regionally common taxa, among which seven belonged to Insecta (including four from Chironomidae), whereas Sulcospira was the most spatially widespread dominant genus. Alpha and beta diversity analyses revealed significant seasonal differentiation but no significant spatial structuring. The SIMPER analysis identified the key genera that contributed substantially to observed community dissimilarity among sampling groups. This study provides fundamental data for freshwater biodiversity conservation and validates the potential applicability of eDNA metabarcoding for benthic invertebrate monitoring, while also revealing the current limitations of this technique. Full article

Background/Objectives: Liver transplantation (LT) is life-saving, yet its long-term impact on quality of life (QoL) remains complex and incompletely characterized. A standardized, transplant-specific patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for routine use in European LT recipients is currently lacking. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional survey assessed QoL among 794 adult LT recipients across 22 European countries using a purpose-built, 48-item transplant-specific questionnaire developed within the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT) Patient Inclusion Initiative. The instrument has not undergone psychometric validation and was used as an exploratory research survey. Respondents were grouped by time since LT (0–5, 6–12, and ≥13 years). Group comparisons used chi-square tests with Benjamini–Hochberg correction, followed by multivariable analyses adjusted for relevant sociodemographic factors. Results: Median time since LT was 6 years (IQR 3–12). After multiple-testing correction, alcohol consumption (q < 0.001), feeling that life is worth living (q = 0.029), and changes in social life (q = 0.029) differed between groups. In multivariable analysis, only alcohol consumption remained independently associated with time since LT, with progressively higher odds at 6–12 years (aOR 4.18, 95% CI 2.56–6.82) and ≥13 years (aOR 7.09, 95% CI 4.27–11.77) compared with 0–5 years. Physical health, emotional functioning, sexual health, satisfaction with care and medication adherence did not differ between groups. Conclusions: This large European survey provides hypothesis-generating information on self-reported well-being after LT. Alcohol consumption was the only outcome independently associated with time since transplantation. These findings support prospective studies using psychometrically validated patient-reported measures. Full article

This scoping review aimed to map empirical interventions in teacher and educator populations in which burnout or burnout-related outcomes were evaluated from a broad mental health promotion and prevention perspective. Searches were conducted in Scopus, ERIC, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Web of Science. The search strategy was broadened to improve sensitivity by removing the mandatory study-design block and expanding intervention-related terminology. A structured evidence map was used to chart reports by intervention category, population, intervention level, study design, burnout-related outcome, follow-up, and research gaps, following PRISMA-ScR reporting principles and established scoping review methodological guidance. The final evidence base comprised 123 eligible reports. Interventions spanned cognitive-behavioral and rational-emotive approaches, mindfulness and mind–body programs, compassion- and emotion-focused interventions, social–emotional and trauma-informed approaches, professional development, classroom-management and instructional-practice interventions, and broader occupational or organizational approaches. Emotional exhaustion was the most frequently represented burnout-related dimension, although substantial heterogeneity was evident in intervention content, design, measurement, and follow-up. No formal risk-of-bias or methodological quality assessment was conducted. The evidence base is substantial but heterogeneous, and future research should more directly evaluate sustained, context-sensitive, organizational, and multilevel approaches alongside individual- and classroom/practice-level interventions. Full article

Background: Stress represents a significant public health concern and is associated with diminished psychological resilience among students and young adults. Mental toughness, the capacity to function effectively under pressure, may be influenced by attitudes toward emerging technologies. Methods: This cross-sectional study investigated whether trust in artificial intelligence (AI) moderates the relationship between perceived stress and mental toughness. Students attending a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) participated (n = 109); 84.4% were aged 18–25 years. Perceived stress was assessed using an adapted six-item DASS stress index, while mental toughness and AI trust were measured using adapted multi-item scales. Hierarchical regression analyses examined the moderating role of AI trust. Results: Higher perceived stress was associated with lower mental toughness. Although AI trust did not directly predict mental toughness after accounting for the interaction, a significant interaction emerged: students with greater AI trust showed a weaker negative association between stress and mental toughness. Conclusions: Higher AI trust was associated with attenuation of the negative relationship between perceived stress and mental toughness among students. These findings may inform future research on trustworthy AI, student well-being, and evidence-based public health strategies for students in high-stress environments. Full article

Background: Obesity is associated with impaired health-related quality of life, including reduced sexual satisfaction. Metabolic and bariatric surgery leads to substantial weight loss and favorable changes in body composition; however, its association with sexual satisfaction as a health-related outcome remains insufficiently explored. The aim of this study was to examine changes in body composition and sexual satisfaction six months following metabolic and bariatric surgery. Methods: This prospective study included 40 women with obesity who underwent metabolic and bariatric surgery performed according to standard clinical indications and multidisciplinary team recommendations. Body composition parameters were assessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis, and sexual satisfaction was evaluated using the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale at baseline and six months postoperatively. Changes in anthropometric, body composition, and sexual satisfaction measures were analyzed using nonparametric statistical tests. Results: Six months after surgery, significant changes were observed in body composition and sexual satisfaction. Median body weight decreased from 119.55 to 100.80 kg, BMI from 42.15 to 35.65 kg/m², and visceral fat level from 14.50 to 11.00 (all p < 0.001). Although absolute skeletal muscle mass decreased significantly (28.40 to 26.30 kg, p < 0.001), its relative proportion increased (25.35% to 25.90%, p = 0.002). Median total NSSS score increased from 62.50 to 69.50, with significant improvements in both NSSS subscales (all p < 0.001). Conclusions: Metabolic and bariatric surgery was associated with significant improvements in body composition and sexual satisfaction six months postoperatively. These findings suggest that improvements in physical health following metabolic and bariatric surgery may be accompanied by enhancements in sexual well-being. Full article

Objective. The main objective of this study was to examine the effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on psychological, sleep, and performance outcomes in powerlifters. Previous research has primarily focused on taVNS in clinical or healthy samples and showed improvements in psychological functioning, recovery, and sleep. Evidence for beneficial effects of taVNS in healthy athletes, however, is missing so far. Methods. Over the course of 4 weeks, 10 healthy adult powerlifters self-administered taVNS five times a week for 30 min after strength training or before bedtime, in an uncontrolled, single-arm pilot design without a sham or control condition. Measurements were taken at three time points: before the intervention phase (pre), immediately after the 4-week intervention phase (post) and 1 month after the post-assessment (follow-up). Pre, post, and follow-up measurements included various subjective psychological domains (recovery, stress, perceived stress, affect, memory, attention, anxiety, and well-being), objective sleep domains (nocturnal HRV, sleep score, sleep duration, and subjective sleep quality), and submaximal strength performance outcomes in squat, bench press, and deadlift. The small sample size required non-parametric testing. Additionally, a responder analysis was conducted to explore individual differences in outcome-specific responses. Results. Results showed nominally significant pre-post improvements (uncorrected for multiple comparisons) in positive affect and self-reported attentional difficulties, both revealing large effect sizes; however, given the absence of a control group and the lack of correction for multiple comparisons across multiple outcomes tested, these findings should be interpreted as exploratory and hypothesis-generating rather than confirmatory. The remaining psychological domains and sleep outcomes did not show meaningful changes. Regarding performance, only two of the ten participants provided complete baseline training data, so no reliable conclusions about a beneficial effect of taVNS on strength performance could be drawn. The responder analysis was consistent with the two nominally significant findings but did not reveal a clear overall pattern of taVNS effectiveness. Conclusions. The current study is the first to implement a 4-week taVNS intervention in strength training and demonstrate differences in domain-specific responsiveness to taVNS in athletes for psychological health and self-reported cognitive performance. These findings offer important insights into the feasibility and practical application of taVNS in sports settings. Further studies with larger, sham-controlled samples, a pre-registered primary outcome and a longer intervention period are needed to determine whether these preliminary, hypothesis-generating findings reflect genuine effects of taVNS. Full article