tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/well-being-7249/articlesWell being – The Conversation2024-02-16T13:18:51Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2190872024-02-16T13:18:51Z2024-02-16T13:18:51ZA Bronx school district offers lessons in boosting student mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575680/original/file-20240214-30-zch8fe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C42%2C5640%2C3745&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Building a sense of community is critical for students to thrive.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/happy-female-teacher-talking-with-junior-high-royalty-free-image/1439953744?phrase=students+speaking&adppopup=true">Maskot / Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you are an educator or a parent, you have likely already seen many ways in which “<a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stressful-lives/202302/the-kids-are-not-alright">the kids are not alright</a>.” </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584221084722">Mounting evidence</a> shows that the mental health of American youth has been declining for at least a decade. During the pandemic, it took an even sharper downturn. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 2021 – the most recent data available – 42% of high school students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/yrbs_data_summary_and_trends.htm">22% seriously considered suicide</a>. This is a significant increase from 10 years earlier, when 28% of students reported persistent feelings of sadness or loneliness and 16% considered attempting suicide.</p>
<p>The isolation of pandemic stay-at-home orders and the trauma of losing loved ones <a href="https://www.aft.org/press-release/educators-say-covid-19-has-greatly-exacerbated-grief-support-crisis-schools">contributed to declines in well-being</a>. Schools have an important role to play in addressing this crisis.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gUZyPcUAAAAJ&hl=en">researchers in education</a>, my co-author, <a href="https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?as_q=&num=10&btnG=Search+Scholar&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_occt=any&as_sauthors=%22Javaid+E.+Siddiqi%22&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_allsubj=all&hl=en">Javaid Siddiqi</a> and I interviewed educators working in <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-43237-8#toc">school districts that faced extreme adversity</a> during the pandemic but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43237-8">still found success in supporting their students</a>.</p>
<p>One district in particular stood out for the challenges it faced. At the time of our study in 2020, Bronx Community School District 7 in New York City was not just in the <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2019/12/ny-has-the-richest-poorest-smallest-most-unequal-congressional-districts/176658/">poorest congressional district in the nation</a>, but it also experienced one of the <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#deaths-landing_">highest death rates per capita from COVID-19</a>. </p>
<p>Despite these obstacles – all of which were outside of their control – educators told us they found ways to be there for their students and support their mental health.</p>
<p>In the course of our research, three strategies became apparent. The lessons show promise not just in this section of New York City, but for the rest of the country as well.</p>
<h2>1. Connect to community</h2>
<p>In 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy raised alarm about the essential need for social connection within communities to heal America’s “<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/05/03/new-surgeon-general-advisory-raises-alarm-about-devastating-impact-epidemic-loneliness-isolation-united-states.html">epidemic of loneliness</a>.” Schools, in particular, have a history of being hubs for connection. In the pandemic, that was especially apparent when they became <a href="https://ethics.harvard.edu/schools-during-covid-19">centers of information</a>, offering academic support and internet access as well as food and nutrition, even when classes were remote.</p>
<p>Across the country, educators quickly realized that psychologically isolated students also needed social connection, and they responded with innovation. They developed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK5hMspzTaM&ab_channel=AlexaSorden">bedtime story videos</a> for families, online cooking lessons that invited community members into their homes, and socially distanced dance classes on school athletic fields.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Bedtime videos can be beneficial during difficult times.</span></figcaption>
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<p>In Bronx CSD 7, a <a href="https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/pressrelease/mental-health-services-expanded-for-students-in-areas-hardest-hit-by-covid-19/">partnership with a nearby hospital</a> increased access to much-needed mental health services for students and educators.</p>
<p>Community connections help educators understand child and family needs and allow community members to trust schools as a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-bronx-school-works-to-help-students-thrive-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-11590249600">source of support</a>. They also bring community assets, such as free clinics, food pantries, housing programs and mental health resources, into schools where families can more easily access them.</p>
<p>With emergency educational funding from the pandemic <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/02/02/funding-cliff-student-mental-health">expiring on Sept. 30, 2024</a>, <a href="https://www.ascd.org/books/the-six-priorities?variant=122022">school-community partnerships</a> will be essential for continuing mental health services in schools to support psychological recovery.</p>
<h2>2. Give students a seat at the table</h2>
<p>Relationships within schools are also important for improving and maintaining mental health. Research shows that when school leaders involve students in decision-making, it encourages them to develop leadership skills and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12960">increases the overall well-being of the community</a>, as indicated by civic engagement and health outcomes.</p>
<p>In Bronx CSD 7, students are part of the Superintendent’s Advisory Council. This meant that during the pandemic they were able to bring to light the challenges of engaging in online learning all day without a break. Unlike a regular school day, where students would move between classes and chat with teachers and friends in the hallways, the online school day went from one class period to another with no built-in opportunities to take breaks, socialize and refocus. Experts were quickly recommending that online school days be <a href="https://transcendeducation.org/why-distance-learning-should-not-replicate-school/">restructured to meet student needs</a>. But students knew this first.</p>
<p>When youth are empowered to share their stories, they not only strengthen their school community, but they also serve as trusted messengers for their peers. During the pandemic, students around the country created <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/06/17/877498373/coronavirus-racism-and-kindness-how-nyc-middle-schoolers-built-a-winning-podcast">youth-led podcasts</a> to learn from each other. They also <a href="https://time.com/6071300/kids-pandemic/">documented their experiences</a>, processing psychological upheaval, communicating their needs and supporting each other. Education researchers have referred to these empowering connection activities as “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2021.1992603">cultural assets</a>” because they not only support young people, but they also help teachers approach students in more culturally sensitive ways.</p>
<h2>3.Think developmentally</h2>
<p>Since the end of the pandemic, school districts across the country have been dedicating resources and time to recovering “<a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w29497">lost learning</a>,” the phrase used to describe the test score declines attributed to school closures and emergency online learning. But some students experienced another equally devastating decline that’s gotten less attention – their social and emotional development. </p>
<p>To soften the impact of social isolation, educators in Bronx CSD 7 intentionally dedicated time during remote learning to social interactions. They provided informal connection spaces during the school day, played video games with their students and encouraged them to eat lunch together online. Research shows that young people who communicated more often with friends were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2305">less impacted by the social isolation of the pandemic</a>. The experience of Bronx CSD 7 shows that schools could play an instrumental role in nurturing this force for mental well-being. </p>
<p>Every district faced its own complex challenges during the pandemic, and educators across the country have supported their students, communities and each other in the recovery process. As school leaders consider ways to recover lost academic opportunities and learning, it is equally important to help students stabilize their mental health and boost their overall well-being.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219087/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Faiza Jamil does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Giving students a voice in decision-making helps foster well-being, research has found.Faiza Jamil, Associate Professor of Education, Clemson UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2067482023-06-01T20:46:39Z2023-06-01T20:46:39ZIntergenerational Day: How bringing different generations together can support our mental well-being<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529458/original/file-20230531-25420-dofez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C128%2C5017%2C3234&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Programs that bring young and old together help foster meaningful relationships across generational divides.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“You old bag!” </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529480/original/file-20230601-25420-992d5s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in wheelchair receives birthday cards from young children." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529480/original/file-20230601-25420-992d5s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529480/original/file-20230601-25420-992d5s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529480/original/file-20230601-25420-992d5s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529480/original/file-20230601-25420-992d5s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529480/original/file-20230601-25420-992d5s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529480/original/file-20230601-25420-992d5s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529480/original/file-20230601-25420-992d5s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Herb receiving birthday cards from students in the iGen program.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>To many, this phrase might spark confusion or concern. But, for Herb, a long-term care resident of Saskatoon’s <a href="https://www.sherbrookecommunitycentre.ca/">Sherbrooke Community Centre</a>, it is his favourite phrase for teasing friends. </p>
<p>So, when he was gifted a t-shirt with those words on his 69th birthday, you couldn’t have seen a bigger smile on his face, nor heard more laughter from the friends who gave it to him — a class of 11- and 12-year-olds.</p>
<p>Herb’s connection with these young students is sincere and an important one to celebrate. Especially on June 1, which marks <a href="https://nationaltoday.com/intergenerational-day/#:%7E:text=Now%20more%20than%20ever%20we,on%20June%201%20was%20created">Intergenerational Day</a>.</p>
<p>Established in 2010, Intergenerational Day was created to shrink the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2009/08/12/ii-generations-apart-and-together/">widening gap</a> between the old and young, two generations that people believe differ wildly on a broad range of topics, from core moral values and political views to tastes in music. </p>
<p>Intergenerational Day serves as a reminder of what the old and young can learn from one another, as well as the benefits that come from connecting with others.</p>
<h2>Intergenerational classroom</h2>
<p>For the past three years, we have been researching the benefits of intergenerational connections. We have found that, just like Herb, most people not only feel a great deal of meaning in connecting with someone of a different age than themselves, but that these connections are associated with greater well-being.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4403">In our research</a>, we have focused our attention on a program called <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/community/long-term-care-eden-alternative-saskatoon-1.6692053">iGen</a>: an <a href="https://www.saskatoonpublicschools.ca/program/igen/Pages/default.aspx">intergenerational classroom</a> in Saskatoon housed at the Sherbrooke Community Centre and created in partnership with educator <a href="https://www.spsd.sk.ca/school/collegepark/Announcements/DispForm.aspx?ID=39&ContentTypeId=0x010400A523F8B49A40D74B94D75356FE80B353#/=">Keri Albert</a>.</p>
<p>Each year, 25 Grade 6 students complete the standard curriculum at Sherbrooke while interacting with the long-term care residents called Elders. The term “Elders” is used within the <a href="https://www.sherbrookecommunitycentre.ca/sherbrooke-difference/the-eden-alternative-philosophy/#:%7E:text=The%20Eden%20Alternative%20%C2%AE%20focuses,care%20of%20the%20human%20body.">Eden Alternative Philosophy</a> of long-term care to honour residents and the wisdom of their life experiences.</p>
<p>Every day, students connect with and support the Elders through various activities like reading, painting, playing games or simply chatting. These repeated interactions provide a comfortable opportunity for conversations and true friendships to grow.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The iGen program brings young students together with older adults living in long-term care to foster intergenerational connections.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Improving well-being</h2>
<p>In our recently published study, we worked with Albert and Sherbrooke’s Communications leader, Eric Anderson, to survey 24 students in the iGen class of 2020. Students told us about their experiences and rated how it had impacted several aspects of their well-being, such as their energy, self-esteem, optimism and life satisfaction.</p>
<p>What did we find? First, students’ ratings were off the charts: Students said that their conversations, activities and experiences with the Elders were incredibly meaningful and rated their well-being at the top of our scales. In other words, these students were enjoying their experience in iGen and feeling happy about themselves.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529479/original/file-20230601-21632-tjxide.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A girl and an elderly man in a wheelchair pose for a photo together." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529479/original/file-20230601-21632-tjxide.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529479/original/file-20230601-21632-tjxide.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529479/original/file-20230601-21632-tjxide.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529479/original/file-20230601-21632-tjxide.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529479/original/file-20230601-21632-tjxide.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529479/original/file-20230601-21632-tjxide.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529479/original/file-20230601-21632-tjxide.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Frequent intergenerational interactions provide an opportunity for meaningful connections and friendships to grow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Second, we found that forming meaningful connections with care home residents in the program was associated with greater happiness. Students who reported having more meaningful intergenerational experiences also reported greater well-being on every single measure included in our surveys, such as greater life satisfaction and self-esteem. </p>
<p>These findings align with <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0033-2909.117.3.497">hundreds of studies</a> indicating that social relationships are a key source of happiness.</p>
<p>How were students and Elders able to form meaningful relationships? Responses to our survey offer one insight: spending time together. In fact, the more time that students spent with the Elders, the more meaningful they reported their intergenerational experiences to be. This suggests that when generations interact through programs like iGen, they can reap the potential benefits of these relationships.</p>
<p>Building intergenerational connections may be especially timely now given widespread worries of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/30/opinion/loneliness-epidemic-america.html">loneliness</a> for people of all ages, which may contribute to the young and elderly’s declining mental health. </p>
<p>One-in-five youth in Canada <a href="https://www.unicef.ca/en/blog/mental-health-top-concern-canadas-youth?ea.tracking.id=20DIAQ01OTE&19DIAQ02OTE=&gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4NujBhC5ARIsAF4Iv6epKZpNm_bqWnbwj9VKg7ElWEpj1Tq_-0zBa1OnMUttHPWBi7fqdAkaAkAkEALw_wcB">struggle with mental illness</a>. While in the U.S. the number of youth reporting feelings of <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/01/trends-improving-youth-mental-health?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=apa-monitor-trends&utm_content=2023-trends-youth-mental-health">sadness and hopelessness</a> has grown by 40 per cent in the last 10 years. </p>
<p>At the other end of the lifespan, many older adults struggle with their well-being, with roughly seven per cent of the world’s older population <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-of-older-adults">suffering from depression</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, <a href="https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2023/world-happiness-trust-and-social-connections-in-times-of-crisis/">new data</a> shows that even in 2022, after years of separation due to the pandemic, people reported greater feelings of social connection than loneliness. This is promising, because feeling socially connected is one of the strongest predictors of greater well-being. And it provides us with yet more reasons to create and celebrate social connections across generations.</p>
<p>At a time when the young and old are <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/06/the-u-s-isnt-just-getting-older-its-getting-more-segregated-by-age">growing further apart</a>, we show that programs like iGen may help youth form valuable relationships that can bridge social divides like age and ability, and possibly, leave us all happier for it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206748/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Intergenerational Day serves as a reminder of what the old and young can learn from one another, as well as the benefits that come from connecting with others.Jason Proulx, PhD Student, Social Psychology, Simon Fraser UniversityJohn Helliwell, Professor Emeritus, Vancouver School of Economics, University of British ColumbiaLara Aknin, Distinguished Associate Professor of Psychology, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1915812022-11-09T14:13:07Z2022-11-09T14:13:07ZCrime is lower when cities are greener: evidence from South Africa supports the link<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491269/original/file-20221024-19-ig161m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5084%2C3389&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Investment in public parks can help reduce crime. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/western-cape-south-africa-man-wearing-protective-clothing-news-photo/1219978375?phrase=gardens%20and%20public%20parks%20in%20south%20africa&adppopup=true">Peter Titmuss/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa’s population is urbanising at a rapid pace. The sheer rate of change poses challenges to planning for sustainable and liveable cities.</p>
<p>Part of what make cities work is having green spaces, such as parks, sports fields, nature trails and street trees. These provide many social, ecological and economic <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412018331751?via%3Dihub">benefits</a>. Research from multiple countries such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866713001350?casa_token=pwYnNL6ExSoAAAAA:Y-VhMZ6qhTz7pHzmIUCZAKX2dYtbrH_fm8SipbLilGnxEKmulM6hDHG2vVnnR7aMMf1M6VTVdQ">Australia</a>, China, Finland, India, the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/24/5119">US</a> and South Africa has shown this.</p>
<p>Aside from looking good and providing recreation, urban green spaces improve air quality, physical and mental health, and regulate storm water flows. They counteract urban heat islands, store carbon and create jobs.</p>
<p>Some communities nevertheless oppose urban greening efforts because they fear that green spaces and street trees provide places for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1618866713001350">criminals to hide</a>. Such fears are not unique to South Africa and have been reported from cities in both developed and developing countries.</p>
<p>A great deal of research has been done on urban greening and its association with crime levels. But most of these studies have been conducted in Europe and North America, which are very different socially and economically to developing countries and have markedly lower rates of crime. </p>
<p>We <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896972201097X">conducted research</a> to complement the evidence from the global north. Our study is the first ever national level analysis of the relationship between various measures of urban greenness and three different classes of crime: property, violent and sexual crimes. </p>
<p>Our findings, based on research in South Africa, lend further credence to calls for urban greening to be adopted as a major strategy in cities – for both environmental sustainability, as well as social sustainability.</p>
<h2>Drilling down</h2>
<p>We used 10 years of precinct-level crime statistics in South Africa to test the hypothesis that green space is associated with reduced crime rates. South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the <a href="https://www.gallup.com/analytics/322247/gallup-global-law-and-order-report-2020.aspx">world</a>, making it an important test of the relationship between urban greening and crime. </p>
<p>Using the broadest greenness measure – total green space – the results of this national-scale study corroborate many <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/24/5119">previous studies</a> from the global north indicating that greener neighbourhoods have significantly lower rates of violent and property crimes. Thus, the relationship reported in other countries and contexts appears to be robust in even a relatively high crime context like South Africa. </p>
<p>To gauge the relationship <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896972201097X">in South Africa</a> we used several measures of urban greenness, several different crime categories, and a national analysis.</p>
<p>We obtained crime statistics per police precinct (there are 1,152 police precints) between 2010 and 2019 from the South African Police Service and aggregated them into property, violent and sexual crimes (expressed as per 100,000 citizens for each police precinct). </p>
<p>We then used remote sensing to calculate the total area of green space per precinct, the proportional (percentage) cover of trees, and the average distance to the closest formal or informal park.</p>
<p>We found that greener areas had lower rates of both violent and property crimes. But there was no relationship with the rate of sexual crimes. A more mixed picture was revealed when considering tree cover specifically, where property crime was higher with more tree cover, but violent crimes were fewer. </p>
<p>However, property crimes were higher in locations close to public parks and sites with more trees. </p>
<p>Proximity to parks showed no relationship with the rates of violent or sexual crimes. </p>
<p>The concentration of property crimes in neighbourhoods with more trees and parks can be explained by such areas typically being where more affluent households are found.</p>
<p>But well-maintained public parks, and those with fencing, lighting, playing fields and some sort of security show lower crime levels in adjacent areas than poorly maintained parks or those <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022427816666309?casa_token=bVeZkvibpZcAAAAA%3ADXzO3-2POkIM96kbujiRf3DE_KmvWZGjR0owrGsu2ClZQiJr3bdV6RYsdhs-R8d_SiWkpaMvYrMx">lacking basic facilities</a>.</p>
<h2>What needs to be done</h2>
<p>These findings add further impetus to arguments for urban planners and decision-makers in South Africa (and similar contexts) to be more proactive and ambitious in including and integrating urban green spaces and trees into urban developments. </p>
<p>Planners and authorities often downplay such calls because they are viewed as coming from an environmental lobby, and because – they say – there are more pressing economic and social development <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264837714001501?casa_token=_ZixOjEqP4sAAAAA:0LkAd_dHkAXGoUMgJmX_nkxHtxO8Na0i5J1O23SvXIauJ3vap3uiAEtfYFB0Kn3JPcXTRmk48Q">needs</a>. </p>
<p>But this research shows that benefits of urban greening extend well beyond an environmental agenda. They embrace social inclusivity and sustainability too, alongside the well-established public health benefits. </p>
<p>Urban greening, therefore, needs to be one of the foremost considerations in urban planning and development in the country. It also requires budgets, expertise and strategies beyond the planning phase to allow for regular tree and green space maintenance that keeps them functional and attractive to local citizens. </p>
<p>The research also supports calls for urban greening to be <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21665095.2021.1950019">integrated</a> into any holistic crime prevention strategy. </p>
<p><em>Lizzette Lancaster, Manager: Crime and Justice Information Hub, Institute of Security Studies, Pretoria, South Africa, contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191581/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlie Shackleton receives funding from the national Research Foundation (South Africa). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Faull is affiliated with the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and receives funding from the Hanns Seidel Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregory Breetzke, Ian Edelstein, and Zander Venter do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People may think that green spaces often hide criminals. On the contrary, there is evidence they contribute to reducing crime.Charlie Shackleton, Professor & Research Chair in Interdisciplinary Science in Land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods, Rhodes UniversityAndrew Faull, Research Associate at UCT's Centre of Criminology, Consultant at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), University of Cape TownGregory Breetzke, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of PretoriaIan Edelstein, Researcher, University of Cape TownZander Venter, Spatial ecologist, The Norwegian Institute for Nature ResearchLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1756742022-02-08T14:12:20Z2022-02-08T14:12:20ZHealth, happiness and income inequity: fresh insights from an African perspective<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443704/original/file-20220201-15324-14v12n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kigali, Rwanda: In Rwanda there are various positions and groups that are responsible for aspects of governance and decision-making.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Problems with some forms of inequity are easier to understand than others. Unequal access to healthcare or food, for example, is clearly bad for everyone’s wellbeing, contentment and productivity.</p>
<p>The problem with some other forms of inequity, however, is less clear. For instance, not every individual can have the same “opportunities”. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I were intrigued by the apparent link between income inequity and health. In particular, we were puzzled by the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/inequality-an-underacknowledged-source-of-mental-illness-and-distress/985DE9F19CEA4165BE1E85A022BEFDFB">assertion</a> that income inequity was robustly associated with wellbeing and stress. Why would knowing that a small proportion of people have preposterously large incomes necessarily affect someone’s wellbeing? We wanted answers to the questions of why income inequity is a problem and why it has been so difficult to resolve. </p>
<p>To answer these questions, we undertook an extensive search of the published literature. We <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350623343_Deconstructing_Health_Inequity_A_Perceptual_Control_Theory_Perspective">studied</a> the publications of leading authorities in the field of health inequity and examined the sources they had referenced.</p>
<p>One of our initial discoveries was the caveats that apply to the apparent link between income inequity and people’s health and happiness. For example, the research underpinning this link applies only to more affluent countries. In poorer countries, economic development is of greater importance for wellbeing than the gap between those with the most money and those with the least.</p>
<p>We didn’t start our investigation to discover where income inequity might have the greatest relevance. But our findings did suggest income inequity might have limited relevance in African settings. What might, perhaps, be more important for wellbeing is the ability to contribute to decisions about how to live in a social group. Therefore, political, economic, and governance structures might be more important than income inequity.</p>
<h2>Investigating inequity</h2>
<p>We <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5837404/">came across</a> frequent references to concepts like self-determination, freedom, capability, agency, and opportunity. Michael Marmot, a professor of epidemiology and public health, is a highly regarded authority in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5837404/">this area</a>. For example, he writes about the freedom to be and to do. He suggests that it is not so much how much money you have “but what you can do with what you have” that is important for your health. Joseph Stiglitz, the American economist and public policy analyst, <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105">proposes</a> that burgeoning inequity is one side of a coin with shrinking opportunity on the other side. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/314/314162/the-dawn-of-everything/9780241402429.html">review</a> of the historical origins of inequity suggested that the fundamental issue is not how equitably people are able to access material resources. Rather, it is how equitable the capacity is to contribute to decisions about how to live together.</p>
<p>For us, all these ideas could be captured and accommodated by the fundamental mechanism of individual control of key priorities for living. The process of control is the defining feature of life. It refers to keeping a balance at all levels of functioning for all living things. Control explains why the capacity to contribute to decisions about how to live and live together has always mattered so much to people.</p>
<p>Through our efforts to understand inequity more clearly, we arrived at the position that inequity in and of itself is not a problem. Compromised control is the problem because it interferes with people’s ability to live as they would prefer. </p>
<p>Stiglitz, for example, maintains that inequity in the US exists because <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105">the top 1%</a> (in terms of income) want it to. He suggests that the ultra rich are able to directly influence political decision-making, including systems of taxation, so that their fortunes are protected. He reminds us that the fate of the top 1% is inextricably linked to the fate of the remaining 99%. But the very rich often ignore this fact, to their ultimate peril.</p>
<h2>Relevance to African countries</h2>
<p>Inequity, therefore, and especially income inequity, might have limited relevance in African settings. The concept of control, however, encompassing the ability to contribute to decisions about how one can live harmoniously and productively in a social group, may have much greater relevance and application.</p>
<p>Healthcare services could do much more to adapt treatments and interventions to local contexts. For wellbeing, this might involve developing programmes based on the prevailing culture and belief systems rather than imposing, for example, western biomedical ideas of psychological illness. Rwandan scholar Jean Pierre Ndagijimana <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajcp.12571">describes</a> the development of a programme of psychological healing in Rwanda that was based on local concepts like <em>kongera kwiyubaka</em> and <em>kwigira</em> (rebuilding ourselves again).</p>
<p>Governance structures that provide opportunities for people at a local level to contribute to decision-making would also enhance people’s abilities to control important factors in their life. Rwanda, for example, is organised according to provinces, districts, sectors, cells and villages. At each level are various positions and groups that are responsible for different aspects of governance and decision-making. This move to more <a href="https://www.gov.rw/government/administrative-structure">decentralised forms of government</a> commenced in 2001 and <a href="https://www.gov.rw/government/administrative-structure#:%7E:text=The%20country%20is%20divided%20into%20four%20Provinces%20and%20the%20City,are%20divided%20into%2014837%20villages.">is reported</a> to have increased citizen participation in local decision-making as well as greater equity in resource allocation and services.</p>
<h2>How things might be different</h2>
<p>Greater attention to control could be helpful in a general sense. Corruption is often identified as a problem in government, organisations and industries. Corruption might be considered as nothing more than people in positions of authority using that authority at their own discretion to advantage some people while disadvantaging others. A CEO, for example, might create positions in an organisation for family members and remove people who disagree.</p>
<p>Inequity, as a concept, has not been a <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/314/314162/the-dawn-of-everything/9780241402429.html">topic</a> of interest and investigation for all time and across all people. Control is as important as life itself. The important lesson from our very earliest beginnings is that societal structures and institutions generally, as well as entities such as healthcare systems, must be organised so that the few do not determine the fates of the many. </p>
<p>The sustainability of social living depends on being able to find ways for all members of a community, society, nation, and indeed the planet, to live lives of their own design without preventing others from doing the same.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175674/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy A. Carey works for the University of Global Heatlh Equity. </span></em></p>Governance structures that provide opportunities for people to contribute to decision-making would also enhance people’s abilities to control important factors in their life.Timothy A. Carey, Director: Institute of Global Health Equity Research, Andrew Weiss Chair of Research in Global Health, University of Global Health EquityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1748512022-01-20T13:45:13Z2022-01-20T13:45:13ZStressed out at college? Here are five essential reads on how to take better care of your mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441604/original/file-20220119-25-185dvzi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C8660%2C5769&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most college students believe there's a mental health crisis on campuses throughout the nation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/masked-group-therapy-royalty-free-image/1285373319?adppopup=true">FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly 70% of college students say they are experiencing emotional distress or anxiety related to the pandemic. That’s according to a <a href="https://timely.md/college-students-more-concerned-about-covid-19-than-ever/">January 2022 survey</a> that also found nearly 9 out of every 10 college students believe U.S. colleges and universities are facing a mental health crisis.</p>
<p>Below are five articles from the archives of The Conversation that highlight tips for college students to take better care of their mental health. </p>
<h2>1. Prioritize your mental health</h2>
<p>When students do poorly in a class due to mental health issues, occasionally they might seek a medical exception that can withdraw them from the class instead of failing it. But students who get this exception often fail to seek the actual help they need to deal with the mental health issue that led them to do poorly in the first place.</p>
<p>That’s according to <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nicholas-joyce-425117">Nicholas Joyce</a>, a psychologist at the University of South Florida.</p>
<p>“In my experience, many students who get the medical exception return the next semester without addressing their mental health needs and end up failing more courses,” writes Joyce.</p>
<p>Joyce <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-you-mentally-well-enough-for-college-118158">recommends four ways</a> college students can avoid having to seek a medical exception in the first place. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-you-mentally-well-enough-for-college-118158">Are you mentally well enough for college?</a>
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<h2>2. Seek campuses designed to boost your mood</h2>
<p>When selecting a college to attend, students should look at whether the campus design benefits their mental health. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441453/original/file-20220119-13-ycx7yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Students gather on a college yard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441453/original/file-20220119-13-ycx7yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441453/original/file-20220119-13-ycx7yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441453/original/file-20220119-13-ycx7yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441453/original/file-20220119-13-ycx7yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441453/original/file-20220119-13-ycx7yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441453/original/file-20220119-13-ycx7yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441453/original/file-20220119-13-ycx7yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Green spaces on college campuses can alleviate stress.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/group-of-friends-studying-outdoors-royalty-free-image/72991503?adppopup=true">Rana Faure/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Two scholars from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois – <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/carly-drake-451992/articles">Carly Drake</a>, assistant professor of marketing, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/diane-bruce-anstine-1149619">Diane Bruce Anstine</a>, Dean of the school of business and entrepreneurship – write about <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-things-to-look-for-on-a-college-campus-that-benefit-mental-health-144842">five campus design features that benefit students’ mental health.</a></p>
<p>“Campus design affects the college experience, and students can choose a campus or change their existing routines to support their mental health,” they write. “Such consideration is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, when new rules and norms have left many students more anxious and depressed than normal.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-things-to-look-for-on-a-college-campus-that-benefit-mental-health-144842">5 things to look for on a college campus that benefit mental health</a>
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<h2>3. Make a wellness plan</h2>
<p>Before students even set foot on campus, they <a href="https://www.leadershipexchange-digital.com/lexmail/2017fall/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1177609&app=false#articleId1177609">should develop a wellness plan</a> to help them avoid major emotional distress. That’s according to <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sandra-m-chafouleas-1033501">Sandra M. Chafouleas</a>, professor of educational psychology at the University of Connecticut, who <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-things-college-students-should-include-in-a-plan-for-their-wellness-136234">details</a> what every student’s wellness plan should include. </p>
<p>“… personal wellness plans must be customized to meet each individual student’s own needs,” she writes. “And I believe that since it is unclear whether new college students will be on physical campuses this fall or learning online, these plans are more important than ever.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-things-college-students-should-include-in-a-plan-for-their-wellness-136234">5 things college students should include in a plan for their wellness</a>
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<h2>4. Avoid academic burnout</h2>
<p>When college students suffer from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10376178.2016.1213648">burnout</a>, it often <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/burnout">leads them to experience</a> feelings of isolation, low accomplishment and depression. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ryan-korstange-797512">Ryan Korstange</a>, assistant professor of university studies at Middle Tennessee State University, writes about <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-tips-for-college-students-to-avoid-burnout-121484">five tips on how college students can avoid exhaustion</a>. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>“The most effective way of preventing burnout is being sure you know why you’re in college to begin with,” he writes. “Build your internal motivation by identifying the skills you need to develop and the experiences you want to have while you are in college.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-tips-for-college-students-to-avoid-burnout-121484">5 tips for college students to avoid burnout</a>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441452/original/file-20220119-17-1rpsga6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of college students play with a dog." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441452/original/file-20220119-17-1rpsga6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441452/original/file-20220119-17-1rpsga6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441452/original/file-20220119-17-1rpsga6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441452/original/file-20220119-17-1rpsga6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441452/original/file-20220119-17-1rpsga6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441452/original/file-20220119-17-1rpsga6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441452/original/file-20220119-17-1rpsga6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">One survey found 62% of colleges have dog therapy programs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/nuniversity-of-colorado-students-from-left-to-right-merarys-news-photo/1081032634?adppopup=true">Paul Aiken/Digital First Media/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>5. Spend time with a therapy dog</h2>
<p>Research has shown that spending just 10 minutes with a therapy dog can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419852592">reduce college students’ stress levels</a>. That’s why <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/christine-kivlen-1255064">Christine Kivlen</a>, an assistant professor of occupational therapy at Wayne State University, recommends students seek out therapy dog programs on campus. Kivlen writes about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/therapy-dogs-help-students-cope-with-the-stress-of-college-life-165589">calming effects of spending time with a therapy dog.</a></p>
<p>“Among other benefits, therapy dogs can help students achieve a stronger sense of belonging and better deal with being homesick and lonely, while also lessening their anxiety and stress.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/therapy-dogs-help-students-cope-with-the-stress-of-college-life-165589">Therapy dogs help students cope with the stress of college life</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174851/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Several scholars weigh in with tips on how to support college students’ emotional well-being during the pandemic.Jamaal Abdul-Alim, Education Editor, The ConversationAlvin Buyinza, Editorial and Outreach Assistant, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1702602021-10-31T19:06:26Z2021-10-31T19:06:26ZHow to avoid ‘toxic positivity’ and take the less direct route to happiness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428439/original/file-20211026-19-1sree8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C5%2C3440%2C2291&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/DgCPTkDqhHg">Gabrielle Henderson/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The term “<a href="https://twitter.com/wef/status/1452152930463854592">toxic positivity</a>” has received a good deal of attention lately. Coming off the back of the “positivity movement” we are beginning to recognise while feeling happy is a good thing, overemphasising the importance of a positive attitude can backfire, ironically leading to more unhappiness.</p>
<p>Yes, research shows happier people tend to live longer, be healthier and enjoy more successful <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0033-2909.131.6.803">lives</a>. And “very happy people” have more of these benefits relative to only averagely happy <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9280.00415">people</a>. But pursued in certain ways, happiness or positivity can become toxic.</p>
<p>Our research, published in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2021.1897869">The Journal of Positive Psychology</a> and involving almost 500 people, was inspired by these apparently inconsistent findings – pursuing happiness may be both good and bad for our well-being. We aimed to uncover a key ingredient that turns positivity toxic. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rise-of-pop-psychology-can-it-make-your-life-better-or-is-it-all-snake-oil-158709">The rise of pop-psychology: can it make your life better, or is it all snake-oil?</a>
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<h2>Expecting the best, feeling worse</h2>
<p>Some studies have shown that when people place a high value on their own happiness it can lead to less happiness, especially in contexts where they most expect to feel <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-08397-001">happy</a>. </p>
<p>This tendency to expect happiness and then to feel disappointed or to blame oneself for not feeling happy enough, has been linked to greater depressive <a href="https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/jscp.2014.33.10.890">symptoms</a> and deficits in <a href="https://escholarship.org/content/qt07g545kr/qt07g545kr.pdf">well-being</a>.</p>
<p>As the line to a cartoon by <a href="https://www.glasbergen.com/about-happiness/">Randy Glasbergen</a> depicting a patient confessing to his psychologist puts it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am very, very happy. But I want to be very, very, very happy, and that is why I’m miserable.</p>
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<p>However, <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2014-48826-003">researchers</a> have also observed when people prioritise behaviours that maximise the likelihood of their future happiness – rather than attempting to directly increase their levels of happiness “in the moment” – they are more likely to experience improvements (rather than deficits) in their levels of well-being. </p>
<p>This may mean engaging in activities that provide a sense of achievement or purpose, such as volunteering time or completing difficult tasks, or constructing daily routines that support well-being. </p>
<p>This work suggests pursuing happiness indirectly, rather than making it the main focus, could turn our search for positivity from toxic to tonic.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428442/original/file-20211026-13-5biodt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428442/original/file-20211026-13-5biodt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428442/original/file-20211026-13-5biodt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428442/original/file-20211026-13-5biodt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428442/original/file-20211026-13-5biodt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428442/original/file-20211026-13-5biodt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428442/original/file-20211026-13-5biodt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428442/original/file-20211026-13-5biodt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s sunny outside. Why aren’t I happy?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/TdM_fhzmWog">Unsplash/Ethan Sykes</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-tiny-moments-of-pleasure-really-can-help-us-through-this-stressful-time-134043">Coronavirus: tiny moments of pleasure really can help us through this stressful time</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Valuing happiness vs. prioritising positivity</h2>
<p>We wanted to find out what it was about making happiness a focal goal that backfires. </p>
<p>To gain a better understanding, we measured these two approaches to finding happiness: valuing happiness versus prioritising positivity. </p>
<p>People who valued happiness agreed with statements such as “I am concerned about my happiness even when I feel happy” or “If I don’t feel happy, maybe there is something wrong with me”. </p>
<p>People who prioritised positivity agreed with statements such as “I structure my day to maximise my happiness” or “I look for and nurture my positive emotions”. </p>
<p>We also included a measure of the extent to which people feel uncomfortable with their negative emotional experiences. To do this, we asked for responses to statements like: “I see myself as failing in life when feeling depressed or anxious” or “I like myself less when I feel depressed or anxious”.</p>
<p>People who expected to feel happy (scoring high on valuing happiness), also tended to see their negative emotional states as a sign of failure in life and lacked acceptance of these emotional experiences. This discomfort with negative emotions partly explained why they had lower levels of well-being.</p>
<p>On the other hand, people who pursued happiness indirectly (scoring high on prioritising positivity), did not see their negative emotional states this way. They were more accepting of low feelings and did not see them as a sign they were failing in life.</p>
<p>What this shows is when people believe they need to maintain high levels of positivity or happiness all the time to make their lives worthwhile, or to be valued by others, they react poorly to their negative emotions. They struggle with these feelings or try to avoid them, rather than accept them as a normal part of life. </p>
<p>Pursuing happiness indirectly does not lead to this same reaction. Feeling down or stressed is not inconsistent with finding happiness. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428438/original/file-20211026-26-11d1gpz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="woman in sunflower field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428438/original/file-20211026-26-11d1gpz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428438/original/file-20211026-26-11d1gpz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428438/original/file-20211026-26-11d1gpz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428438/original/file-20211026-26-11d1gpz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428438/original/file-20211026-26-11d1gpz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428438/original/file-20211026-26-11d1gpz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428438/original/file-20211026-26-11d1gpz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aiming to be happy all the time can make setbacks seem like failure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/gSgJ42m_2Nc">Courtney Cook/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/here-comes-the-sun-how-the-weather-affects-our-mood-19183">Here comes the sun: how the weather affects our mood</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What makes positivity toxic?</h2>
<p>So, it appears the key ingredient in toxic positivity is not positivity itself, after all. Rather, it is how a person’s attitude to happiness leads them to respond to negative experiences in life.</p>
<p>The prospect of experiencing pain, failure, loss, or disappointment in life is unavoidable. There are times we are going to feel depressed, anxious, fearful, or lonely. This is a fact. What matters is how we respond to these experiences. Do we lean into them and accept them for what they are, or do we try to avoid and escape from them? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-bad-moods-are-good-for-you-the-surprising-benefits-of-sadness-75402">Why bad moods are good for you: the surprising benefits of sadness</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If we are aiming to be happy all the time then we might feel tough times are interrupting our goal. But if we simply put a priority on positivity, we are less concerned by these feelings – we see them as an ingredient in the good life and part of the overall journey. </p>
<p>Rather than always trying to “turn a frown upside down”, we are more willing to sit with our low or uncomfortable emotions and understand that doing so will, in the long run, make us happy. </p>
<p>Learning to respond rather than react to these emotions is a key enabler of our happiness. </p>
<p>Our reaction to discomfort is often to get away and to reduce the pain. This might mean we employ ineffective emotion regulation strategies such as avoiding or suppressing unpleasant feelings. </p>
<p>If we do, we fail to engage with the insights an unpleasant experiences bring. Responding well to these experiences means getting “discomfortable” – being comfortable with our discomfort. Then we can be willing to feel what we feel and get curious about why those feeling are there. Taking this response allows us to increase our understanding, see our choices, and make better decisions. </p>
<p>As the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/613585-pain-is-inevitable-suffering-is-optional-say-you-re-running-and">saying</a> goes: “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CI68iUwj2ac","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170260/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brock Bastian works for the University of Melbourne and consults to organisations on issues of culture, ethics, and wellbeing for Psychological Safety Australia. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ashley Humphrey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There is more than one way to pursue happiness and to cope with the inevitable low times in life.Brock Bastian, Professor, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of MelbourneAshley Humphrey, Lecturer in Psychology, Federation University AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1503072020-11-27T10:07:31Z2020-11-27T10:07:31ZRecently self-employed? Six tips from experts on how to protect your wellbeing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371560/original/file-20201126-23-12h4zez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C5855%2C3918&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Managing everything yourself can be tricky - and rewarding</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/YcJupWm1PhQ">Medienstürmer/unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Through choice or by necessity, some of us are becoming self-employed for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence from <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/06/self-employed-adults-hit-harder-by-pandemic-related-business-downturns-in-hardest-hit-states.html">multiple</a> <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2020/06/01/5-million-self-employed-in-the-uk-have-been-hit-hard-by-the-pandemic/">countries</a> suggests that self-employed workers are one of the groups hardest hit by the pandemic. Support offered by governments <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/coronavirus-support-workers-comparison">varies</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, for some, self-employment may represent the only way of earning a living and remaining active in the labour market. The self-employed are a diverse group that includes everyone from independent consultants, hairdressers and dog walkers, to executive producers and part-time delivery drivers.</p>
<p>What can those transitioning to self-employment do to protect their wellbeing? We’ve got six tips.</p>
<h2>1. Protect boundaries</h2>
<p>For self-employed people, boundaries can be blurry. This includes those between work and the rest of life, working for different clients, and working on personal business and on clients’ businesses. This can be caused by the income insecurity inherent in self-employed work, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263406948_Self-employment_and_family_life_Constructing_work-life_balance_when_you%27re_%27always_on%27">clients’ expectations</a> for availability around the clock or renegotiation of agreed work, which creates complications in competing demands. </p>
<p>Long working hours and difficulty in disengaging from work contribute to potential conflicts between work and family and burnout. However, research suggests that learning to <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/AMR.2007.25275510">say no</a> and protect boundaries creates room to rest and recharge. It helps with taking on new opportunities, improving performance (by focusing on only one task at a time), and having a life and identity outside of work. </p>
<p>There are several things that can be helpful: turning off wifi, deleting the email app from your phone, and scheduling all tasks – including family time and leisure – in addition to making an effort to be mindfully present with loved ones.</p>
<h2>2. Learn</h2>
<p>Self-employed people have more responsibilities and less support than employees. They are in charge of every aspect of their business, without access to admin and sales teams, databases, stationary and so on, which can be <a href="https://iaap-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/apps.12021">stressful</a>. To manage this stress, self-employed people can learn the ins and outs of their business through enrolling in <a href="https://articles.bplans.com/11-excellent-free-online-courses-for-entrepreneurs/">free online courses</a> tailored to them, or using the knowledge of peers and mentors. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A man is asleep on the sofa with his small child who is awake watching something." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371552/original/file-20201126-19-481lra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371552/original/file-20201126-19-481lra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371552/original/file-20201126-19-481lra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371552/original/file-20201126-19-481lra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371552/original/file-20201126-19-481lra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371552/original/file-20201126-19-481lra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371552/original/file-20201126-19-481lra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Being self-employed and managing family life can be exhausting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/CkneE1cqzrs">Humphrey Muleba/unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Additionally, research shows that finding and using <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert_Biswas-Diener/publication/281424792_Using_signature_strengths_in_pursuit_of_goals_Effects_on_goal_progress_need_satisfaction_and_well-being_and_implications_for_coaching_psychologists/links/5701838208aee995dde8db11.pdf#page=8">personal strengths</a> can reduce stress, while boosting productivity and wellbeing. Indeed, learning itself is a <a href="https://www.dpt.nhs.uk/resources/recovery-and-wellbeing/five-ways-to-wellbeing">route toward wellbeing</a>.</p>
<h2>3. Understand potential unknowns</h2>
<p>Self-employed workers face many insecurities, such as <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270573039_A_Qualitative_Study_of_Stress_in_Individuals_Self-Employed_in_Solo_Businesses">variable workloads</a>, changing client demands, cash flow issues and insecure incomes. These cause <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/04/how-fear-helps-and-hurts-entrepreneurs">fear and uncertainty</a> and take up valuable mental and emotional resources. </p>
<p>Not knowing whether work will be available in three months or whether a client will pay on time aren’t only scary on their own, but also bring the possibility of experiencing pain and loss if everything <a href="https://www.inc.com/magazine/201309/jessica-bruder/psychological-price-of-entrepreneurship.html">crumbles</a> and impacts loved ones. </p>
<p>People can learn how to build <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2020/02/12/13-tips-for-building-up-your-business-emergency-fund/?sh=3f72afe92120">emergency funds</a>, manage <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2016/04/26/slow-paying-clients-7-tips-to-help-you-get-paid-faster/?sh=5b66356a75d7">slow paying clients</a>, and develop a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zmf8cqt">growth mindset</a> to cope with unexpected challenges. </p>
<h2>4. Nurture relationships</h2>
<p>Self-employment is often a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213058615300097">lonely</a> journey because others <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344334156_Entrepreneurial_disappointment_Let_down_and_breaking_down_a_machine-learning_study">may not understand</a> what the role involves. There are no formal co-workers around, and making time to socialise <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/start-ups-dating-self-employed-entrepreneurs-social-life-relationships-a8308886.html">can be challenging</a>. Loneliness is detrimental to wellbeing, with associated risks that <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316">exceed the danger</a> of smoking 15 cigarettes per day. </p>
<p>Nurturing relationships <a href="https://www.smu.edu/-/media/Images/News/2020/Fall/JPSP---Time-with-others.pdf?la=en">is essential</a> and self-employed workers can develop positive relationships a number of ways. Sending thank you letters to clients, seeking out and working with mentors and peers, and prioritising time to connect with family, friends, and significant others all help create meaningful connections.</p>
<h2>5. Give up unhealthy pressure</h2>
<p>Self-employed people put unhealthy pressures on themselves. It can be easy to compare ourselves to highly visible entrepreneurs and feel guilt, shame and disappointment from not meeting personal expectations. While these self-imposed pressures can have, to some extent, a motivational effect to <a href="https://www.enterpriseresearch.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Formated-Fear-of-Failure-res-p-Cacciotti-Hayton.pdf">work harder</a>, they also act as stressors and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344334156_Entrepreneurial_disappointment_Let_down_and_breaking_down_a_machine-learning_study">impair wellbeing</a>. </p>
<p>Such unhealthy pressures might also make it more difficult to open up, express vulnerability, and seek support because of fear that this may be perceived as a weakness. Acknowledging the multiple reasons why something may not be going well and practising <a href="https://self-compassion.org/the-three-elements-of-self-compassion-2/">self-compassion</a> is a simple, yet powerful technique.</p>
<h2>6. Establish routines</h2>
<p>While self-employed people have <a href="https://iaap-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/apps.12066?casa_token=wH-_fkUvFVoAAAAA%3A3zNgBjE1ni4rLj_OrjrTw5GDYhHDJG_n8UOmh-q_UltnVY7A5oAsaFQXaGzfcIBNSTYmOG1FD-uFGy4J">greater autonomy and flexibility</a> than employees, they also lack the structure and support of organisations. This unique combination of working conditions makes it more difficult to remain motivated, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352673418301422">to avoid stress</a> and to manage time, creating a spiral of negative emotions that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, impairing performance <a href="https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/full/10.1027/1016-9040/a000138">through procrastination</a>. </p>
<p>One way to cope with this challenge is <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/03/thriving-in-the-gig-economy">by establishing routines</a>. In addition to reducing some of the negative emotions and improving productivity, routines can promote a sense of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0146167218795133">wellbeing and meaning</a>. Routines can also make it easier to incorporate the steps mentioned previously into daily or weekly schedules, including time to look after oneself, not just the business.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic is a difficult time to become self-employed. But when the challenges inherent in this type of work are addressed, self-employment can actually contribute to wellbeing. It can create flexibility, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/104225870202600305?casa_token=UDRFX_7o3CUAAAAA:6dgK8cQXU-J5KykiV2Rw0W9TM11cpI5imsYTuIm6M5vlVkL15NW-I3eCwqX4UzWZ2I5AsdDjXxKMXg">autonomy</a>, a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352673419300952">sense of meaning</a>, and <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amd.2015.0152?journalCode=amd">opportunities</a> to be creative and express one’s values. </p>
<p>Like all change, this transition will likely require time and self-compassion. But in the long term, self-employment can be sustainable and rewarding, provided we look after ourselves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150307/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andreana Drencheva received funding from Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Andreana Drencheva is a trustee of Chilypep. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Michael Duffy Jr. and Kristin Hildenbrand do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Being self-employed can bring a whole heap of benefits - but if you’ve been forced into it during the pandemic, it can be scary.Andreana Drencheva, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, University of SheffieldDr. Michael Duffy Jr., Doctoral Researcher, University of SheffieldKristin Hildenbrand, Lecturer in Leadership and Organisational Behaviour, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1459842020-11-23T13:19:43Z2020-11-23T13:19:43ZLaughing is good for your mind and your body – here’s what the research shows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370594/original/file-20201120-23-q8fagx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=594%2C0%2C5397%2C3991&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's hard to beat a good laugh with a friend.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/cheerful-couple-enjoying-movie-royalty-free-image/1146818927">Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Amusement and pleasant surprises – and the laughter they can trigger – add texture to the fabric of daily life.</p>
<p>Those giggles and guffaws can seem like just silly throwaways. But laughter, in response to funny events, actually takes a lot of work, because it activates <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/cognitive-neuroscience-humor">many areas of the brain</a>: areas that control motor, emotional, cognitive and social processing. </p>
<p>As I found when writing “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/An-Introduction-to-the-Psychology-of-Humor/Gibson/p/book/9780367029081">An Introduction to the Psychology of Humor</a>,” researchers now appreciate laughter’s power to enhance physical and mental well-being.</p>
<h2>Laughter’s physical power</h2>
<p>People begin laughing in infancy, when it helps develop muscles and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhz219">upper body strength</a>. Laughter is not just breathing. It relies on complex combinations of facial muscles, often involving movement of the eyes, head and shoulders.</p>
<p>Laughter – doing it or observing it – activates multiple regions of the brain: the motor cortex, which controls muscles; the frontal lobe, which helps you understand context; and the limbic system, which modulates positive emotions. Turning all these circuits on strengthens neural connections and helps a healthy brain coordinate its activity.</p>
<p>By activating the neural pathways of emotions like joy and mirth, laughter can improve your mood and make your physical and emotional response to stress less intense. For example, laughing may help control brain levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, similar to what <a href="https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2015.45.2.221">antidepressants</a> do. By minimizing your brain’s responses to threats, it limits the release of neurotransmitters and hormones like cortisol that can wear down your <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f7274">cardiovascular, metabolic and immune systems</a> over time. Laughter’s kind of <a href="https://doi.org/10.7150/ijms.6.200">like an antidote to stress</a>, which weakens these systems and increases vulnerability to diseases.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370595/original/file-20201120-19-1ogy9m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="women laughing together at an outdoor meal" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370595/original/file-20201120-19-1ogy9m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370595/original/file-20201120-19-1ogy9m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370595/original/file-20201120-19-1ogy9m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370595/original/file-20201120-19-1ogy9m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370595/original/file-20201120-19-1ogy9m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370595/original/file-20201120-19-1ogy9m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370595/original/file-20201120-19-1ogy9m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Getting the joke is a good workout for your brain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/two-women-laughing-together-at-dining-table-royalty-free-image/126363989">Thomas Barwick/Stone via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Laughter’s cognitive power</h2>
<p>A good sense of humor and the laughter that follows depend on an ample measure of social intelligence and working memory resources.</p>
<p>Laughter, like humor, typically sparks from <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23082946">recognizing the incongruities or absurdities</a> of a situation. You need to mentally resolve the surprising behavior or event – otherwise you won’t laugh; you might just be confused instead. Inferring the intentions of others and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00126">taking their perspective</a> can enhance the intensity of the laughter and amusement you feel.</p>
<p>To “get” a joke or humorous situation, you need to be able to see the lighter side of things. You must believe that other possibilities besides the literal exist – think about being <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.1997.10.4.439">amused by comic strips with talking animals</a>, like those found in “<a href="https://www.thefarside.com">The Far Side</a>.”</p>
<h2>Laughter’s social power</h2>
<p>Many cognitive and social skills work together to help you monitor when and why laughter occurs during conversations. You don’t even need to hear a laugh to be able to laugh. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enl008">Deaf signers punctuate their signed sentences with laughter</a>, much like emoticons in written text.</p>
<p>Laughter creates bonds and increases intimacy with others. Linguist Don Nilsen points out that chuckles and belly laughs <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108241403">seldom happen when alone</a>, supporting their strong social role. Beginning early in life, infants’ laughter is an external sign of pleasure that helps strengthen bonds with caregivers.</p>
<p>Later, it’s an external sign of sharing an appreciation of the situation. For example, public speakers and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2017-0040">comedians</a> try to get a laugh to make audiences feel psychologically closer to them, to create intimacy. </p>
<p>By practicing a little laughter each day, you can enhance social skills that may not come naturally to you. When you laugh in response to humor, you share your feelings with others and learn from risks that your response will be accepted/shared/enjoyed by others and not be rejected/ignored/disliked.</p>
<p>In studies, psychologists have found that men <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.1999.12.4.355">with Type A personality characteristics</a>, including competitiveness and time urgency, tend to laugh more, while women with those traits laugh less. Both sexes laugh more with others than when alone.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370596/original/file-20201120-19-ifmsuk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="white-haired woman laughing on a park bench" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370596/original/file-20201120-19-ifmsuk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370596/original/file-20201120-19-ifmsuk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370596/original/file-20201120-19-ifmsuk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370596/original/file-20201120-19-ifmsuk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370596/original/file-20201120-19-ifmsuk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370596/original/file-20201120-19-ifmsuk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370596/original/file-20201120-19-ifmsuk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Laughter has value across the whole lifespan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/senior-woman-laughing-royalty-free-image/522988376">Steve Prezant/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Laughter’s mental power</h2>
<p>Positive psychology researchers study how people can live meaningful lives and thrive. Laughter produces positive emotions that lead to this kind of flourishing. These feelings – like amusement, happiness, mirth and joy – build <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218">resiliency and increase creative thinking</a>. They increase subjective well-being and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218">life satisfaction</a>. Researchers find that these positive emotions experienced with humor and laughter correlate with <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2014.884519">appreciating the meaning of life</a> and help older adults hold a benign view of difficulties they’ve faced over a lifetime. </p>
<p>Laughter in response to amusement is a healthy coping mechanism. When you laugh, you take yourself or the situation less seriously and may feel <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-018-9548-7">empowered to problem-solve</a>. For example, psychologists measured the frequency and intensity of 41 people’s laughter over two weeks, along with their ratings of physical and mental stress. They found that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235851">more laughter experienced</a>, the lower the reported stress. Whether the instances of laughter were strong, medium or weak in intensity didn’t matter.</p>
<p>Maybe you want to grab some of these benefits for yourself – can you force laughter to work for you? </p>
<p>A growing number of therapists advocate using humor and laughter to help clients build trust and <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781610484879/Using-Humor-to-Maximize-Living-Connecting-With-Humor-2nd-Edition">improve work environments</a>; a review of five different studies found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2018.04.009">measures of well-being did increase</a> after laughter interventions. Sometimes <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/health-healing-and-the-amuse-system-humor-as-survival-training/oclc/42881511">called homeplay</a> instead of homework, these interventions take the form of daily humor activities – surrounding yourself with funny people, watching a comedy that makes you laugh or writing down three funny things that happened today.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>You can practice laughing even when alone. Intentionally take a perspective that appreciates the funny side of events. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2020.1787944">Laughing yoga</a> is a technique of using breathing muscles to achieve the positive physical responses of natural laughing with forced laughter (ha ha hee hee ho ho).</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4p4dZ0afivk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Some tips on how to get started with laughing yoga.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Researchers today certainly aren’t laughing off its value, but a good deal of the research on laughter’s influence on mental and physical health is based on self-report measures. More psychological experimentation around laughter or the contexts in which it occurs will likely support the importance of laughing throughout your day, and maybe even suggest more ways to intentionally harness its benefits.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145984/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janet M. Gibson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Whether in the form of a discreet titter or a full-on roar, laughter comes with many benefits for physical and mental health.Janet M. Gibson, Professor of Cognitive Psychology, Grinnell CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/902552018-03-01T13:55:16Z2018-03-01T13:55:16ZHow musicians and athletes could learn from each other when it comes to coping with stress<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208298/original/file-20180228-36683-5tzln0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/silhouette-cello-player-perform-on-stage-314032862?src=nZz4IE9YMF2ro_ZWdxtcaw-1-3">highstudio/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Classical musicians and elite athletes might not appear to have much in common. One is concerned with artistry, the other with physicality. But whether they are on the stage or the pitch, holding a violin or football, there is a constant pressure for them to perform under the spotlight. </p>
<p>This ongoing stress can mean both classical musicians and elite athletes face similar mental health challenges, which may not be immediately apparent to their fans and followers. Musicians may play physically demanding instruments, commit to heavy rehearsal and performance schedules, experience unstable employment and endure constant audience and peer criticism. Athletes, on the other hand, play physically demanding sports with heavy training schedules, and endure criticism from spectators and the media week after week. </p>
<p>Obviously there are similar positive aspects to reaching the highest levels of both sport and classical music. Pursuing a passion to such a stage is an incredible achievement. The physical expression, artistry – even fame – is something that some can only dream of. But even these upsides can contribute to the pressure to perform.</p>
<p>The very nature of performing promotes a heightened self-awareness. Athletes and musicians alike have to reflect on their performance to further improve. This constant internal critique makes problems with <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0305735610373562">self-criticism</a> common for both. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208308/original/file-20180228-36700-33p4av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208308/original/file-20180228-36700-33p4av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208308/original/file-20180228-36700-33p4av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208308/original/file-20180228-36700-33p4av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208308/original/file-20180228-36700-33p4av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208308/original/file-20180228-36700-33p4av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208308/original/file-20180228-36700-33p4av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Breaking down.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/boxer-athlete-sits-drooping-head-on-604926971?src=CJfUVsbI0JSXWazzQLEKRA-1-22">Artem Furman/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Classical musicians and elite athletes seem to spend their careers questioning if their life has a purpose beyond that of a dedication to perfection. They are constantly striving for the perfect recital, the perfect race – ultimately the perfect performance. And when they think they have failed there is a sense of shame and guilt of letting others down, which can result in a <a href="http://www.hapdavisphd.ca/n-pdf/davis-hammond-gialloretto-prevalence-failure-based-depression-among-elite-athletes-clinjspmed-2013.pdf">failure-based depression</a>.</p>
<p>The very nature of the training environments do nothing to discourage this. Musicians face intense competition with peers for the attention of the maestro. A lack of attention suggests failure and can lead to a loss of confidence and motivation. Athletes also strive for performance outcomes focused on direct comparison with their competitors. They are subject to feedback from their coaches on their skills – often on a daily basis. As a result, many athletes and musicians also possess a fear of failure, based in part on these strong <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joachim_Stoeber/publication/237044113_Perfectionism/links/02e7e52fee6a060a2d000000.pdf">perfectionist</a> <a href="https://musicovation.com/2017/07/03/c-natural-opening-up-about-musicians-health/">concerns</a>.</p>
<h2>Toxic environments</h2>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.helpmusicians.org.uk/news/latest-news/hmuk-releases-final-cmmys-report">report</a> found more than 60% of musicians have suffered from depression or other mental health issues, while a <a href="https://www.fifpro.org/en/players/player-s-health/research-study">2015 survey</a> of mental illness in professional footballers found depression and anxiety affected more than one-third of those playing. Coping with injury and burnout were listed as the key threats to well being. </p>
<p>These findings have encouraged professional bodies to challenge what can clearly be toxic environments – but not enough is being done. In an ideal world, no musician or athlete would experience mental health problems – and yet neither group’s well being is properly managed. </p>
<p>There are some initiatives which address the problems, but they are by no means full solutions. The <a href="https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/about/article/20170614-about-bc-news-British-Cycling-publishes-the-cycling-independent-review-0">report</a> into the bullying culture of British Cycling, for example, highlighted a relentless pursuit of medals as being to the detriment of the well being of the athlete. Key recommendations to challenge this “climate of fear” included a commitment to athlete whole-life development and welfare. These are in the process of being implemented.</p>
<p>In recent years, organisations representing athletes or musicians have started to more explicitly encourage members to seek help and support for mental health issues. For example, The <a href="https://www.musicmindsmatter.org.uk/">Music Minds Matter</a> campaign provides a dedicated helpline to help musicians access mental health services. Similarly, The professional footballers association offers footballers a <a href="https://www.thepfa.com/wellbeing/sportingchance">24-hour helpline</a> and also funds a <a href="https://www.sportingchanceclinic.com/">residential mental health treatment</a> clinic. In Scotland, it was recently announced that every football club will appoint a person to monitor players’ mental health. Meanwhile the <a href="http://cmfoundation.org.uk">Chris Mitchell Foundation</a>, created in memory of the Scottish footballer who took his own life in 2016 has been funding “mental health first aid courses” for coaches and staff. </p>
<p>These initiatives show that both professional football and classical music are getting better at providing the necessary support the performers deserve. But they can do a lot more, simply by looking to each other. The similarities in factors that can affect mental well being are clear, so it makes sense for
one to take lead from the other profession. One example comes from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, which has <a href="http://www.liverpoolphil.com/press/royal-liverpool-philharmonic-awarded-major-grant-by">developed a programme</a> aimed at supporting the physical and mental health of musicians. The programme acknowledges research in elite sport and will involve musicians working with a performance psychologist.</p>
<p>Our musicians and athletes give us so much pleasure through their performances. It is all too easy to forget – or not truly appreciate – the challenges they go through to bring joy to their spectators. We celebrate their successes, it makes us feel good to lose ourselves in the moment of the performance – they help us to forget about our own troubles. So it’s important to remember that we all need support when we can’t hear the applause.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90255/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simone Willis receives funding from the Humanitarian Trust. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brad Woolridge and Mikel Mellick do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Musicians and athletes have a lot in common when it comes to performing in the glare of the spotlight.Simone Willis, Academic Associate, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityBrad Woolridge, PhD Researcher in Student Wellbeing, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityMikel Mellick, Senior Lecturer in Athlete Mental Health, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/779982017-06-07T15:47:52Z2017-06-07T15:47:52ZHow zero-hours contracts could be making you ill<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171639/original/file-20170531-25676-r88zdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stressed-factory-worker-125596868">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The notion of a “job for life” has ceased to exist for most workers in the UK. Companies are shifting the burden of earnings risk to the employee, increasing their use of <a href="https://fullfact.org/economy/facts-about-zero-hour-contracts/?gclid=CI2Kn7fomdQCFdRAGwoduBEGVA">zero-hours contracts</a>. Depending on your political standpoint, this is either a logical response to the demands of fiercely competitive <a href="http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Global_economics/Globalisation_introduction.html">globalisation</a>, or a way of exploiting workers at the more vulnerable end of the job market.</p>
<p>A growing feature of the “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38930048">gig economy</a>”, zero-hours contracts represent a significant change in the employment relationship as they guarantee neither work nor pay.</p>
<p>In December 2016, the UK <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus">Office for National Statistics</a> (ONS) reported that over <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/adhocs/006286numberofpeopleonzerohourscontractsbyselectedsoccodesnsaapriltojune2015and2016">900,000 workers</a> are employed on zero-hours contracts – an increase of over 100,000 over the year, as shown in the table below.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171595/original/file-20170531-23531-1cjehsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171595/original/file-20170531-23531-1cjehsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171595/original/file-20170531-23531-1cjehsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171595/original/file-20170531-23531-1cjehsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171595/original/file-20170531-23531-1cjehsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171595/original/file-20170531-23531-1cjehsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171595/original/file-20170531-23531-1cjehsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The dramatic rise in zero-hours contracts in the UK.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Keith Bender</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The political importance of this phenomenon is reflected in both the Conservative and Labour party manifestos for the 2017 general election. The <a href="https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto">Conservative manifesto</a> plans to give more “rights and protections” to those in the gig economy, while the <a href="http://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/manifesto2017">Labour manifesto</a> argues for an end to zero-hours contracts. </p>
<h2>March of globalisation</h2>
<p>After World War II, companies counted on stable employer-employee relationships whereby workers and firms made formal or informal contracts rather than rely on the market solely to match workers and companies. </p>
<p>Because they were more financially vulnerable to changes in income, workers embraced this arrangement that fostered security – their earnings were assured. And as it encouraged workers to stick around, companies enjoyed the benefits too, since they could maximise profits by attracting, retaining and training workers by providing contracts that reduced worker uncertainty over good and bad times.</p>
<p>But recently, precarious contracts have helped to erode the concept of a job for life, leaving workers exposed to insecurities in terms of their hours and earnings.</p>
<p>While zero-hours workers have the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/zero-hours-contracts-guidance-for-employers/zero-hours-contracts-guidance-for-employers">same statutory rights</a> as other employees, there are legal issues around the definition of an employee and worker that complicate which rights are <a href="https://fullfact.org/economy/facts-about-zero-hour-contracts/">guaranteed</a>. While some may not care about this, workers with dependants and rent or mortgages to pay are not likely to embrace uncertain pay and conditions.</p>
<p>For employers, the flexibility afforded by such contracts is a huge benefit for companies with variable labour demand, since they prefer a workforce that is available when needed, but not costly in periods of slack demand.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171641/original/file-20170531-25652-y3x2l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171641/original/file-20170531-25652-y3x2l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171641/original/file-20170531-25652-y3x2l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171641/original/file-20170531-25652-y3x2l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171641/original/file-20170531-25652-y3x2l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171641/original/file-20170531-25652-y3x2l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171641/original/file-20170531-25652-y3x2l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Zero-hours contracts are an accepted part of the enthusiastically embraced gig economy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-deliveroo-riders-deliver-takeaway-foods-603405107">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although this flexibility may suit some workers, it is unclear whether most workers would benefit. For example, <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/contractsthatdonotguaranteeaminimumnumberofhours/may2017#what-are-the-characteristics-of-people-employed-on-zero-hours-contracts">ONS data</a> show that a third of those on zero-hours contracts want to change jobs or want more hours, compared to fewer than 10% of those employed on other kinds of contracts.</p>
<p>Yet the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/index_en">European Commission</a> established a policy of “<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=102">flexicurity</a>” in 2007, whereby countries were directed to develop policies encouraging flexible employment contracts. While limiting job security, countries were to develop policies to help people find jobs easily, enhancing employment security. The EU flexicurity policy was motivated by the challenges of globalisation and the increasing need for firms to adapt to fast-moving changes in competition.</p>
<h2>Health and well-being</h2>
<p>The casualisation of employment relationships brings uncertainty to workers. For many, these contracts generate greater levels of <a href="http://www.publicpolicy.cam.ac.uk/zero-hours-contracts">low-grade stress</a> than traditional contracts. This low-grade but constant stress leads to another, much less-studied and unintended consequence of zero-hours contracts: their impact on worker health. </p>
<p>This was the focus of our <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/roiw.12316/full">recent study</a>, which tracked 2,300 initially healthy British workers for 17 years to see how often they found themselves in traditional or flexible contracts and whether the proportion of time spent in such contracts had any effect on their health.</p>
<p>Health was measured in a number of ways – a subjective opinion about overall health as well as self-reports of any health issues. </p>
<p>The results are striking and consistent. We found that for every measure of health we examined, the longer a worker spent in a flexible contract, the more likely they would fall ill – at a much higher rate than a worker in a permanent contract. </p>
<p>As the table below shows, by the eighth year of employment, all workers who had been in flexible contracts for at least 50% of the time experienced a fall in their overall health.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171597/original/file-20170531-25664-ol9fsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171597/original/file-20170531-25664-ol9fsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171597/original/file-20170531-25664-ol9fsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171597/original/file-20170531-25664-ol9fsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171597/original/file-20170531-25664-ol9fsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171597/original/file-20170531-25664-ol9fsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171597/original/file-20170531-25664-ol9fsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The decline in health of workers on zero-hours contracts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Keith Bender</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While this is a simple graph showing the state of health of those on flexible and permanent contracts, our paper reflects a variety of statistical tests to make sure that this pattern holds for all the health conditions we surveyed. </p>
<p>To give an idea of the correlation between zero-hours contracts and health problems, we compared the long-term effects of working on zero-hours contracts to the effects of smoking (something else we measured). Our data suggested that people who spent more time working in zero hours contracts experienced half as poor overall health outcomes as those people who smoked.</p>
<p>The dramatic increase in zero-hours contracts is unlikely to be entirely voluntary on the workers’ side. Again, the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/contractsthatdonotguaranteeaminimumnumberofhours/may2017#what-are-the-characteristics-of-people-employed-on-zero-hours-contracts">ONS data</a> above suggests that a third of workers want something different. Importantly, the negative effects of flexible employment on worker health can be substantial.</p>
<p>The public health consequences of the increase in zero-hours contracts and its long-term repercussions on the health of the working population may outweigh the short-run profit considerations of employers. Therefore, governments should revisit policies that promote the extra flexibility if it comes with a hefty price tag of increased public health expenditure and lost productivity.</p>
<p>Without factoring in this further cost of zero-hour contracts, there could be unintended consequences for society which are detrimental to productivity, and more worryingly, the health and well-being of the working population.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77998/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With no guarantee of work or pay, is the stress of flexible work contracts affecting the health of workers?Keith Bender, SIRE Chair in Economics, University of AberdeenIoannis Theodossiou, Chair in Economics, University of AberdeenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/766782017-04-26T01:00:08Z2017-04-26T01:00:08ZSelf-esteem among narcissists is ‘puffed up, but shaky’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166661/original/file-20170425-25594-em5bhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The combination of a narcissist's high but easily undermined self-worth might seem paradoxical.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/en/girl-woman-mirror-reflection-2227755/">pixabay</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Like a grotesque mask reflected in a pool, narcissism has two faces, neither of them attractive. Narcissists have an inflated sense of self-worth, seeing themselves as superior beings who are entitled to special treatment. </p>
<p>However they also tend to be thin skinned, reacting angrily when their unique gifts are challenged or ignored.</p>
<p>This combination of high but easily undermined self-worth might seem paradoxical. A positively viewed self would be expected to be a happy and secure self. To understand the paradox we need to parse the complexities of self-esteem.</p>
<h2>Self-esteem</h2>
<p>The main thrust of early research on self-esteem – the broad positive or negative evaluation of the self – explored the implications of its level. </p>
<p>People with higher self-esteem were compared to those with lower, and were generally found to report better life outcomes. High self-esteem people tended to be happier, healthier, more successful in love and work, and more resilient in the face of adversity.</p>
<p>On the strength of such findings, self-esteem came to be seen in some circles as a panacea of all manner of personal and social ills. If we could only improve people’s self-esteem, we might remedy their suffering and underachievement. </p>
<p>In the 1980s the state of California set up a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/11/us/now-the-california-task-force-to-promote-self-esteem.html">self-esteem task force</a> to promote that cause.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the self-esteem bandwagon was sideswiped by some troubling research evidence, presented in an <a href="http://assets.csom.umn.edu/assets/71496.pdf">influential review</a> published in 2003. Studies commonly showed that high self-esteem was a consequence or side-effect of life success rather than a cause. </p>
<p>Enhancing a person’s self-esteem would therefore no more increase their performance at school or work than applying heat to a light bulb would increase its luminance.</p>
<p>In addition, high self-esteem appeared to have some negative implications. For example, people with some forms of high self-esteem are sometimes especially prone to forms of <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.319.3502&rep=rep1&type=pdf">aggression</a> and antisocial behaviour.</p>
<h2>Different forms of high self-esteem</h2>
<p>One way to reconcile this ambivalent picture of high self-esteem is to recognise that it is not only the <em>level</em> of self-esteem that matters. We also need to consider the <em>consistency</em> and <em>stability</em> of self-esteem. </p>
<p>People whose overt self-esteem is high but accompanied by covert self-doubts may be worse off than those whose self-esteem is consistently high. And people whose views of self are dependably positive are likely to be better off than those whose self-views are equally positive on average but oscillate wildly.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166722/original/file-20170426-13408-4fymwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166722/original/file-20170426-13408-4fymwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166722/original/file-20170426-13408-4fymwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166722/original/file-20170426-13408-4fymwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166722/original/file-20170426-13408-4fymwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166722/original/file-20170426-13408-4fymwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166722/original/file-20170426-13408-4fymwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166722/original/file-20170426-13408-4fymwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Neither of narcissism’s two faces is very attractive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/en/snail-shell-mollusk-close-582214/">pixabay</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These two alternative ways of thinking about high self-esteem have been recognised by psychologists as <a href="http://www.sakkyndig.com/psykologi/artvit/jordan2003.pdf">“defensive”</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18447858">“fragile”</a> self-esteem, respectively. </p>
<p>People with defensive self-esteem evaluate themselves positively by questionnaire, but negatively when their automatic or non conscious self-views are examined. Their positive self-views are inferred to be defences against lurking insecurities. </p>
<p>The self-views of people with fragile self-esteem are prone to fluctuate, dropping sharply when they encounter difficulties because their self-worth lacks a firm anchor.</p>
<h2>Narcissism and self-esteem</h2>
<p>These two forms of self-esteem help to make sense of narcissism. There is <a>evidence</a> narcissists tend to have higher than average levels of self-esteem, but that these levels are to some degree defensive and fragile. </p>
<p>Below the shiny surface of their arrogance and grandiosity, narcissists often view themselves less positively. Their inflated self-image also tends to deflate rapidly when punctured by evidence that other people do not share it.</p>
<p>The dynamics of self-esteem among narcissists are well illustrated in a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304135726_Puffed-Up_But_Shaky_Selves_State_Self-Esteem_Level_and_Variability_in_Narcissists">recently published study</a> by a team of German and Dutch psychologists. The researchers examined the facets of narcissism and linked them to the level and stability of self-esteem in a series of laboratory and field studies.</p>
<p>The studies spring from a model that distinguishes two key components of narcissism. “Narcissistic admiration” refers to assertive self-promotion of a grandiose self-image. People high on this component may be charming, but it is a charm that gradually loses its lustre as the person’s unquenchable appetite for admiration becomes apparent to others. </p>
<p>In contrast, “narcissistic rivalry” is the tendency to react antagonistically to perceived threats to the narcissist’s egotism. People high on this component are fiercely competitive and prone to denigrate those who challenge their sense of superiority. </p>
<p>The two components are only moderately related, so narcissistic people may be substantially higher on one than the other.</p>
<p>The researchers found that admiration and rivalry had quite different associations with self-esteem. People high on admiration tended to report high levels of self-esteem and average degrees of stability. Those high on rivalry, in contrast, reported average levels of self-esteem but high degrees of instability. </p>
<p>By implication, narcissists scoring high on both admiration and rivalry would show the familiar toxic combination of high but fragile self-esteem.</p>
<p>In one of the researchers’ three studies, for example, a large sample of students reported their levels of self-esteem on a daily basis over a two-week period. People who reported higher average levels of self-esteem scored high on admiration and low on rivalry. Those whose levels of self-esteem varied widely from day to day scored high on rivaly.</p>
<p>In addition, when self-esteem dropped from one report to the next, these drops were greater among people high in rivalry. A follow up study showed that these people were especially likely to experience drops in their self-esteem on days when they felt less liked by their peers. A perceived lack of social inclusion is particularly bruising to the self-esteem of people who see others as threats to their sense of superiority.</p>
<p>This research shows that narcissism is not a unitary phenomenon. In the words of the researchers, it involves a self that is “puffed-up but shaky”. Such a self may be unpleasant to others, but it is fundamentally a vulnerable self.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76678/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<h4 class="border">Disclosure</h4><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Haslam receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Like a grotesque mask reflected in a pool, narcissism has two faces, neither of them attractive. Narcissists have an inflated sense of self-worth, seeing themselves as superior beings who are entitled…Nick Haslam, Professor of Psychology, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/681422017-01-16T00:57:20Z2017-01-16T00:57:20ZHealth Check: is snoring anything to worry about?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149001/original/image-20161207-15197-yg50n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Snoring occurs due to vibration of the soft tissues of your upper airway. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/timothykrause/6015643797/in/photolist-aazKjv-aa6HE1-a5Aort-adxXrK-acMJky-adMgzq-9TPULP-9TPWV2-adANr9-9XuHN7-adANc1-adMg3u-a1ksGd-aazC86-a5apUd-acJUsx-aaCw83-abtsvh-9TPWGP-fEmwBV-9TgMKd-9VgGNP-acMPvq-9Y6YRX-aazHGe-9Y6V3t-9TSHUm-a1hCe2-9TPWtv-aazKMc-abSfbi-a1kssh-9YqNZ5-9YqNLd-9TSJbf-a1kpe3-abV7s5-9YE1na-a3uhT7-9RMDSW-9Y6Stg-abSgSK-9VXnng-9YnVYZ-9TPV6H-abts6f-9VXnXi-aazzT4-9Y9Ms9-9Y9TU1">timothykrause/flickr </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s nothing quite like the sound of snoring as the ultimate sleep interrupter. </p>
<p>But snoring can be more than just a frustration to those in your vicinity. Sometimes snoring is linked to more serious health problems, such as obstructive sleep apnoea. An emerging line of research suggests snoring may directly contribute to cardiovascular health problems. </p>
<h2>How does snoring occur?</h2>
<p>When we go to sleep, the muscles of the upper airway relax, causing it to become “floppy” and partially <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272523114000409">collapse</a>. This occurs to some extent in all of us. </p>
<p>However, in some people the airway is excessively narrowed, particularly at the level of the tongue and soft palate/uvula (the visible structure you see hanging at the back of the throat). As we breathe in, we produce suction pressures to draw air into the lungs. This further narrows the airway (similar to when sucking too hard on a straw) and can cause upper airway tissues such as the soft palate to <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323242882001124">vibrate or flutter</a>, like a flag in the wind. This movement creates the noise of snoring. </p>
<p>Rapid opening and closing of the airway – such as the base of the tongue banging against the back of the throat – also contributes to snoring. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150216/original/image-20161214-2505-kk6f0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150216/original/image-20161214-2505-kk6f0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150216/original/image-20161214-2505-kk6f0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150216/original/image-20161214-2505-kk6f0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150216/original/image-20161214-2505-kk6f0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150216/original/image-20161214-2505-kk6f0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150216/original/image-20161214-2505-kk6f0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The noise of snoring is due to vibration, fluttering and open/closing of soft structures in the upper airway (including the tongue and soft palate). OSA = obstructive sleep apnoea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/pic-119610079/stock-vector-snoring-and-sleep-apnea.html?src=C0TNOzD5vHezeEax8lD8jw-1-61">from shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What can trigger snoring?</h2>
<p>If you don’t normally snore, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323242882001124">alcohol</a> is a key trigger as it blocks your nose and can relax airway muscles. If you already snore, alcohol is likely to make your snoring a lot louder!</p>
<p>Being <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323242882001124">overweight</a> increases fat around the neck, compressing and narrowing the throat. But thin people do snore too, and many who are overweight do not. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11325-003-0063-2">blocked nose</a> – due to a cold, allergies, polyps or anatomical abnormality – creates the need for greater suction pressures to draw air into the lungs when breathing, which further narrow the airway. Mouth opening often occurs when the nose is blocked during sleep, which itself can cause snoring (via airway anatomy and pressure changes).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.journalsleep.org/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=25810">Sleeping on your back</a> contributes to collapse of the airway, as gravity pushes the tongue and soft palate towards the back of the throat.</p>
<p><a href="http://thorax.bmj.com/content/60/6/511">Enlarged tonsils</a> narrow the airway, and are a primary cause of snoring in children. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.200404-474OC#">Smoking</a> can irritate the membrane that lines the nose and throat, causing fluid build-up (oedema) that narrows the airways. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323242882001124">Excessive sleepiness</a> following sleep deprivation can enhance airway floppiness the next time you sleep. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323242882001562">Pregnancy</a> often triggers snoring in the second and third trimester as a result of physiological changes that narrow the upper airway.</p>
<h2>Burden of snoring for well-being</h2>
<p>Snoring can create a dry mouth, sore throat or headache, and can leave you feeling <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012369208603505">tired</a>. </p>
<p>It can place significant strains on <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25904676">personal relationships</a>, particularly your bed partner, but also those sleeping in an adjacent room or even sometimes on the other side of the house! </p>
<p>Snoring forces many couples to sleep in separate bedrooms, disrupting intimate bonds. Snorers are often embarrassed to sleep among others, promoting anxiety and hindering their social relationships. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150218/original/image-20161215-2505-1u00mlg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150218/original/image-20161215-2505-1u00mlg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150218/original/image-20161215-2505-1u00mlg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150218/original/image-20161215-2505-1u00mlg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150218/original/image-20161215-2505-1u00mlg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150218/original/image-20161215-2505-1u00mlg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150218/original/image-20161215-2505-1u00mlg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Snorers may be banished from the bedroom, disrupting intimate relationships.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/restlessglobetrotter/1659319250/in/photolist-5MfTPJ-7reoPf-6ECKjU-NaZtb-bNvzXr-3wCrNA-ne31Vi-9H58vR-atWgkX-ayzP5L-fkL9MY-ayzPaU-5zqrH5-7q1jZJ-fkw1k4-5nUGsM-6HFJsL-3QTUfj-5Pk8NS-3QTRmb-4c9hMZ-aNUBpZ-ayx8Jg-8RGaUk-atWfW6-ayzPe3-5UoUnR-aMUyzx-uzTqA-5dNDzQ-atYVFd-aEJtaq-aMUyKM-bkiEsb-47XQhZ-atWgDr-mMt4-ayx9de-aqiYbn-atYWg1-atYV9S-atWg6P-7kb5Ax-atWfSz-4N7CBf-5xRQxS-6kYorH-tuNmEW-5a7nrt-cWhZwS">restlessglobetrotter/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sleep disruption caused by snoring can make you and others cranky and irritable during the day, but also may lead to <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323242882000052">impaired memory and concentration</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2856739/">obesity and reduced immunity</a>.</p>
<p>Snoring even has the potential to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12921130">cause hearing loss</a> for your bed partner. Given some snores reach over 80 decibels (equivalent to the loudness of a jack hammer, motorcycle or low flying jet), this idea is not so far-fetched. </p>
<h2>Serious health consequences</h2>
<p>Snoring can be a marker for <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-obstructive-sleep-apnoea-9884">obstructive sleep apnoea</a>, a disorder where the upper airway repeatedly closes during sleep, and breathing stops for at least ten seconds at a time. Obstructions to breathing can sometimes last for more than a minute and occur over 100 times an hour, starving the body of oxygen and fragmenting sleep. </p>
<p>Obstructive sleep apnoea sufferers are often excessively sleepy and at greater <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-obstructive-sleep-apnoea-9884">risk</a> of car and industrial accidents, cardiovascular disease – high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke – and reduced brain function, including poor memory and learning.</p>
<p>Over the last decade, <a href="http://www.journalsleep.org/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=27245">some research</a> suggests heavy snoring itself may be a direct cause of cardiovascular complications, particularly a condition known as carotid artery atherosclerosis. </p>
<p>The carotid artery is the main vessel supplying blood to the brain. When affected by atherosclerosis, fatty deposits known as plaques form in the wall of the artery. Over time these can cause the blood vessel to narrow and limit blood flow. </p>
<p>One study has shown that <a href="http://jap.physiology.org/content/100/5/1547.long">snoring vibrations are transmitted to the carotid artery</a>, which can <a href="http://www.journalsleep.org/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=28147">damage its wall</a> and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/lary.24527/abstract;jsessionid=5B99869850EBA04825E3283E7D2E7442.f03t04">lead to the development</a> of atherosclerosis. Subsequently, snoring may rupture a formed plaque, resulting in pieces of the plaque moving through the bloodstream and blocking small vessels in the brain. However, additional research is required to bring further clarity to this hypothesis. </p>
<p>In children, snoring is associated with <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/114/1/44.long">behavioural issues</a> and <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/107/6/1394.long">poorer academic performance</a>.</p>
<h2>Current snoring treatments</h2>
<p>Given the multiple causes of snoring, there are numerous potential treatments available that work on some but not others. </p>
<p>Recommended lifestyle <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323242882001124">changes</a> include:</p>
<ul>
<li>avoiding alcohol before bed (minimises airway floppiness)</li>
<li>losing excess weight (reduces airway compression)</li>
<li>stopping smoking (reduces airway irritation and fluid accumulation)</li>
<li>avoiding sleep deprivation (minimises airway floppiness) </li>
</ul>
<p>There are several medical treatments for snoring that require professional advice. If you snore regularly, it is highly recommended you see a sleep and respiratory doctor for diagnosis and to determine the right treatment for you. </p>
<p>For more information on all things sleep related, the <a href="http://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/public-information/fact-sheets-a-z.html">Sleep Health Foundation</a> offers some helpful fact sheets.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68142/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Amatoury is supported by a NeuroSleep NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence Postdoctoral Fellowship (1060992).</span></em></p>Snoring has been linked to serious health conditions such as obstructive sleep apnoea and even cardiovascular disease.Jason Amatoury, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Biomedical Engineer, Upper Airway Physiologist, Neuroscience Research AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/702112016-12-15T19:21:40Z2016-12-15T19:21:40ZHow to be a healthy user of social media<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150049/original/image-20161214-18895-vfz4rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Around half of young people are heavy social media users, with one in four teen users constantly connected. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/garryknight/8331105136/in/photolist-o9dz4K-dGc6iJ-duZ1b4-pQXWNX-ibbj7D-roLS89-fYWDir-59h4nh-7p1vwD-euYoS-7fJfcX-nRspxb-5Lfy7t-5eC9kP-4CArm6-bCUWtR-9sanNx-5M3JV4-59ywqw-bmBGag-drYR8E-7SLQGz-eCh5jy-8ZE6bh-8AZdSA-4dFcED-4dJwrs-FoGnm-qZuGev-BQHdGn-CgW4iP-CmUZTQ-u319iw-uZhPiR-Nok8gG-K6GLBz-czA9Gf-5SBvdW-9vfdi3-4MYA8z-8MbfM4-2qsT5-8HbrLk-qyeZmZ-qmcFYA-weKCqg">garryknight/flickr </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We can learn a lot about people through how they use social media. For example, Twitter language can be used to predict the <a href="http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/twitter-can-predict-hot-spots-coronary-heart-disease">risk of dying from heart disease</a>. </p>
<p>Analyses of Facebook updates show <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/how-gender-shapes-our-facebook-chats">women tend to be warmer than men, but just as assertive</a>, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24322010">people high in extraversion</a> tend to express positive emotions, whereas those with neurotic tendencies are more likely to write about being lonely and depressed. </p>
<p>Concerns exist about the negative effects social media can have on mental health, <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.short">especially for young people</a>. </p>
<p>The incidence of <a href="http://theconversation.com/online-bullying-on-the-rise-in-australia-30213">cyberbullying</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/how-sexting-is-creating-a-safe-space-for-curious-millennials-56453">sexting</a> and <a href="http://theconversation.com/domestic-violence-and-facebook-harassment-takes-new-forms-in-the-social-media-age-50855">victimisation</a> has risen. People manage their profiles, presenting an image of a perfect life, while hiding real struggles they might have. Despite having thousands of “friends”, some people still <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563216302552">feel completely alone</a>. </p>
<p>The potential for social media to be used to detect signs of mental illness is reflected in Facebook’s implementation of a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/305410456169423">suicide watch program</a>. </p>
<h2>What to look for in your use of social media</h2>
<p>Is there a way to tell if your use of social media is healthy or reflective of underlying mental health conditions? </p>
<p>With my colleagues, PhD student Liz Seabrook and <a href="http://med.monash.edu/psych/school/staff/rickard.html">Dr Nikki Rickard</a>, we recently conducted <a href="http://mental.jmir.org/2016/4/e50/">a systematic review</a> of 70 different studies that linked social media use to depression, anxiety and mental well being. Turns out, <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/is-social-media-good-for-you">social media is not all good, nor all bad</a>. It’s more about how you use it. </p>
<p>If you are concerned about your own social media use or that of a family member, here are some aspects to look out for. </p>
<h3>1. Content and tone</h3>
<p>One of the main things that distinguished users who reported high well-being versus those with depression or anxiety was what they wrote about and how they wrote it. </p>
<p>Depressed people used a lot more negative language, reflecting on things that were going wrong, or complaining about life or other people. They posted angry thoughts and emotions. </p>
<p>After writing a post, take a moment to read through it. What is the tone? Consider ways you can focus on some of the good things that happen in your life, not just the negative. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150063/original/image-20161214-18890-fubik8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150063/original/image-20161214-18890-fubik8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150063/original/image-20161214-18890-fubik8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150063/original/image-20161214-18890-fubik8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150063/original/image-20161214-18890-fubik8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150063/original/image-20161214-18890-fubik8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150063/original/image-20161214-18890-fubik8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Social media users with depression behave differently online than those with good mental health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wentongg/2717345676/in/photolist-5987cw-dy1PDy-95nfYB-dP8PNB-f9Umke-eSzteS-nNyy6o-eSobAc-f9UmcB-ifE4Fq-7D7PPY-aahCHb-7erzYD-ifEpKT-66StMg-7sDr81-66WKbA-66StRH-66StQz-qfLgUa-8trz3H-jBdAco-8trz3p-7SsMXZ-gSMMUE-7SsMY2-7RFxr1-dPeqMb-81bVNH-7SsMXX-gSMN3W-aUDbS2-ERR39-7SsMXR-dt9Kj4-oSEczD-9UjV8m-gSNHBi-7YJNNo-poZma8-7QDAVM-5U8YVj-5U4C4H-6TeQEB-5U4Cj6-ke5x8P-ke5wU2-ke68en-BaDhoq-NZJ4uX">wentongg/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h3>2. Quality</h3>
<p>After a conversation with a friend, sometimes I feel really good about the conversation. Other times I don’t. </p>
<p>Similarly, we found the quality of interactions on social media made a big difference. Depression related to negative interactions with other people, being more critical, cutting others down or feeling criticised by others, and hostility. </p>
<p>In contrast, by supporting and encouraging others and feeling supported by them, it can help you feel good.</p>
<h3>3. Time online</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.psychology.org.au/psychologyweek/survey/results-fomo/">A recent Australian survey</a> found adults spend over two hours a day using social media. It also found more than 50% of young people are heavy social media users, with one quarter reporting being constantly connected. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150066/original/image-20161214-18882-1hixd9q.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150066/original/image-20161214-18882-1hixd9q.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150066/original/image-20161214-18882-1hixd9q.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150066/original/image-20161214-18882-1hixd9q.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150066/original/image-20161214-18882-1hixd9q.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150066/original/image-20161214-18882-1hixd9q.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150066/original/image-20161214-18882-1hixd9q.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Comparing yourself to Rebecca Judd may not support good mental health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Instagram/becjudd Dec 14 2016</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In our review, some studies found depressed users spent more time online while other studies were inconclusive. </p>
<p>Notably, no study found spending more time online was a good thing. </p>
<p>This is something to keep on the radar as people spend more and more time connected to their devices. Many young people have a <a href="http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2015/10/12/fear-of-missing-out/">fear of missing out (FOMO)</a>, and thus stay constantly connected. Indeed, in our review we found feeling addicted to social media was associated with higher levels of depression. </p>
<p>We see growing evidence that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gEZSD-2RIk">simplifying life</a>, including spending time offline, has health and well-being benefits. </p>
<p>If you feel concerned about how much time passes by while you are online, consider stepping away from social media for a few days. </p>
<h3>4. Passive versus active use</h3>
<p>Some people post many updates, providing blow-by-blow descriptions of their lives. Others read through news feeds, liking posts and passing interesting tidbits on to others. </p>
<p>In our review, simply reading posts and browsing news feeds did not positively or negatively impact well-being. </p>
<p>The difference was for active users: those who posted their thoughts and feelings and responded to others. People who were depressed posted a lot of negative content. Those who were happy actively engaged with other users, sharing their lives.</p>
<h3>5. Social comparisons</h3>
<p>Social media provides opportunities to compare ourselves with others, for better or for worse. </p>
<p>Social media can provide support groups that can help spur you on towards reaching a specific goal. For example, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-collinson/are-you-up-to-the-strengths-challenge_b_9096378.html">the Strengths Challenge</a> used social networks to encourage people to look for good things about themselves and their co-workers, resulting in higher levels of well-being. </p>
<p>But comparing yourselves with others can also be quite destructive. Depressed individuals were more likely to see others as better than them. Envy plays a particularly destructive role. </p>
<p>If you find yourself jealous of friends and others in your network, it might be a good time to disconnect and find other sources to build up your self esteem. </p>
<h3>6. Motivation</h3>
<p>Why do you use social media? People who used social media to connect with friends felt it contributed to their well-being. </p>
<p>In contrast, those who were depressed sought out social support on social media, but felt like their friends were letting them down. </p>
<p>If you are feeling lonely and trying to fill a void through social media, it could be doing more harm than good. </p>
<h2>Take a good look at yourself</h2>
<p>Social media is here to stay. It offers a great way to connect with others, but can also exacerbate social anxieties that exist in the offline world. </p>
<p>So how do you best use social media? Take a few minutes to think about how social media makes you or your family and friends feel. Is it a positive addition to your life, or does it make you feel bad, consuming time and energy you could use in other ways? </p>
<p>By taking stock of your social media habits, it can help you choose ways – and encourage others – to use it in a manner that keeps you healthy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70211/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peggy Kern does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How you use social media can provide warning signs of depression or anxiety.Peggy Kern, Senior Lecturer in Positive Psychology, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/613722016-06-28T19:32:48Z2016-06-28T19:32:48ZThe system often forgets children of people with cancer: here’s how to help them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128446/original/image-20160628-7847-1jlxwr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For a parent, talking to children about their cancer may be the only thing more difficult than facing their own diagnosis.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year <a href="http://www.dx.doi.org/10.1177/1039856213519144">around 21,000 teenagers and young adults</a> in Australia are told their parent has cancer. The need to care for their parents often disrupts these young people’s efforts for increased social, emotional and financial independence.</p>
<p>Young people typically rise to the challenge, wanting to be a source of strength and support for their parents. This can make it hard for parents to recognise when their child might need help.</p>
<p>And for a parent, talking to children about their cancer may be the only thing more difficult than facing their own diagnosis. But open and honest communication about cancer’s impact can help everyone cope better. </p>
<h2>News of a parent’s cancer</h2>
<p>The impact of a parent’s cancer diagnosis for young people can be wide ranging and long lasting. They may experience changes in family relationships, household roles and routines and social and emotional difficulties. </p>
<p>Our research, recently published in the journal <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/pon.4421/full">Psycho-Oncology</a>, showed young people whose parents have cancer <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/9DA8CA21306FE6EDCA257E2700016945/$File/child2.pdf">report levels of psychological distress</a> <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=10737419261">three to six times higher</a> than others their age.</p>
<p>Not all young people will be equally vulnerable to experiencing distress. Previous <a href="http://www.dx.doi.org/10.1002/pon.3942">research notes factors</a> predicting significant distress include being female, being older, having high family conflict or poor communication and having more unmet needs. More than 50% of young people have <a href="http://www.dx.doi.org/%2010.1007/s00520-013-1749-z">reported unmet needs</a> in terms of information about the parent’s cancer; the opportunity for fun activities away from the cancer experience; support from friends; and help with family issues such as communication.</p>
<p>Having a father with cancer, rather than the mother, being closer to the time of diagnosis and having high family conflict or poor communication can predict higher levels of unmet needs. A father’s cancer diagnosis may have flow on effects on family communication as <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/135910703322370851/abstract">fathers tend to show lower levels</a> of emotional expression.</p>
<p>Looking for combinations of these factors can help identify the young people who may be at greater psychological risk and increase opportunities for providing them with appropriate support. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128449/original/image-20160628-7836-154j4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128449/original/image-20160628-7836-154j4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128449/original/image-20160628-7836-154j4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128449/original/image-20160628-7836-154j4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128449/original/image-20160628-7836-154j4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128449/original/image-20160628-7836-154j4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128449/original/image-20160628-7836-154j4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young people need time to be young people, away from the cancer experience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An older adolescent female, for instance, whose father was recently diagnosed and whose family is struggling with conflict and communication may be experiencing high distress and needs.</p>
<p>A younger adolescent male whose mother was diagnosed a few years ago and whose family communicates well and without conflict may experience less distress.</p>
<h2>Open communication is best</h2>
<p>These findings – particularly that the number one unmet need reported by young people was honest information about their parent’s cancer – highlight the importance of good family communication in buffering distress during this difficult time.</p>
<p>Providing young people with information – including diagnosis, medical tests, treatment, side effects, likely outcomes and chances of recovery – in a family environment that fosters open communication is one way parents can support their children. </p>
<p>Parents, however, often find it hard to know how to talk to their teenage or young adult children about cancer. CanTeen is currently developing guidelines for health professionals to assist parents in having these conversations. </p>
<p>These guidelines will include tips such as: </p>
<ul>
<li>being open and honest about the cancer diagnosis and likely impact on the young person</li>
<li>talking to young people in a way that is age appropriate but still using correct terminology</li>
<li>balancing fact-sharing with hope for the future</li>
<li>helping young people find reliable and accurate information about cancer. This might include locating support resources or helping them talk to a medical professional</li>
<li>normalising emotions and sharing feelings</li>
<li>encouraging young people to seek extra support from professionals or their peers when they need it</li>
<li>allowing for time off from talking about cancer. Young people need time to be young people.</li>
</ul>
<p>It’s OK for parents and children to need help coping with a cancer diagnosis in the family. Organisations such as CanTeen offer a range of services and online resources for young people between 12 and 24 years who are impacted by parental cancer. </p>
<p>These include <a href="https://www.canteen.org.au/resource/dealing-with-your-parents-cancer/">information books</a>; individual support, such as online or face-to-face counselling; <a href="https://www.canteen.org.au/join/">a peer support community</a>; <a href="https://www.canteen.org.au/how-we-help/counselling-and-individual-support/truce/">psychosocial programs</a>; and recreational camps and activities. </p>
<p><em>For more information about CanTeen, visit <a href="http://www.canteen.org.au">www.canteen.org.au</a>, call 1800 835 932 or email support@canteen.org.au.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article has been updated to include the link to previously unpublished research, that now appears in the journal Psycho-Oncology.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61372/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pandora Patterson is the General Manager, Research & Youth Cancer Services at CanTeen Australia and Adjunct Associate Professor, Cancer Nursing Research Unit, The University of Sydney. CanTeen Australia is a registered charity that receives funding from various government and individual sources. Development of the Offspring Cancer Needs Instrument (OCNI) was funded with support from beyondblue.</span></em></p>Young people whose parents have cancer report levels of psychological distress that are three to six times higher than others their age.Pandora Patterson, Adjunct Associate Professor, Cancer Nursing Research Unit, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/570042016-04-13T09:38:36Z2016-04-13T09:38:36ZThe science of happiness can trump GDP as a guide for policy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117684/original/image-20160406-28935-9jqtts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jumping to conclusions. Does GDP mislead us?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ant1_g/6913508663/in/photolist-bwVxge-7Nd9g9-7RpECP-8L2ngH-ea6pMA-2eCytc-c199YA-qwasvN-dZfZ3n-9QabWS-qkuWgy-qLaNzm-9rEKUV-jZRWz-qx2kXZ-4djKY-4z5AY2-4z9NVY-4z9LEf-dWtUvz-gQ3qbh-d8CcMo-6dcJgA-4z5xaM-qrNKWd-4z9LTQ-mbA5Kh-b6zwhr-bv8Le1-Cp1UA-4x5zij-agMCVz-cKL9vb-fnubub-h4MzsP-4QXwWh-jUwFrn-acScpC-c2RvQL-8nZxQ-opwfmV-p7FtCY-847uvw-efFKRB-4z5wrn-983k9G-qvCsYH-5zDGEH-8tWmjs-buECmq">Antoine Gady/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For centuries, happiness was exclusively a concern of the humanities; a matter for philosophers, novelists and artists. In the past five decades, however, it has moved into the domain of science and given us a substantial <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2012.711349?journalCode=rpos20">body of research</a>. This <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7222.html">wellspring</a> of knowledge now offers us an enticing opportunity: to consider happiness as the leading measure of well-being, supplanting the current favourite, real gross domestic product per capita, or GDP.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/books/2011/thepursuitofhappiness">In the social sciences</a>, data on individuals’ happiness are obtained from nationally representative surveys in which a question such as <a href="http://www3.norc.org/GSS+Website/">the following is asked</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Taken all together, how would you say things are these days, would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are many variants of this question. Instead of happiness, the question may be about your <a href="http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org">overall satisfaction with life</a>, you might be asked to place yourself on a <a href="http://www.gallup.com/services/170945/world-poll.aspx">“ladder of life”</a>. The common objective is to deliver an evaluation of the respondent’s life at the time of the survey. We can use the term “happiness” as a convenient proxy for this set of measures. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117680/original/image-20160406-28966-1nxfzzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C39%2C1022%2C671&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117680/original/image-20160406-28966-1nxfzzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C39%2C1022%2C671&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117680/original/image-20160406-28966-1nxfzzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117680/original/image-20160406-28966-1nxfzzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117680/original/image-20160406-28966-1nxfzzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117680/original/image-20160406-28966-1nxfzzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117680/original/image-20160406-28966-1nxfzzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117680/original/image-20160406-28966-1nxfzzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Putting a lid on our GDP fixation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/deadhorse/3805650764/in/photolist-6NhXom-66R1fC-qemNed-sBiNQd-7bUZJT-grwEjZ-aB4sbF-8f9rHp-rerkha-nh9tZU-A5Z87-eemkAU-8RLjcd-qudGnV-aJXWtM-7jXk3h-8Pueji-5BJsGe-qvCDVk-iNe4xD-nmfSC2-7oHJik-oYm9S6-hSiuww-4kzYqY-fSBxT-3T5k64-hS7sT-65FBT8-bJ8dB-4AMoB2-6fdCwG-3GFtCN-5WWGUw-59b4y7-rW6yD-5HEHeA-bGfzPB-4zkU7z-8oVDUe-7pTwKj-4TiWY5-dXX8xP-7pESYa-7pPBs2-qVukjT-dNJBHC-asUxE7-dQ2mUs-6vN7fd">Andrew Huff/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Meaning</h2>
<p>In measuring happiness each respondent is free to conceive happiness as he or she sees it. You might think, then, that combining responses to obtain an average value would be pointless. In fact, there is now a <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.215.58&rep=rep1&type=pdf">substantial consensus</a> that such averages are meaningful. A major reason for this is that most people respond quite similarly when asked about things important for their happiness. </p>
<p>In countries worldwide – rich or poor, democratic or autocratic – happiness for most is success in <a href="http://www.worldsocialscience.org/documents/patterns-human-concerns-data.pdf">doing the things of everyday life</a>. That might be making a living, raising a family, maintaining good health, and working in an interesting and secure job. These are the things that dominate daily lives everywhere; the things that people care about and which they think they have some ability to control. It means that comparisons among groups of people are possible.</p>
<p>Psychologists have investigated the reliability and validity of the measures and economists have studied the nature and robustness of the results. The data has withstood a <a href="http://www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr">thorough</a> <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11205-014-0753-0?sa_campaign=email/event/articleAuthor/onlineFirst">vetting</a>. More support comes from the fact that many countries now officially <a href="http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/WorldHappinessReport2013_online.pdf">collect happiness data</a>. The same relationships are found between happiness and a variety of life circumstances in country after country. Those who are significantly less happy are typically the unemployed, those not living with a partner, people in poor health, members of a minority, and the less-educated.</p>
<h2>A personal paradox</h2>
<p>I have to hold my hands up for one finding that has raised some doubts about the data’s meaningfulness. My <a href="http://www2.dse.unibo.it/t.reggiani/EASTERLIN1974.pdf">work on happiness and income</a>, published in an article more than 40 years ago, looked at the links between happiness and income. It found that surveys conducted at a point in time (so-called cross section studies) discover the expected positive relation – happiness increasing with income. However, in studies of happiness and income over the longer term (the time series relationship) the correlation is not there.</p>
<p>This might seem contradictory, but the difference in the cross-section and time-series results turn out to be explicable once we recognise that there are psychological mechanisms which significantly affect feelings of well-being. This might be social comparison or the <a href="https://unclutterer.com/2010/08/09/hedonic-adaptation-why-buying-more-wont-make-you-happy/">tendency for people</a> to adapt, at least partially, to major positive or negative events.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-104-2-267.pdf">Some recent critics</a> of this so-called Easterlin Paradox <a href="http://www.iea.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/files/IEA%20Pursuit%20of%20Happiness%20web.pdf">report a longer-term relationship</a> between happiness and income that is positive. These results, however are based on data spanning a relatively small number of years, usually a decade or less, and pick up the short-term relationship – the ups and downs of happiness (and indeed GDP) that accompany economic booms and busts. </p>
<h2>Preferences</h2>
<p>So we can see that happiness and GDP can give quite different pictures of the trend in societal well-being. But why prefer happiness to GDP? There are several reasons.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118122/original/image-20160411-21963-mcyiv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118122/original/image-20160411-21963-mcyiv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118122/original/image-20160411-21963-mcyiv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118122/original/image-20160411-21963-mcyiv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118122/original/image-20160411-21963-mcyiv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118122/original/image-20160411-21963-mcyiv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118122/original/image-20160411-21963-mcyiv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118122/original/image-20160411-21963-mcyiv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We all like playing happy families.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infraleve/4990131763/in/photolist-8AXJjx-84AbmW-dBFcCc-3SLaBc-n7NoGc-7sKUcG-cTusNN-cDRtZs-oDhxYY-bu12it-4QrwKw-n7gUBV-8PeNMb-64XbFZ-8CZSoE-aJnWdZ-4Lxffo-w8JQT-e1izua-mYEPKT-cQbwFd-dBrnV6-51GPf6-9TdAYz-qpHTaL-deurCJ-4qFQeh-5GHdP-92gDUm-nVZPFp-abpzFt-2myFc-9RC1kT-88mZ1W-b16yZx-rsy4Sn-8CVPzn-as76LM-d2A6bo-6Dt1jp-siCnyK-pTomps-6WUrhH-eeFYYs-d5qrRj-8QZnQJ-9dyuez-5KsgA3-nQ3FMe-dR89sp">infra-leve/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ol>
<li><p>Happiness is a more comprehensive measure of well-being. It takes account of a range of concerns while GDP is limited to one aspect of the economic side of life, the output of good and services. Perhaps the most vivid illustration of this <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/25/9775.abstract">can be seen in China</a> where, in the two decades from 1990, GDP per capita doubled and then redoubled. Happiness, however, followed a U-shaped trajectory, declining to around the year 2002 before recovering to a mean value somewhat less than that in 1990. Economic restructuring had led to a collapse of the labour market and dissolution of the social safety net, prompting urgent concerns about jobs, income security, family, and health – concerns not captured in GDP, but which significantly affect well-being. </p></li>
<li><p>The evaluation of happiness is made by the people whose well-being is being assessed. For GDP, the judgement on well-being is made by outsiders, so-called “experts”. There are some who think of GDP as an objective measure of the economy’s output. In fact the numerous judgements involved in measuring GDP <a href="http://papers.nber.org/booksbyseries/SIW.html">have long been recognised</a>. Should the unpaid services of homemakers be included? What about revenues from drug trade <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-prostitution-really-worth-5-7-billion-a-year-33497">or prostitution</a>? Should the scope of GDP be the same for the US and Afghanistan? For the US in 1815 and 2015? In short, GDP is not a simple or “objective” measure of well-being. </p></li>
<li><p>Happiness is a measure with which people can personally identify. GDP is an abstraction that has little personal meaning for individuals.</p></li>
<li><p>Happiness is a measure in which each person has a vote, but only one vote, whether rich or poor, sick or well, old or young. Everyone in the adult population counts equally in the measure of society’s well-being.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Happiness tells us how well a society satisfies the major concerns of people’s everyday life. GDP is a measure limited to one aspect of economic life, the production of material goods. The aphorism that money isn’t everything in life, applies here. If <a href="http://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/71662/1/738507075.pdf">happiness were to supplant GDP</a> as a leading measure of societal well-being, public policy might perhaps be moved in a direction more meaningful to people’s lives. </p>
<p><em>This article has been co-published with the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/collections/beyond-gdp">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57004/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard A. Easterlin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Our feelings of self-worth and contentment are no longer the preserve of writers and artists. Science has made measurement of our well-being a viable alternative to the banalities of economic output.Richard A. Easterlin, Professor of Economics, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/555962016-03-01T17:19:40Z2016-03-01T17:19:40ZThe NHS is building towns to make us healthier, but it’s no cure for inequality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113432/original/image-20160301-31036-11xsnov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Land Securities</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The National Health Service plans to develop ten “<a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/2016/03/hlthy-new-towns/">healthy towns</a>” across England, encompassing more than 76,000 new homes and as many as 170,000 residents. With <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/8a8779d0-def1-11e5-b072-006d8d362ba3.html#axzz41exWMOCB">funding from developers and local authorities</a>, the NHS will experiment with fast food-free zones near schools, safe and appealing green spaces, dementia-friendly streets and digital access to GP services, to try to improve the health of local populations. </p>
<p>These locations – ranging from Darlington in the North, to Barking Riverside in London, to Cranbrook in the south – were selected from 114 applications from local authorities, housing associations, NHS organisations and housing developers. The head of NHS England, Simon Stephens, has called it a “golden opportunity” to “design in health and well-being”. </p>
<p>This is a breakthrough for the NHS, which has largely been a sickness service, focused on looking after us when we are ill. Now, it is showing an interest in prevention and promoting good health. Preventing illnesses, especially chronic ones like obesity, diabetes or cardiovascular disease is much cheaper for the NHS than paying for expensive treatments. It is better for us and our families to stay healthy for as long as possible too.</p>
<h2>Health and place</h2>
<p>But while the initiative should certainly be welcomed, it’s not exactly a novel idea. For generations, we’ve known that environment is very important for health, and England has a long history of urban health initiatives. For example, the <a href="http://cai.ucdavis.edu/waters-sites/sanitation/">Victorian sanitation movement</a> campaigned to improve the living environment of cities in the 19th century, and resulted in new sewage systems and slum clearances. </p>
<p>Since then, research has confirmed that key aspects of our environment have a big impact on our health and well-being – particularly in urban areas. Recent work has shown that air pollution accounts for up to <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm/research/divisions/aes/research/ERG/research-projects/HIAinLondonKingsReport14072015final.pdf">10,000 deaths per year in London</a>. We know that living near contaminated land <a href="http://epn.sagepub.com/content/46/2/433.full.pdf+html">increases the risk of poor health by 15%</a>, while living near green spaces enhances mental well-being and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2652991/">increases the likelihood of taking exercise</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113422/original/image-20160301-31062-ngfysm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113422/original/image-20160301-31062-ngfysm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113422/original/image-20160301-31062-ngfysm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113422/original/image-20160301-31062-ngfysm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113422/original/image-20160301-31062-ngfysm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113422/original/image-20160301-31062-ngfysm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113422/original/image-20160301-31062-ngfysm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Out and about.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Obesity and lack of exercise pose major risks to the health of England’s population. Obesity, for example, is associated with an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers as well as musculoskeletal pain and poorer general health. Obesity has risen rapidly in the UK over the last three decades, in the late 1970s less than 10% (one in ten) of us were obese but today this <a href="https://theconversation.com/neoliberal-epidemics-the-spread-of-austerity-obesity-stress-and-inequality-46416">has tripled</a> to one in four (25%). So the healthy town scheme is right to address this as a major objective. </p>
<h2>Growing inequalities</h2>
<p>Despite these promising signs, there are still vital aspects of our environment that the healthy towns initiative will not address. The economic and social environment where you live are extremely crucial to your health. For example, whether or not there are secure jobs in your area, and how much they pay, both play a big role in your health outcomes. </p>
<p>And it’s not just your individual circumstances that matter, but also that of your neighbours. Areas with better labour markets and better jobs have better health, while those with <a href="http://jech.bmj.com/content/64/3/277">higher rates of unemployment or lower wages have worse health</a> and well-being. Whether or not you have <a href="http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/4/8/e005764.full">easy access to healthcare services</a> such as GPs and pharmacies will also affect your health. These are arguably more important features for a “healthy town” than walkability or limited access fast-food outlets. </p>
<p>Another concern is that the healthy towns initiative is not directed at the areas that need it most. There are huge health divides in our towns and cities, resulting from differences in economic wealth and opportunity. Stockton on Tees, in the North-East of England, has the <a href="http://www.phoutcomes.info/public-health-outcomes-framework#page/7/gid/1000049/pat/6/par/E12000001/ati/102/are/E06000004">biggest health divide</a> within any English local authority: men living in the richest part of the borough will live on average 17 years longer than those in the poorest areas, while for women the gap is 12 years. </p>
<p>Researchers have also observed a north-south divide, when it comes to health outcomes. Specifically, men and women in the north live, on average, <a href="http://www.cles.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Due-North-Report-of-the-Inquiry-on-Health-Equity-in-the-North-final1.pdf">two years less</a> than those in the south. More generally, over the past five years, there have been increased cuts to public services and welfare benefits, which have <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/area.12191/full">disproportionately affected the health of the poorest citizens</a>. </p>
<p>These inequalities have grown over time. Given that these new healthy towns focus solely on the physical environment – and that the vast majority of them are in the South of England – it seems unlikely that this project will really be able to address the issues caused by health inequalities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55596/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clare Bambra receives funding from these research funders: Leverhulme Trust; Norface; NIHR; MRC. She is a member of the Labour Party. </span></em></p>So-called ‘healthy towns’ will address child obesity and dementia, but the real killer remains at large.Clare Bambra, Professor of Public Health Geography, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/479862015-09-23T21:58:51Z2015-09-23T21:58:51ZExplainer: why does the UK government want to know how happy you are?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95950/original/image-20150923-2648-lp10uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielygo/7357503268/">Daniel Y Go/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The idea that we can, or should, measure happiness is a controversial one. When politicians first announced that the government Office for National Statistics (ONS) was planning to measure national well-being, criticism came from all directions. So, as the ONS releases its <a href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/wellbeing/measuring-national-well-being/personal-well-being-in-the-uk--2014-15/stb-personal-well-being-in-the-uk--2014-15.html">2014/15 measures of personal well-being</a> – suggesting that more people are feeling positive about their lives than before – now seems a good moment to take stock of how and why the government takes an interest in our well-being. </p>
<p>But first, I need to declare an interest: I have served as a member of the <a href="http://whatworkswellbeing.org/wellbeing-2/">Technical Advisory Group</a> on this project, and I am currently leading a <a href="http://whatworkswellbeing.org/evidence-program/community-wellbeing/">£1m grant</a> to review evidence on how policy and practice can improve community well-being. So, perhaps unsurprisingly, I think this is an important and wise idea. But now, let me explain why. </p>
<h2>What really matters?</h2>
<p>One well-recognised approach to measuring the success of a nation is to add up its <a href="http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/199.asp">Gross Domestic Product</a> (GDP); in other words, to count the total monetary value of a nation’s goods and services. Measuring GDP is likely to remain a vital marker for economists, but it cannot capture everything that is important to people. </p>
<p>This is because some of the factors that determine our quality of life cannot be measured in terms of monetary value. For instance, our health, our family and relationships, the quality and nature of our work, the environment and education are <a href="http://b.3cdn.net/nefoundation/10b8aabd90c5771ff9_a0m6bvv5a.pdf">all important contributors</a> to our sense of satisfaction with our lives. If we are to measure what really matters to people, then we need to measure these factors, too.</p>
<p>What’s more, the relationship between wealth and well-being is complex: put simply, poverty makes people miserable, but wealth doesn’t necessarily make people happy. When people or nations are poor (Somalia, for example, with an estimated per capita GDP of only <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/snaama/dnltransfer.asp?fID=2">US$600</a>), then differences in material wealth make a big difference to their happiness. </p>
<p>When people or nations are relatively wealthy (For instance, Luxembourg has a massive per capita GDP of <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/snaama/dnllist.asp">US$96,000</a>), differences in income make a much smaller impact on levels of well-being, while other factors start to have a <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/104608/worldwide-residents-richer-nations-more-satisfied.aspx">bigger impact</a>. Since the UK falls in the latter category, it makes sense for the government to start monitoring these other factors more closely. </p>
<h2>A global trend</h2>
<p>Some people may describe the ONS’ efforts to measure well-being as “<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2018784/David-Camerons-2m-year-happiness-survey-discovers-knew.html">Cameron’s happiness project</a>”. But the idea that we should focus on well-being –- or perhaps quality of life –- has a longer history, and has gained wider international support.</p>
<p>In 2009, France’s <a href="http://www.insee.fr/fr/publications-et-services/default.asp?page=dossiers_web/stiglitz/documents-commission.htm">Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress</a>, led by Nobel-prize-winning economists Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, argued that that the promotion of well-being should be an explicit aim of government. They held that data should be collected, to ensure that we can measure progress in the fields of “societal well-being, as well as measures of economic, environmental and social sustainability”, as well as economic performance. </p>
<p>This ambition is clearly reflected in the <a href="http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/">mission statement</a> of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): “To promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world”. So, it is unsurprising that the OECD has fully embraced the idea of measuring well-being.</p>
<h2>How and why</h2>
<p>Measuring wealth that isn’t material, such as happiness or well-being, is a complicated business. One part of the puzzle is measuring personal well-being – that is, a person’s satisfaction with the quality of their life. This is what the ONS’ latest results have aimed to inform us about, by asking over 160,000 people four simple questions:</p>
<p>• How satisfied are you with your life nowadays?</p>
<p>• How happy did you feel yesterday?</p>
<p>• How anxious did you feel yesterday?</p>
<p>• To what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?</p>
<p>You can compare the different results over the years below – overall, it seems as though our well-being is improving. </p>
<iframe src="https://charts.datawrapper.de/vfHon/index.html" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>A vast array of political decisions directly influence the things that determine our well-being. This is more obvious in some areas than in others. For instance, it’s clear that policies which affect the health service will have an impact on our physical health. But perhaps less obviously, economic decisions also have a dramatic impact on our well-being: the recent economic recession <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e5142">was seen to</a> have a direct impact on mental health. </p>
<p>On top of this, divorce laws, laws on same-sex marriage, pre-nuptial agreements and childcare arrangements all influence relationships and are all matters for policy-makers. Education policy, taxation rates, rules on benefits and investment decisions by government all determine the quality of our employment, and therefore our well-being. Then add to this long list crime and justice matters, working hours, transport policies and city planning – all of these involve decisions at a state level, and have an impact on our well-being. </p>
<p>So, rather than being a <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2018784/David-Camerons-2m-year-happiness-survey-discovers-knew.html">left-wing irrelevancy</a> or a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/nov/25/david-cameron-defends-wellbeing-index">right-wing conspiracy</a>, a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Prescription-Psychiatry-Approach-Mental-Wellbeing/dp/1137408707/">focus on well-being</a> is an important aspect of civilised government. </p>
<p>Even if our government isn’t explicitly trying to increase “happiness”, it should at least be making sure that it’s not harming well-being. We as citizens need to be able to judge this and call those responsible to account. To do so, we need access to information that allows us to judge our politicians in terms of how well-being is changing, as well as whether the economy is growing or shrinking.</p>
<p>Although it’s difficult and complex to measure well-being and although this way of thinking poses as many challenges to government as it solves, a decision to measure well-being, and a commitment to consider what might improve a nation’s well-being, has the potential to make a real difference. As the <a href="http://b.3cdn.net/nefoundation/10b8aabd90c5771ff9_a0m6bvv5a.pdf">New Economics Foundation says</a>, this is “economics as if people and the planet mattered”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47986/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Kinderman has served as a member of the Office for National Statistics’ Technical Advisory Group for the Measurement of National Wellbeing, and is Principal Investigator on a grant for £1m from the Economic and Social Research Council. He has also received research grant funding from the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the NHS Forensic Mental Health Research and Development Programme, the European Commission and others. He was elected President of the British Psychological Society (to serve 2016-2017) and is therefore a Trustee of the Society, which is a charity registered in England, Wales and Scotland. He is also a founding Trustee of the Joanna Simpson Foundation, dedicated to the care of children affected by domestic abuse and homicide.</span></em></p>One of the experts behind the ONS’ well-being project explains why it’s so important for the government to know how you’re feeling.Peter Kinderman, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/428982015-06-24T20:14:40Z2015-06-24T20:14:40ZCan we love happiness? Or do we then risk more sadness?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86032/original/image-20150623-19371-19tqo71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The most powerful strategy for achieving happiness is to give up trying to be happy.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-266829029/stock-photo-living-painting-smiling-woman-completely-covered-with-thick-paint.html?src=tvfNNSpK4dUkqVvbsXcHDQ-3-49">Mila Supinskaya/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of a series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/on-happiness">On Happiness</a>, examining what it means and how it might be achieved in the 21st century.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>To pose the question of whether we can love happiness in today’s world feels a bit like asking whether the Pope is Catholic. Most of us believe we not only <em>can</em> love happiness, but that we <em>should!</em> Unfortunately, it is this very love of happiness that is leading many of us to experience more sadness. </p>
<p>Why, I hear you ask? Well let me start with an example. Imagine you have a goal and it is to become smarter. You decide to enrol in an science degree and major in astrophysics (being an astrophysicist is clearly going to make you smarter), you spend every spare minute playing Sudoku and purchase the latest “get smart quick” brainpower gimmick. </p>
<p>Over time you notice that indeed you are becoming smarter. You are winning more often at Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit and can amaze your friends with complex theories of black holes and dark energy.</p>
<p>Yet, you would still like to be smarter. You feel slightly disappointed that you are not as smart as you thought you might be. This feeling of disappointment motivates you to learn more and try harder until eventually you reach your goal. </p>
<p>Now imagine that your goal is to be happy. You buy the latest books on how to be happy, repeat positive sentiments to yourself in the mirror each morning and spend at least ten minutes a day holding a pencil between your teeth (it’s true, it <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/54/5/768/">actually does work</a>!). </p>
<p>Upon reflection, however, you are not as happy as you would like to be. Now, the feeling of disappointment, rather than motivating you to try hard, tends to make you feel less happy. As a result, you are now further removed from your desired state of happiness. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86036/original/image-20150623-19411-1ltg5rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86036/original/image-20150623-19411-1ltg5rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86036/original/image-20150623-19411-1ltg5rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86036/original/image-20150623-19411-1ltg5rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86036/original/image-20150623-19411-1ltg5rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86036/original/image-20150623-19411-1ltg5rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86036/original/image-20150623-19411-1ltg5rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Endless pleasure, and endless happiness, quickly becomes very dull and even painful.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/duni_dun/6166474655/">Duunn/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The nature of goal pursuit itself predicts this ironic outcome. Aiming for a goal often involves feelings of disappointment along the way, which means that trying to be happy may be <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/emo/11/4/807/">counter-productive</a>. </p>
<p>The aim of this illustration is to show that the very act of trying to be happy ironically pushes happiness further away. The most powerful strategy for achieving happiness is to give up trying to be happy. </p>
<h2>Living in a world of laughing clowns</h2>
<p>Consistent with the above insights, current approaches within psychotherapy have begun to challenge how people relate to their own emotions. People walk out of these sessions more accepting of their negative emotions and holding less tightly to the need to be happy. </p>
<p>As they walk out of the therapist’s door, however, they are confronted with a world that is beset by happiness. From advertising on billboards and television screens to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9535365/State-happiness-campaigns-leave-people-feeling-gloomier-research-suggests.html">national campaigns</a> designed to raise national levels of happiness, the value of happiness is <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=YLb1148-VWcC&oi=fnd&pg=PT2&dq=Smile+or+die:+How+positive+thinking+fooled+America+and+the+world.+&ots=SPhvbxvrqx&sig=9YdvqJsLJ1e0qcXKIw3NP58YgVs#v=onepage&q=Smile%20or%20die%3A%20How%20positive%20thinking%20fooled%20America%20and%20the%20world.&f=false">promoted everywhere</a>.</p>
<p>On the flip side, our Western world values sadness very differently. In some cases even everyday malaise is quickly pathologised and medicalised, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Normal-Out-Control-Medicalization/dp/0062229265">treated with drugs</a> designed to return people to “normality”.</p>
<p>Indeed, there is an eerie similarity between our current approaches to our emotional worlds and the kind of dystopian society that Aldous Huxley envisaged in his book <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World">Brave New World</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86034/original/image-20150623-19368-18k73yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86034/original/image-20150623-19368-18k73yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86034/original/image-20150623-19368-18k73yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86034/original/image-20150623-19368-18k73yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86034/original/image-20150623-19368-18k73yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86034/original/image-20150623-19368-18k73yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86034/original/image-20150623-19368-18k73yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We believe we need to have complete control of our emotional lives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/beth19/4907410699/">Βethan/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our own research has begun to highlight the possibility that “happiness cultures” may be responsible for <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/emo/12/1/69/">reducing life satisfaction and increasing depression</a>. This is especially true when people experience high levels of negative emotion and <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/emo/14/4/639/">feel that these emotional states</a> are socially devalued. </p>
<p>Experiencing this mismatch between our own emotional states and those that are considered valuable by the cultures that we live in <a href="http://spp.sagepub.com/content/6/5/496">may even leave us</a> feeling lonely and socially disconnected.</p>
<h2>So should we hate happiness?</h2>
<p>I am certainly not suggesting we should all dress in black and revel in our shared despair. Being happy is a good thing and it is exactly this state that we are all so keen to achieve. </p>
<p>The point is that we often go about this in the wrong way. We fail to value negative experiences along the way and think that striving for more and more pleasure and enjoyment is the best way to achieve our happiness goals. </p>
<p>The fact is that endless pleasure, and endless happiness, quickly becomes very dull and even painful. For true well-being we need contrasts. Our negative experiences and negative feelings give meaning and context to happiness: they make us happier overall. As <a href="http://psr.sagepub.com/content/18/3/256">our own research suggests</a>, pain has many positive consequences and experiencing pain is often a critical pathway to flourishing in life. </p>
<p>So can we love happiness? I think we can. It is not so much our love of happiness, but our dislike of sadness, the tendency to run away from pain and suffering and to see these experiences as a sign of failure, that leads to the problems I describe above. </p>
<p>Perhaps our problem with happiness comes about because we live in a world where we believe we can control everything in our lives. From our temperature-controlled homes to our capacity to insure against every possible risk, we believe we should have the same level of control over our emotional lives.</p>
<p>There is an oft-quoted saying (commonly found on a wall calendar at your grandmother’s house), “If you love something set it free”. Perhaps that is how we should be thinking about happiness? </p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article is based on an essay in the collection <a href="http://uwap.uwa.edu.au/products/on-happiness-new-ideas-for-the-twenty-first-century">On Happiness: New Ideas for the Twenty-First Century</a> (UWA Publishing, June 2015).</em></p>
<p><em>You can read other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/on-happiness">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42898/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brock Bastian receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>To pose the question of whether we can love happiness feels a bit like asking whether the Pope is a Catholic. Most of us believe we not only can love happiness, but that we should!Brock Bastian, ARC Future Fellow, School of Psychology, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/367932015-02-02T12:00:36Z2015-02-02T12:00:36ZBeyond GDP: the Ebola shock should push us to pursue quality of growth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70637/original/image-20150130-25924-1acd5qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The price of growth? Ebola management in Guinea</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/69583224@N05/14775227551/in/photolist-oxFbgp-ovHMjj-ovCUoB-oxEVMp-qRVP3a-qRLBKK-qRRo9s-qRVQGn-qtaXf7-qPihW2-oVcLjw-mZyb4f-mZyaVE-ozymNw-pNKp1N-qF5mJZ-pM2Zb8-pce1Yd-pNKpHu-pNYnAB-oer9yg-qEVrx5-oN5DuU-qXmfTg-qEiRkj-q1HpF6-qXqqaL-oeqAuZ-oWL6Hf-qEVq9U-oMiQF5-p4L2Cb-ohnx9M-ovDEdF-ovCYmM-oepVj5-oQyC1y-qKJnAg-qtiP1c-oYBL13-oYByTx-qKyPi4-ojG7wv-oYCu9t-qw6MSu-orW9vP-qwHFrG-p7FpXe-odUR1J-qLZcQj">European Commission DG ECHO</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If ever we wanted a reminder of how global capitalism has got things wrong, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/ebola">Ebola outbreak in West Africa</a> serves the purpose well. Our assumption that economic growth is essential is not only a feature of markets and politics, it also feeds into our thinking on development goals such as poverty reduction. The hope somehow remains that the relentless pursuit of production and consumption will trickle down to deliver more substantial benefits. </p>
<p>The devastating crisis is starkly revealing about the dangers of non-inclusive growth. Rapid increases in GDP fuelled by <a href="http://www.africaminingvision.org/amv_resources/ISGbulletin1.pdf">enclave mining</a>, neglecting health systems and agricultural and urban employment can create the structural conditions for extreme vulnerability to shocks, as disenfranchised populations shun poor health facilities and resist early outbreak control efforts. The Ebola shock, in turn, has badly set back the rapid economic growth recently seen in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70629/original/image-20150130-25930-1yeulyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70629/original/image-20150130-25930-1yeulyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70629/original/image-20150130-25930-1yeulyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70629/original/image-20150130-25930-1yeulyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70629/original/image-20150130-25930-1yeulyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70629/original/image-20150130-25930-1yeulyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70629/original/image-20150130-25930-1yeulyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70629/original/image-20150130-25930-1yeulyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.google.co.uk/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&idim=country:LBR&hl=en&dl=en#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:LBR:GIN:SLE&ifdim=region&tstart=633657600000&tend=1359504000000&hl=en_US&dl=en&ind=false">World Bank/Google</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Counting costs</h2>
<p>Is is timely that new <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/sustainabledevelopmentgoals">Sustainable Development Goals</a> are fundamentally questioning the equation of development with economic growth.</p>
<p>Environmental sustainability, human well-being, health and nutrition, gender equality, safe cities and access to justice cannot be achieved through GDP alone. In as much as economic growth is highlighted, it is with the important qualifiers that it should be “<a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/sustainabledevelopmentgoals">sustained, inclusive and sustainable</a>.”</p>
<p>The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) has <a href="http://www.ids.ac.uk/news/growth-is-dead-long-live-growth-why-we-need-to-pay-urgent-attention-to-the-quality-of-economic-growth">published a book</a> in which development economists question some of the discipline’s received wisdoms. They draw together evidence that pursuing business-as-usual, old-style growth is no longer an option. Inequalities are rising in many places, undermining people’s well-being. Environmental threats are increasing and are already manifest in droughts, floods, depleted resources and devastated livelihoods. Crises – from finance to food, energy to disease – are unravelling progress.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70627/original/image-20150130-25939-1w4qine.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70627/original/image-20150130-25939-1w4qine.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70627/original/image-20150130-25939-1w4qine.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70627/original/image-20150130-25939-1w4qine.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70627/original/image-20150130-25939-1w4qine.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70627/original/image-20150130-25939-1w4qine.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70627/original/image-20150130-25939-1w4qine.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70627/original/image-20150130-25939-1w4qine.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Does the pursuit of GDP give the green light to crises?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/95072945@N05/12072296685/in/photolist-joMFdi-6f2jAL-j5cev-j5cdv-j5cfh-ahdXbm-8i9qYB-4VrgBT-84ue3-4A8ySJ-dp5zGj-drrusQ-5ogang-aBchPi-5DeXwG-tEsAP-2nabba-8MneV3-XhqL3-3hhRDX-3UN759-8MBDdG-5CgbFz-8fLT-9t93Cf-2SqSg7-cV4pnE-7d7KWU-5yQvNk-61C1ps-c2SRy-6gccHi-9edwYy-csjm5d-bYQT3f-9DH55f-6g8Bma-9JArrL-dazbJ5-dqgUyn-8kqWBn-8kqUgt-8kqT5X-8kqUMp-8ku5Rw-9TKYq1-8ku7vo-adFTjf-LPpBT-asBSo">Kelly Sikkema</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The central idea is that 21st-century development needs us to address the quality of economic growth in at least three dimensions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Growth must incorporate environmental costs, especially of climate change.</p></li>
<li><p>It must be inclusive, especially generating employment for growing populations.</p></li>
<li><p>It must be resilient to shocks, such as the financial, food and health crises that have rocked the world in recent years.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Interdependencies</h2>
<p>Taking a global view of development, we have chosen to focus more of our work on three related themes – <a href="http://www.ids.ac.uk/opinion/this-year-and-next-refreshing-ids-for-transforming-times">accelerating sustainability, reducing inequalities and building inclusive and secure societies</a>.</p>
<p>Recent world events highlight the interactions between these themes. Ebola is just one, shattering example. As <a href="http://www.ids.ac.uk/team/green-transformations">our work in China and India is showing, low carbon growth</a> needs to generate jobs if it is to avoid undermining well-being and enhance inequality. The relationship between green growth and social justice therefore needs attention.</p>
<p>Sustainability, inclusivity, and resilience are important not just in themselves, but because each influences the other. And economic growth pursued to the neglect of its human and environmental foundations will ultimately prove unsustainable, kicking back to undermine itself through conflict, disaster and stagnation.</p>
<h2>Questioning growth</h2>
<p>Economists have long questioned the idea of “growth at all costs”. Dissenting voices have been heard from illustrious figures such as <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/keynes_john_maynard.shtml">John Maynard Keynes</a> and IDS founding director <a href="http://www.ids.ac.uk/publication/a-short-history-of-ids-a-personal-reflection">Dudley Seers</a> to modern-day exponents <a href="http://www.josephstiglitz.com/">Joseph Stiglitz</a> and <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_piketty_new_thoughts_on_capital_in_the_twenty_first_century?language=en">Thomas Piketty</a>. They, and others in between, have argued that unregulated capitalist growth enhances inequalities and is unsustainable in its own terms.</p>
<p>A slightly shorter lineage of neoclassical environmental economists, for example <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blueprint-For-Green-Economy-Series/dp/1853830666">the pioneering work</a> of David Pearce and Ed Barbier in the 1980s, has long argued for addressing environmental “market failures” through mechanisms such as carbon and resource taxes and the “polluter pays” principle. <a href="http://www.oecd.org/greengrowth/">Recent debates</a> highlight prosperity, low carbon and green growth.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, resilience studies – dominated by ecologists, but with social scientists including economists among them – have <a href="http://era-mx.org/biblio/resilience-sd.pdf">questioned linear growth models</a>. They call instead for approaches centred on system adaptation and transformation to respond to, and bounce back from, stresses and shocks, whether environmental or economic.</p>
<h2>Pulling it together</h2>
<p>You might ask what is new here? But by adding up and integrating across these often separate areas of analysis, a new vision of growth emerges – not simply as a single quantity in which more is better, but as a set of vectors.</p>
<p>Put <a href="http://steps-centre.org/anewmanifesto/">another way</a>, growth and the innovation that supports it can go in different directions. Which directions are pursued has consequences for distribution – who gains and who loses. And a diversity of pathways is important in order to respond to different contexts, and to build resilience by avoiding putting all the eggs in one basket.</p>
<p>Because ultimately this is about choices to support particular directions or qualities over others. These choices are essentially political. We cannot escape the role of states in setting directions, for instance through regulation and taxation. But social movements and citizen action also have key roles to play. Politics must extend both up and down from what national governments can do, to encompass action both locally and globally.</p>
<p>Enhancing the quality of growth to promote sustainability, equity and inclusivity, will require economists to connect their skills and perspectives with those of others. They must combine forces with political, institutional and social analysts and also, crucially, with the people in public, private and civil sectors who are positioned to make real change happen. Genuine progress here, and applied in the right areas, would help transform thinking and create alliances which might just in the future be able to head off the kind of health crisis which so marked 2014.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36793/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Leach does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If ever we wanted a reminder of how global capitalism has got things wrong, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa serves the purpose well. Our assumption that economic growth is essential is not only a feature…Melissa Leach, Director, Institute of Development StudiesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/355422014-12-23T20:07:09Z2014-12-23T20:07:09Z‘Remember when we…?’ Why sharing memories is soul food<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67746/original/image-20141219-31052-18vt7o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sharing stories around the dinner table fosters greater self-esteem and resilience in young people.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hchalkley/74443292">Howard Chalkley</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Families and friends share memories all the time; “You’ll never guess…”, “How was your day?”, and “Do you remember when…” are rich daily fodder. </p>
<p>Sharing memories is not only a good way to debrief and reminisce, we’re beginning to realise the process plays an important role in children’s psychological development and protects our memories as we advance in age. </p>
<h2>Telling stories draws us together</h2>
<p>We share memories of the past for <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/741938207#preview">many reasons</a>. By telling a sad or difficult story – perhaps a fond memory of someone we have lost since last Christmas – we strengthen shared connections, offer sympathy and elicit support. </p>
<p>By telling a funny or embarrassing story – perhaps the time the dog stole the Christmas ham – we share feelings of joy or recognition of difficulties overcome, large or small. By sharing similar or not-so-similar experiences, we empathise with and understand one another better.</p>
<p>Talking about the past also <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/741938210#.VJLD7VpWJ_t">helps create and maintain</a> our individual and shared identities. We know who we are – whether as individuals, groups or communities – because our memories provide a database of evidence for events we have experienced and what they mean to us.</p>
<p>Even when some people missed out on an event, sharing a memory of it can shape their identity. <a href="http://www.psychology.emory.edu/cognition/fivush/lab/FivushLabWebsite/papers/FivushBohanekZaman2010.pdf">Developmental psychologist Robyn Fivush</a> and her team demonstrated this when they asked American adolescents to recount “intergenerational” stories: events from their parents’ lives they learnt via memories shared within the family, often around the dinner table. </p>
<p>Fivush found that the adolescents she tested could easily retell many of their parents’ memory stories. Most importantly, they made strong connections between these second-hand family memories and their own developing sense of identity: “my dad played soccer when he was young, so that got me started”. </p>
<p>Children who showed these kinds of family memory-self identity connections reported higher levels of well-being.</p>
<h2>Teaching children how to remember</h2>
<p>For young children, telling memory stories teaches them <em>how</em> to remember. From as young as two years of age children begin to show signs of autobiographical memory: memories of themselves and their lives. </p>
<p>Although these earliest memories often are fleeting (it is not until our third or fourth birthday that we start forming memories that last into adulthood), they are important because they show that children are learning how to be a rememberer. </p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00960.x/abstract">Research by developmental psychologists</a> consistently shows that the way parents and others talk to young children about the past is crucial for their memory development.</p>
<p>One of the best ways is to use what we call a “high elaborative” style. This involves prompting the child’s own contributions with open-ended questions (who, what, why, how) and extending on and adding structure to the child’s sometimes limited responses. Together, the parent and child can then jointly tell a memory story that is rich, full and comprehensible. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67753/original/image-20141219-31046-2hi3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67753/original/image-20141219-31046-2hi3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67753/original/image-20141219-31046-2hi3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67753/original/image-20141219-31046-2hi3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67753/original/image-20141219-31046-2hi3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67753/original/image-20141219-31046-2hi3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67753/original/image-20141219-31046-2hi3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children whose parents use this elaborative reminiscing style subsequently show stronger and more detailed memories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/316275418">sean dreilinger/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Consider this example from <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15248370903155825#.VJLF0VpWJ_t">one of our studies</a> where a mother and her four-year-old son reminisce about a favourite Christmas ritual:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Mother: … and you and Daddy put the Christmas tree up together, and then you put on decorations! What decorations did you put on?</p>
<p>Child: Um… the Christmas balls!</p>
<p>Mother: That’s right! Daddy bought Christmas balls and stars to hang on the tree. What colours were they?</p>
<p>Child: Red and gold.</p>
<p>Mother: Red and gold. Pretty red balls, and gold stars.</p>
<p>Child: And there was the paper circles too.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Notice how the mother guides the progress of her son’s recollections. She is mindful too of letting him contribute as much as he is able, scaffolding his memories with appropriate, open-ended and informative cues. She also reinforces and praises his contributions.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, children whose parents use this elaborative reminiscing style subsequently <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00960.x/abstract">show stronger and more detailed memories</a> of their own past experiences. </p>
<p>Preschool children who are exposed to this style of reminiscing also develop <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0885201495900039">stronger comprehension</a>, vocabulary and literacy <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=36939&fileId=S0305000998003651">skills</a>. And because we tend to remember and talk about emotionally meaningful events – events that make us happy, sad, scared – elaborative reminiscing <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15248370903155825#.VJLF0VpWJ_t">helps children</a> understand and learn to navigate difficult emotions and emotional memories. </p>
<p>These early practices have long-term consequences. Older children whose families narrate and discuss emotion-rich stories around the dinner table <a href="http://www.emory.edu/news/Releases/familymeals1129128206.html">report</a> higher levels of self-esteem and show greater resilience when faced with adversity.</p>
<h2>It’s fine to disagree</h2>
<p>Conversations about the past often require some degree of negotiation. Many studies <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.3758%2FBF03193423#page-1">highlight the value</a> of collaborating in recall. That is, giving everyone a voice rather than letting one narrator dominate; particularly one voice that narrates other people’s memories as well as their own.</p>
<p>But what if someone seems to be telling the memory wrong? You’ve probably experienced the frustration of a brother, sister or cousin down the other end of the Christmas table <a href="https://theconversation.com/serial-murder-mystery-and-the-science-of-memory-34248">mixing up the details</a> of an event you both experienced. Or worse yet, claiming and recalling a childhood experience that you know happened to you and not to them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67754/original/image-20141219-31573-tazvv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67754/original/image-20141219-31573-tazvv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67754/original/image-20141219-31573-tazvv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67754/original/image-20141219-31573-tazvv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67754/original/image-20141219-31573-tazvv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67754/original/image-20141219-31573-tazvv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67754/original/image-20141219-31573-tazvv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s fine to disagree so long as everyone gets a voice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/zz77/8927676593">Evgeni Zotov/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With young children still learning to remember, contradicting or ignoring their memory contributions – even if they contain source errors or inaccuracies – can shut the conversation down and discourage joint remembering.</p>
<p>But as we get older, we realise that others may have a different perspective on events. We realise that 100% accuracy <a href="https://theconversation.com/total-recall-truth-memory-and-the-trial-of-oscar-pistorius-25496">is not</a> the only or even the most important goal of remembering. As adults, disagreements about the past may in fact be a sign of a <a href="https://www.cogsci.mq.edu.au/members/profile.php?memberID=509">robust remembering system</a>. </p>
<h2>Scaffolding memory as we age</h2>
<p>Sharing memories may also “scaffold” or support memory as we age. In a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211368114000540">study just published</a>, we first asked older adult couples (aged 60 to 88 years old) to individually remember various events experienced with their spouse over the past five years. All had been married for over 50 years, making them long-term, intimate life and memory partners. </p>
<p>One week later, we asked half of the couples to talk in detail with their spouse about their events and half to talk in detail with just the experimenter.</p>
<p>Compared with young adults, older adults working alone typically find it difficult to recall autobiographical memories in great detail. But when our older couples remembered with their spouse their memory stories were more detailed than the stories of couples who remembered alone. </p>
<p>Although collaboration did not lead young couples (aged 26 to 42 years old) to remember more, those who reported closer relationships with their spouse tended to recall more details of events shared with that spouse, even when they remembered alone. In other words, at this earlier stage of life, shared experiences and memories might primarily be serving intimacy and identity goals.</p>
<p>For older couples who have invested in strong, intimate relationships, they increasingly might need and look for external memory scaffolding as their internal memory abilities decline. These older couples may then start to reap the cognitive benefits of what they sowed with their partner, families and friends in a long life of living and remembering together.</p>
<p>If you have no immediate kin close by or close, do not despair. This research shows that it is <em>how</em> we talk about the past with loved ones that counts, not simply the biology of <em>who</em> we talk to. So this Christmas, come together with your “families”, whoever they are, and share one of the greatest, uniquely human, gifts of all: the gift of memory stories.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35542/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Barnier receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penny Van Bergen has previously received funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Families and friends share memories all the time; “You’ll never guess…”, “How was your day?”, and “Do you remember when…” are rich daily fodder. Sharing memories is not only a good way to debrief and reminisce…Amanda Barnier, Professor of Cognitive Science and Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Macquarie UniversityPenny Van Bergen, Senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/337682014-11-05T11:50:20Z2014-11-05T11:50:20ZBeyond GDP: happiness is about more than just individuals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63578/original/63yn5jxv-1415037455.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Don't confuse happy individuals with happy societies</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&searchterm=happiness&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=150555248">Minerva Studio</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many readers of this piece will be aware that economists are rethinking the role of happiness and GDP. <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-shape-economic-policy-when-we-move-beyond-gdp-30236">They question</a> facile assumptions about economic growth alone being good for us. What’s the good of being better off if it doesn’t make people any happier? There has also been a vast literature in psychology <a href="http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2005/april-05/income-and-happiness.html">looking at</a> individual well-being and its determinants. If money doesn’t make us happy, what does?</p>
<p>Both these groups focus on individual well-being. While this is important it does tend to feed into the neo-liberal agenda by putting less emphasis on collective happiness. It also supports the burgeoning self-help industry. It implies that if you are not happy you should do something about it. Happiness is an individual problem. </p>
<p>Happiness is a fleeting and ephemeral emotion that is difficult to capture in statistical analysis. For this reason, social scientists have tended to focus on various measures of well-being in addition to emotional states, such as life satisfaction, freedom to flourish and also negative states – the absence of well-being. Again the emphasis is on the individual and their immediate environment. </p>
<h2>Society on the agenda</h2>
<p>But what sort of society allows people to live well? The focus on economy tends to look at money -– is it enough? The focus on individual well-being asks, what can I do to make my life happier? But both these approaches neglect the social context, even though it is tremendously important for explaining well-being and could also be an important focus for policy developers. What aspects of society can foster well-being?</p>
<p>There has been a long tradition of quality-of-life research in Europe measured through social indicators. The University of Mannheim in Germany <a href="http://www.gesis.org/en/social-indicators/research/">collates and analyses</a> them across various categories: work, family, housing, health, and so forth. This research has influenced the EU policy agenda as well as that of particular nations such as Italy, Austria and Germany. </p>
<p>The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions <a href="http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/">has been</a> carrying out surveys and publishing reports to help our understanding of well-being across Europe since 2003 including both the EU and accession countries. </p>
<p>In the UK, a question on well-being has been added to standard national surveys, which should help us understand what affects it in future. The Scottish parliament this week held a meeting and exhibition to present well-being measures to look at how they could be incorporated into the country’s <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Performance/purposestratobjs">national performance framework</a>.</p>
<p>More policy bodies are starting to pay attention to all this research. The OECD, for example, <a href="http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/">has launched</a> a “Better Life” initiative and the EU <a href="http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/gdp_and_beyond/quality_of_life/context">is launching</a> a set of measures for measuring life quality through Eurostat. </p>
<h2>Component parts</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef1361.htm">We know</a> well-being can be influenced by public services and social policies. <a href="http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef1440.htm">It is clear</a> for example that in Turkey, the recent strides in improving public policies and services have had an impact on well-being. Even really poor countries such as Rwanda <a href="http://www.ipar-rwanda.org/">have been able</a> to improve their quality of life by focusing on policies to improve societal well-being. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63580/original/yy5gxmqt-1415038581.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63580/original/yy5gxmqt-1415038581.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63580/original/yy5gxmqt-1415038581.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63580/original/yy5gxmqt-1415038581.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63580/original/yy5gxmqt-1415038581.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63580/original/yy5gxmqt-1415038581.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63580/original/yy5gxmqt-1415038581.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63580/original/yy5gxmqt-1415038581.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Improving public services helps across the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://theconversation.com/drafts/33768/edit">Igor Slevonavic</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the other hand, societies where social safety nets have been removed and where people are subject to sudden and bewildering change have plummeting well-being. This is noticeable in the former Soviet Union and other ex-communist countries in eastern Europe. Yet equally those that joined the EU and have enjoyed improved social services <a href="http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef1364.htm">have seen</a> their well-being improve once more. </p>
<p>Based on these kinds of insights, my research team uses a framework called “social quality” to analyse the happiness of a society. This involves combining objective assessments of well-being – are basic needs such as shelter, social security, health fulfilled? – with subjective measures such as how people assess their economic well-being, health and housing. You may have a good house or a bad house – but is it what you want? </p>
<p>We look at four main aspects: socio-economic security, social cohesion, social inclusion and social empowerment. In looking at socio-economic security we have found that a person’s actual income plays only a part in explaining life satisfaction. </p>
<p>More important is how adequately people view their income and the extent to which their life is secured over the longer term. This depends on the social security environment in which they live, which forms part of what researchers sometimes call the “social wage”. This helps support a decent living standard across the age groups and in reducing differences between rich and poor (up to a point).</p>
<p>Social cohesion has long been studied by sociologists. It is a slippery concept, perhaps more so than life satisfaction, but we know it is closely linked to happiness. A recent study <a href="http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/cps/rde/xchg/bst_engl/hs.xsl/112570.htm">identified</a> three main elements of social cohesion: deep social ties and networks, a sense of belonging to a nation <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUQsImDORAA&feature=youtu.be">or community</a> and a focus on the common good. Trust is an important indicator of the first and second of these elements –- including trust in other people and trust in public institutions. </p>
<p>In testing these perceptions across the world, Scandinavia came top – small, wealthy, well managed societies seem to have an advantage here. Yet some larger and more diversified countries scored next-highest, including Australia and Canada (along with New Zealand). The UK and most of the remainder of Europe appear one group further down the rankings. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63581/original/rk2z3t5v-1415038804.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63581/original/rk2z3t5v-1415038804.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63581/original/rk2z3t5v-1415038804.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63581/original/rk2z3t5v-1415038804.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63581/original/rk2z3t5v-1415038804.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63581/original/rk2z3t5v-1415038804.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63581/original/rk2z3t5v-1415038804.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63581/original/rk2z3t5v-1415038804.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Social cohesion affects happiness when it goes down, too.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/s/happiness/search.html?page=3&thumb_size=mosaic&inline=118731460">Rangizzzz</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/spirit-level-why-equality-better-everyone">same writers</a> have also shown that social cohesion can change. Greece for example has lost social cohesion on account of the economic crisis since 2009, while Slovakia and Romania have gained it. Rising inequality can disrupt social cohesion leading to less trust and less connectedness. And inequality is not just bad for the worst off, since it has a negative impact on social cohesion as a whole. Civil strife and conflict also undermine cohesion. </p>
<h2>Inclusion and empowerment</h2>
<p>If social cohesion refers to the glue holding society together, social inclusion involves the extent to which individuals feel part of it and the mechanisms for including them. This can be through being part of the workforce, membership of clubs and associations and also families – those in such partnerships <a href="http://www.webmd.com/balance/news/20080619/for-happiness-seek-family-not-fortune">are generally</a> happier. Being involved in a local community or through voluntary activity can play an important part too, while fear of crime and violence might isolate people. </p>
<p>Finally, social empowerment refers to the extent to which people have control over their lives and feel enabled to live <a href="http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9780754661870">as they would like</a>. This requires a reasonable standard of health and education as a condition for participation, for example. Feeling disempowered <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11205-011-9871-0">is one of the most important</a> elements for explaining lack of happiness. </p>
<p>These different elements are important for describing the decent society, which is also the happy society. They can help to explain how we can build better societies, too. Any approach to measure or increase happiness that ignores this side of the equation is insufficient. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article is part of an ongoing series, <strong>Beyond GDP</strong>, which looks at the dominance of GDP in economic thinking and how that might change. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/beyondgdp">Read more here</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33768/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I have received grants from the European foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for analysing the European Quality of Life Surveys and I am writing a book “The Decent Society” for Routledge with Pamela Abbott and Roger Sapsford</span></em></p>Many readers of this piece will be aware that economists are rethinking the role of happiness and GDP. They question facile assumptions about economic growth alone being good for us. What’s the good of…Claire Wallace, Professor of Sociology, University of AberdeenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/273122014-09-16T20:27:53Z2014-09-16T20:27:53ZAustralia’s 7 Up: the revealing study tracking babies to adults<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49725/original/fh74wd33-1401336283.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If you're born underweight, like this little baby on the left, it can make a world of difference to your lifelong health.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Tony Abbott <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2014-06-23/visit-north-east-arnhem-land">is spending this week in North-East Arnhem Land</a>, part of his <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/abbott-calls-for-new-era-of-engagement-with-indigenous-australia-20130810-2rony.html">long-held hope</a> “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories does the PM need to hear while he’s in the Top End?</em></p>
<p>It’s Australia’s own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_Series">7 Up</a>, following the progress of 686 tiny babies into adulthood, through sickness and health, for the rest of their lives. What started with one researcher working out of a linen cupboard 27 years ago has become <a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Centres_initiatives_and_projects/Aboriginal_Birth_Cohort_Study_-_1987_to_2013_and_beyond/">the largest, longest-running and most significant study</a> of the lives of Indigenous babies in Australia.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All grown up: the Aboriginal Birth Cohort babies are now in their late 20s, and have had more than 100 children of their own.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Centres_initiatives_and_projects/Aboriginal_Birth_Cohort_Study_-_1987_to_2013_and_beyond/Publications/">Our peer-reviewed research</a> has provided vital clues to help us better predict, prevent and treat chronic diseases that are common killers of Indigenous Australians. </p>
<p>Our work has also led to practical improvements for mothers and babies, including making ultrasounds to date pregnancies available at the community level, which weren’t available in the past, as well as changing health policy from a one-size-fits-all approach to making it more targeted to Aboriginal people living in both urban and remote areas.</p>
<p>Known as the <a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Centres_initiatives_and_projects/Aboriginal_Birth_Cohort_Study_-_1987_to_2013_and_beyond/">Aboriginal Birth Cohort study</a>, or ABC for short, we’ve spent the past three decades checking for the earliest signs of chronic disease in our participants and noting the age at which these appear. </p>
<p>Our study has reached perhaps its most crucial time. At 18, our young women and men were mostly healthy. Now, in their mid- to late-20s, we are starting to see some diagnosed with chronic diseases like diabetes, while others are becoming overweight or obese. Obesity is the most important amplifier of other risk factors for chronic disease. </p>
<p>Our babies are now all grown up, with a third of our young women participants having become mothers to more than 100 babies of their own. What happens in the next few years will matter not just to our participants’ health; it will also shape the health of their children, and their children to come.</p>
<p>But there’s still more work to be done. This includes tracking down about half of our participants, who as adults can be much harder to find every seven years than when they were children.</p>
<h2>Vital discoveries, decades in the making</h2>
<p>Back in 1974, one of us (Susan Sayers) arrived in Darwin as a trainee pediatrician and over the years noticed how many Aboriginal babies were being born too small. </p>
<p>Concerned about how that would affect well-being in later life, between 1987 and 1990 Susan and three colleagues recruited 686 babies born to mothers who identified as Aboriginal at the Royal Darwin Hospital – <a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Centres_initiatives_and_projects/Aboriginal_Birth_Cohort_Study_-_1987_to_2013_and_beyond/">almost half of all the Aboriginal babies</a> born in the Northern Territory during that time.</p>
<p>We have followed those babies ever since, with follow-up checks <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/hda/news/Singh%20slides.pdf">every six to seven years</a>, watching as they grew up through childhood, their teen years and now well into their adulthood.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">11 Up: a boy gives a blood sample.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Each time we see them, we do a <a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Centres_initiatives_and_projects/Aboriginal_Birth_Cohort_Study_-_1987_to_2013_and_beyond/">comprehensive health check</a>, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>body measurements;</li>
<li>blood pressure and tests of heart function;</li>
<li>ultrasounds of kidneys, thyroid and carotid (the artery in your neck);</li>
<li>blood and urine testing; and</li>
<li>emotional well-being and thinking ability.</li>
</ul>
<p>We also collect details about social conditions, lifestyle and nutrition. And we compare how they’re faring in growth and development, compared to their peers born with normal birth weight.</p>
<p>Soon after the ABC study began, the value of tracking babies’ health into adulthood was confirmed by a landmark 1989 study from the UK. <a href="http://www.thebarkertheory.org/science.php">Professor David Barker</a> showed the significant long-term effects of low birth weight, finding higher rates of coronary heart disease in 60 to 70-year-olds who were born small. </p>
<p>As a result of those findings and others – showing that low birth weight is associated with an increased risk of hypertension, stroke and type 2 diabetes – the planned follow-up period of the Aboriginal Birth Cohort study was extended to tracking our participants all the way through their lives. </p>
<p>The ABC study has been so successful that we’re using it as a model to track the health of non-Aboriginal young people born in Darwin between 1987-1991. Called <a href="http://ext.cdu.edu.au/newsroom/a/2008/Pages/2810.aspx.html">the Top End Cohort study</a>, it’s investigating the same issues of early life factors on later health and disease.</p>
<h2>Travelling across the Top End</h2>
<p>Just as British documentary maker Michael Apted had to travel across the UK and even overseas to follow up his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_Series">7 Up child participants</a> since the 1960s, we don’t expect all our participants to come and see us in Darwin; we go to them.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Boys to men: snapshots of participants aged around 11 and at 18.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=690&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=690&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=690&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
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<p>Visiting each of the 40 remote communities we work with – mainly in the Top End, but down to Central Australia and across to Western Australia too – involves travelling vast distances, sometimes by light plane but more often bumping along in four-wheel-drives in all weather, including crossing unpredictable tidal rivers. </p>
<p>But it’s always worth the trip, particularly when you’re working with communities that make you welcome and even anticipate your return, helped by the fact that so many in <a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Centres_initiatives_and_projects/Aboriginal_Birth_Cohort_Study_-_1987_to_2013_and_beyond/Researchers/">our team</a> are familiar faces.</p>
<p>On a recent visit to the Daly River region, around four hours’ drive south from Darwin, we met three of our participants at an outstation. One of the young men said: “I have been waiting for you for my check-up. You mob are a year late!” To our surprise, we found that all the other young people in their 20s there wanted to get in on the act of having a personal health check-up.</p>
<p>The communities we work with are involved on all levels and are always very keen to hear our latest findings. Elders in some outstations have felt so strongly about the importance of the study that they have made room for us in their own personal space.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dr Gurmeet Singh at work at a makeshift community clinic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Learning more from adults to help our babies</h2>
<p>About one in 25 Australian babies are born to Indigenous mothers – and Australia’s Indigenous population is growing at a faster rate than the national average, which makes trying to close the gap in health outcomes more important than ever.</p>
<p>And there is some good news: survival of low birth-weight Indigenous babies has dramatically increased since the 1970s and 1980s. However, newborns of Indigenous mothers are still <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/hda/news/Singh%20slides.pdf">twice as likely to be born underweight</a>, due to higher risk including higher rates of smoking, more Indigenous mothers having a low <a href="http://example.com/">Body Mass Index (BMI)</a> and a higher rate of teen pregnancy. All of these are preventable factors, which means we can and should do more to keep closing that gap in low birth-weight babies.</p>
<p>We have been fortunate to have won adequate <a href="https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/">National Health and Medical Research Council</a> funding to conduct this current round of visits to communities across northern and central Australia. But obtaining ongoing funding for in between our six to seven-yearly visits is harder. This has restricted our ability to do more and learn more from this unique, life-long study of Indigenous Australian babies.</p>
<h2>What changed between 18 and 26 up?</h2>
<p>The advantage of following the same group of young people for all these years is that it is one of the best ways to tease out the cause of diseases they may face. </p>
<p>Up to the age of 18, our young women and men were healthy; had low or normal amounts of body fat (as measured by <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-overweight-obese-bmi-what-does-it-all-mean-7011">body mass index, or BMI</a>), particularly those born with a low birth weight; and showed no early signs of chronic disease.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">11 Up: testing young lungs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in our most recent checks – which started last year and will continue into next year – some of the 24- to 28-year-olds we’re seeing are becoming overweight. That’s not only a major risk factor for diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but also magnifies the risk posed by being low birth weight.</p>
<p>Knowing more about the timing of when chronic disease markers like these start to appear is crucial, as it will help us – and health experts in other parts of Australia – come up with better health strategies targeted at those most at risk, at the most appropriate time. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">26 Up: a photo taken in the current round of ABC study health checks, in which the participants – like this proud dad – are typically aged around 26.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the next few years it is likely that some of our participants will show signs of chronic disease, so following them through this time is essential.</p>
<p>Of the 686 babies in the first health check, we know of 32 who have died. But our participation rate is gradually falling for another reason: the older our participants get, the more they’re moving around for work or relationships, which can make them harder to find. So far in the current round of check-ups, we’ve caught up with about half of our participants, but we’re still trying to track down about 300 more.</p>
<p>The more people read and share this story, the more chance we have of finding these participants and keeping this crucial research going. In doing so, we hope to find better ways to improve the lives of many more generations of babies to come.</p>
<p><em>If you are one of the original ABC participants, someone in your family is, or you would like to know when they will be visiting your community, please contact the ABC Study team’s project manager Belinda Davison: Belinda.davison@menzies.edu.au or 0458 543 765.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>Further reading in this <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/abbott-in-arnhem-land">Abbott in Arnhem Land</a> series:<br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/birthing-on-country-could-deliver-healthier-babies-and-communities-31180">Birthing on Country could deliver healthier babies and communities</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/welcome-to-my-country-seeing-the-true-beauty-of-life-in-bawaka-31378">Welcome to my Country: seeing the true beauty of life in Bawaka</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pm-for-aboriginal-affairs-abbott-faces-his-biggest-hearing-test-31021">‘PM for Aboriginal Affairs’ Abbott faces his biggest hearing test</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/well-connected-indigenous-kids-keen-to-tap-new-ways-to-save-lives-30964">Well-connected Indigenous kids keen to tap new ways to save lives</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-australias-rapid-rise-is-shifting-money-and-votes-26524">Indigenous Australia’s rapid rise is shifting money and votes</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-crowded-homes-can-lead-to-empty-schools-in-the-bush-30971">How crowded homes can lead to empty schools in the bush</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/would-you-risk-losing-your-home-for-a-few-weeks-of-work-30911">Would you risk losing your home for a few weeks of work?</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/listen-to-your-elders-inviting-aboriginal-parents-back-to-school-31300">Listen to your elders: inviting Aboriginal parents back to school</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-australians-need-a-licence-to-drive-but-also-to-work-31480">Indigenous Australians need a licence to drive, but also to work</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/keeping-indigenous-teens-in-school-by-reinventing-the-lessons-30960">Keeping Indigenous teens in school by reinventing the lessons</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-can-a-dna-test-reveal-if-youre-an-indigenous-australian-31767">Explainer: Can a DNA test reveal if you’re an Indigenous Australian?</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-indigenous-constitutional-recognition-means-31770">Explainer: what Indigenous constitutional recognition means</a></em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gurmeet Singh receives funding from NHMRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Sayers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tony Abbott is spending this week in North-East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…Gurmeet Singh, Senior research fellow and director of Life Course Studies, Menzies School of Health ResearchSusan Sayers, Principal research fellow, Menzies School of Health ResearchLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/231962014-03-19T19:36:26Z2014-03-19T19:36:26ZGovernment goals and policy get in the way of our happiness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41874/original/3jbh5h5v-1392766657.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Building stronger personal relationships and collective well-being are proven to promote greater happiness.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Swamibu/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian government policy and happiness research are pointing in very different directions.</p>
<p>A prime goal of government policy is economic growth. Many Australians go along with this, assuming that more money will make them happier. However, policy and common belief need to confront an increasing body of research that suggests a different approach to improving well-being.</p>
<p>In the past couple of decades, <a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/">research on happiness</a> has boomed. The word “happiness” sometimes suggests fleeting pleasures like laughing at a joke or eating an ice cream, so researchers often use terms like well-being, life satisfaction or flourishing to indicate the deeper, more long-lasting aspect of happiness. A typical question asked is:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On a scale of one to ten, how satisfied are you with your life overall?</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>You can’t buy happiness</h2>
<p>Like any research field, there are disagreements and uncertainties, but many overall findings are quite robust. The most striking finding is that the material circumstances of people’s lives make surprisingly little difference to life satisfaction. For those above poverty level, increased income <a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/happiness">doesn’t improve average happiness levels very much</a>.</p>
<p>In several countries, like Britain, Japan and the US, surveys asking about life satisfaction have been run for several decades. Even though the per-capita standard of living has surged dramatically – going up by a factor of five in Japan – recorded life satisfaction levels have hardly budged. People are richer but not necessarily happier.</p>
<p>Most people continue to believe that more money, bigger houses, newer phones, stylish clothes and other possessions will make them happier - despite evidence to the contrary. Winning the lottery is <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/22451114_Lottery_winners_and_accident_victims_is_happiness_relative">not a reliable path to improved life satisfaction</a>. Even billionaires are, on average, not much happier than those on the average wage. </p>
<p>Many people, when surveyed, say they are happy. However, other indicators, such as rates of mental illness and suicide, suggest that <a href="http://www.richardeckersley.com.au/main/page_books_books_page_1.html">not all is rosy under the surface</a>.</p>
<p>Researchers have shown that changing your thoughts and behaviours is far more likely to improve happiness levels. <a href="http://thehowofhappiness.com/">Reliable methods</a> include expressing gratitude, building personal relationships, being optimistic, exercising, helping others and being mindful. </p>
<p>These approaches sound simple, but require effort to develop suitable habits. And there are <a href="http://www.bmartin.cc/pubs/12sa.html">barriers to developing happiness-promoting habits</a>.</p>
<h2>The knowledge gap</h2>
<p>One barrier is lack of knowledge. Despite an outpouring of popular accounts of happiness research, many people know little about it. Happiness is seldom studied in schools. Even when people know about happiness research, it can be very hard to apply its findings to their own lives.</p>
<p>Other barriers are harder to overcome. The Australian economy is built around endless growth, with the underlying assumption that a central goal in life is to make money, which will lead to happiness. This comes across in the relentless news coverage of “the economy”.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41872/original/b8zgy29n-1392766342.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41872/original/b8zgy29n-1392766342.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41872/original/b8zgy29n-1392766342.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41872/original/b8zgy29n-1392766342.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41872/original/b8zgy29n-1392766342.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41872/original/b8zgy29n-1392766342.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41872/original/b8zgy29n-1392766342.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A large body of research indicates that money really can’t buy happiness.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6848823919/sizes/l/in/photolist-brd1K2-aFAPtx-bi1bhM-a2YSa6-bta3kH-dDHKHR-fKKcRD-biaRHp-d8Zd4W-8rrQAb-bDwJ11-9FPrx5-8i2WXz-aFDcrg-eeq5iW-fEHuLF-8rrQG3-9hznDB-9kJxyv-8roJ5R-fKuazu-8oZost-chEfau-b6MUJK-bu6sBd-bf3Nge-bmm93i-8ism9f-8PcBEF-dRokcK-cEHZc1-9kMzLQ-bSWvX6-9kMAcY-7Y3mQY-dGo5nf-hFj5yM-9kRuzF-9kUxW9-aFDkRt-aFDet2-9kUxWA-9kKXXz-8ip74r-8xGCAP-7yUSSQ-7XGFqk-abWteX-ekgHRa-bbeUhH-8ismdA/">401(K) 2013/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then there is advertising. Much of it is centred on making people feel inadequate, with the solution being to buy something. Commercialism, with its manifestations of advertisements, malls, conspicuous consumption and keeping up with the Joneses, pushes us in a direction that does very little for human happiness.</p>
<p>In fact, people who are more materialistic are <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780062093608">less likely to be happy</a>.</p>
<h2>Work-life balance matters</h2>
<p>Many people work long hours. Some even take a second job to earn extra money. Yet research shows that most people would be happier earning less and spending more time with friends and family.</p>
<p>Sources of satisfaction at workplaces include interactions with co-workers, opportunities to concentrate on challenging tasks and participation in workplace decision-making. However, employers pursuing greater productivity seldom prioritise worker satisfaction and unions are more likely to demand higher pay than industrial democracy. The result is that many workers see their jobs simply as means of making money.</p>
<p>One group, though, is greatly affected by income, or rather lack of it: the very poor. For those with very little, material improvements can make a difference. For this reason, reducing poverty should be a goal of any policy about collective well-being.</p>
<p>Town planning is another arena affecting happiness, but much of the orientation is around possessions and status. </p>
<p>A transport policy that encourages walking and cycling would increase physical activity and hence happiness levels. Living close to work would reduce long-distance commuting, which is one of the least-satisfying activities for most people. Housing could be designed to foster interaction and sharing, and thus contribute to stronger relationships.</p>
<h2>Happiness is shared</h2>
<p>One reliable way to improve your well-being is to voluntarily help others. For example, you could advocate for people with disabilities, visit the ill, or teach children to read. Schools present a great opportunity for peer-assisted learning: by helping other students to learn, students learn themselves and feel better about themselves.</p>
<p>A more co-operative society, built around mutual aid and with greater equality, is likely to foster greater life satisfaction. However, much of Australian society is moving in the opposite direction, with ever greater emphasis on competition, individualism, mobility and lack of concern for others. Even relationships are commercialised, for example via word-of-mouth marketing.</p>
<p>The usual assumption is that each person has to improve their happiness on their own, without any collective change. Individual initiatives to foster happiness-promoting habits are certainly worthwhile, but <a href="http://www.actionforhappiness.org/">the wider cultural context needs to be challenged</a>. As long as commercialism, individualism and inequality persist, greater happiness will be elusive for many.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23196/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Martin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australian government policy and happiness research are pointing in very different directions. A prime goal of government policy is economic growth. Many Australians go along with this, assuming that more…Brian Martin, Professor of Social Sciences, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/241802014-03-12T07:48:38Z2014-03-12T07:48:38ZExplainer: how does the UK rank on child well-being?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43611/original/g59ckcwt-1394555021.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Racing back up. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lynne Cameron/PA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The well-being of children in the UK has seen significant improvement over the past decade or so. This is supported by evidence from the latest comparative study on child well-being published by <a href="http://www.unicef.org.uk/Latest/Publications/Report-Card-11-Child-well-being-in-rich-countries/">UNICEF</a> in 2013. </p>
<p>UNICEF’s Report Card 11 ranked the well-being of UK children 16th out of 29 developed countries overall. This result is a significant improvement compared to a <a href="http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/rc7_eng.pdf">similar exercise</a> in 2007, which put the UK at the bottom of the league table based on data from 2000 and 2003. The Netherlands topped the latest ranking, followed by Norway and Iceland. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1932682&show=abstract">Analysis of subjective well-being time trends</a> based on data from the Youth Questionnaire of the British Household Panel and Understanding Society Survey also shows an increase in child well-being. </p>
<h2>Evidence on child well-being</h2>
<p>The UNICEF report card, which is <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/education-committee/news/child-well-being-one-off/">being discussed</a> by MPs on the Education Select Committee, drew on the most recent available international comparative data from 2009-2010. It looked at how well children were doing in various aspects of their lives based on some objective indicators, as well as taking into account how children rated their own life satisfaction. </p>
<p>UNICEF assessed five areas of children’s lives: material well-being, health, behaviour and risks, education, housing and environmental safety. Comparing these five areas across the 29 countries, children in the UK fared particularly well in the aspect of housing and environmental safety (ranked 10th), followed by material well-being (ranked 14th), behaviour and risks (ranked 15th), and health (ranked 16th). Education was the aspect with the worst ranking – 24th.</p>
<h2>Room for improvement</h2>
<p>All these rankings suggest that there is still a lot of room for the UK government to improve in order to bring the standard of child well-being closer to our competitive European peers. Improvement is particularly needed in the domain of education, through increasing the participation rate of 15-19 year-olds in further education, currently at 74%. The introduction of <a href="http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/youngpeople/participation/rpa">compulsory education for 16-18 year olds from 2015</a>, may go some way to improving this. The UK also needs to reduce the <a href="https://theconversation.com/small-drop-in-neets-but-who-counts-the-cost-of-the-missing-23746">rate of NEETS</a>, young people not in education, employment or training. A recent research finding suggest that failure to tackle the problem of young people NEET over the life-time could <a href="http://www.york.ac.uk/spsw/research/neet/">cost the public finance at the lowest estimate, around £12 billion</a>. </p>
<p>Specific attention must also be paid to the relatively high rate of teenage pregnancy in the UK (30 births per 1,000 girls aged 15-19) and alcohol abuse by nearly 20% of school children aged between 11 and 15. </p>
<p>Focus should be put on narrowing the poverty gap, defined as the distance between the child poverty line and the median income of those below the line. The UNICEF study showed that 23% of our materially deprived children fell into this gap. Immediate attention is needed if their life chances are not to be adversely affected. Improvement could also be made to raise the standards of housing in the UK by addressing some common housing problems reported, such as leaking roofs, damp walls, and rotten windows.</p>
<h2>Influence on later life</h2>
<p>Happiness and life satisfaction, known as subjective well-being, also increased among children. According to data from the British Household Panel and the Understanding Society survey, children in the UK experienced a rise in subjective well-being between 1994 and 2008. But there are some early indications that these improvements <a href="http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/well-being">have stalled</a> and may have begun to reverse in the recent years. The economic recession and the austerity measures that followed could perhaps explain this.</p>
<p>There is some evidence which suggests a potential link between subjective well-being during adolescence and later success. Based on data from the British Household Panel, researchers at the University of York’s Social Policy Research Unit <a href="http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/research/pdf/riskSocialExclusion.pdf">found higher self-esteem</a> during early adolescence was associated with an increase in the likelihood of educational attainment (achieving at least A-level qualification). It was also linked to participation in either further education or employment and training for both boys and girls.</p>
<p>The well-being league tables published by UNICEF clearly suggest child well-being can be improved and the British case provides a good example. The marked improvement in UK children’s well-being over the decade could be attributed to the huge policy and financial commitment of the previous Labour government in improving children’s lives and well-being. Perhaps without this, the well-being of our children would not have seen such a huge improvement and may still lag behind many of our European counterparts. </p>
<p>However, this progress is at risk of being reversed under the current climate of austerity. Poor families with children are the hardest hit. There is already <a href="http://www.cpag.org.uk/sites/default/files/CPAG-Ending-child-poverty-by-2020-progress-made-lessons-learned-0612_0.pdf">research evidence</a>] which show real incomes have fallen and absolute poverty is increasing. It is predicted that all the gains in reduced child poverty since 1999 will be swept away by 2020. Sensible policy must be in place if children’s well-being and their futures are to be preserved and protected. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24180/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Antonia Keung does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The well-being of children in the UK has seen significant improvement over the past decade or so. This is supported by evidence from the latest comparative study on child well-being published by UNICEF…Antonia Keung, Researcher, Department of Social Policy & Social Work, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/213552013-12-11T23:47:52Z2013-12-11T23:47:52ZClock off, switch off: tips to stress less outside work hours<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37418/original/2sr7fxv8-1386732106.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How you feel at work directly affects how you feel about work during leisure time.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Cleaver</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australians are busy at work. We report very <a href="http://w3.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/cwl/documents/AWALI2012-National.pdf">high levels</a> of intensive working compared to other industrialised countries. </p>
<p>And while it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/youve-got-mail-24-7-a-work-life-blessing-or-curse-14409">difficult</a> to fully disconnect from work as we head home for the day, a <a href="http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0081381">paper published today</a> in the journal <a href="http://www.plosone.org/">PLOS ONE</a> provides some insight into how our personal thinking styles and values can affect how well we manage the stress of work interruptions, and think about work during leisure time.</p>
<p>Most of us work with other people – colleagues, supervisors, clients, customers – and this means that we are often interrupted when doing our work. <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/jotsc/2008/00000005/00000002/art00005">Email</a>, for example, is a major cause of work interruptions.</p>
<p>With high pressure and demanding work becoming the typical daily experience of many workers, there is a clear need for research on how individuals can survive and thrive in such demanding work environments.</p>
<p>Today’s PLOS ONE study suggests that by training ourselves to change the way we view and respond to work interruptions, we may be able to reduce our levels of stress and fatigue both at work and in our personal or leisure time.</p>
<h2>The study says …</h2>
<p>The study involved 300 white-collar full-time employees from the private business sector, including managers, executives and other professionals. They found complex relationships among a range of beliefs, values and styles of thinking about work.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37415/original/55knnbxd-1386731752.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37415/original/55knnbxd-1386731752.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37415/original/55knnbxd-1386731752.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37415/original/55knnbxd-1386731752.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37415/original/55knnbxd-1386731752.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37415/original/55knnbxd-1386731752.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37415/original/55knnbxd-1386731752.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37415/original/55knnbxd-1386731752.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t dwell on it – it’s time to get efficient.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adam Foster | Codefor</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Workers who prioritised efficient use of time while at work, and were able to view work interruptions as positive and constructive (such as providing a welcome break or reducing boredom), were less likely to spend their leisure time thinking about work-related problems, and were able to “switch off” from work. </p>
<p>Recognising and valuing the importance of leisure time also helped workers to “switch off” when not at work. This capacity to detach or “switch off” has been shown in <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02614360902951682#.UqfQqWQW1RE">other studies</a> to be important for rest and recovery, which is crucial for sustaining health and well-being in the long-term.</p>
<h2>So how do I stress less?</h2>
<p>The researchers suggest a number of strategies that individuals and organisations could use to better support workers’ capacity to deal positively with work interruptions, and to improve rest and recovery after work. </p>
<p>Organisations could provide training in time and task management, including assertiveness training with regard to managing interruptions. </p>
<p>Organisations can also play a role in reducing work intensification and the spillover of work tasks and communication into leisure time. The authors of the study suggest that organisations establish periods of employee unavailability. Email communications could be limited to daytime hours (not evenings!) and weekdays. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37420/original/r7htgb2c-1386733228.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37420/original/r7htgb2c-1386733228.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37420/original/r7htgb2c-1386733228.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37420/original/r7htgb2c-1386733228.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37420/original/r7htgb2c-1386733228.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37420/original/r7htgb2c-1386733228.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37420/original/r7htgb2c-1386733228.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37420/original/r7htgb2c-1386733228.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Work and leisure time often overlap.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">miss karen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Managerial and executive roles present more challenges with regard to managing the boundary between work and non-work time. One strategy worth trying is to set periods of time when particular individuals are unavailable and not expected to respond to work communications or engage in work tasks (such as rostered evenings and weekends of non-availability).</p>
<p>Finally, the authors recommend that individuals recognise the value of leisure and relaxation for their mental and physical health, and general well-being. They suggest individuals proactively organise some leisure activities that give them satisfaction and enjoyment, to ensure a good balance between work and non-work life activities.</p>
<p>In general, the research on rest and recovery reminds us that working life, and life in general, is a marathon, not a sprint. </p>
<p>We need to pace ourselves, and look after our health and well-being, to sustain our capacity to work well in jobs that are often demanding of our time and energy. </p>
<p>This means both building our skills in coping with work demands, but also recognising and valuing the quality of our family and leisure time away from work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21355/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Skinner receives funding from the Australian Research Council, SafeWork SA and FairWork Australia.</span></em></p>Australians are busy at work. We report very high levels of intensive working compared to other industrialised countries. And while it’s difficult to fully disconnect from work as we head home for the…Natalie Skinner, Senior Research Fellow in wellbeing at work, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.