Socio-Demographic Variables, General Psychological Well-Being and the Mental Health Continuum in an African Context

Autor/inn/en	Khumalo, I. P.; Temane, Q. M.; Wissing, M. P.
Titel	Socio-Demographic Variables, General Psychological Well-Being and the Mental Health Continuum in an African Context
Quelle	In: Social Indicators Research, 105 (2012) 3, S.419-442 (24 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0303-8300
DOI	10.1007/s11205-010-9777-2
Schlagwörter	Marital Status; Employment Level; Socioeconomic Status; Mental Health; Adolescents; Urban Areas; Rural Areas; Foreign Countries; Well Being; Educational Attainment; Correlation; Models; Evaluation Methods; Social Indicators; Regression (Statistics); Role; African Languages; Native Speakers; Age Differences; Gender Differences; Intervention; South Africa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Familienstand; Beschäftigungsgrad; Socio-economic status; Sozioökonomischer Status; Psychohygiene; Adolescent; Adolescence; Adoleszenz; Jugend; Jugendalter; Jugendlicher; Urban area; Stadtregion; Rural area; Ländlicher Raum; Ausland; Well-being; Wellness; Wohlbefinden; Bildungsabschluss; Bildungsgut; Korrelation; Analogiemodell; Social indicator; Sozialer Indikator; Regression; Regressionsanalyse; Rollen; Africa; Language; Languages; Afrika; Sprachen; Afrikanische Sprache; Muttersprachler; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Geschlechterkonflikt; Südafrika; Süd-Afrika; Republik Südafrika; Südafrikanische Republik
Abstract	Age, gender, marital status, education attainment, employment status, and environmental setting explain different amounts of variance in psychological well-being and mental health. Inconsistent findings are reported for the socio-demographic variables in psychological well-being depending amongst others on the definition and measurement of well-being, context and the nature of the population. The present study explored the association of socio-demographic variables in an African context using two models that conceptualise and measure well-being as a holistic integrated and complex construct, namely the General Psychological Well-being model (GPW) and the Mental Health Continuum model (MHC). The study was conducted among an African sample in the North West Province of South Africa. A sample of 459 male and female Setswana-speaking adults from rural and urban areas completed measures of general psychological well-being and the mental health continuum. Descriptive statistics, correlations, cross-tabulations and regression analyses were computed. Findings indicate that socio-demographic variables play a role in determining holistic psychological well-being in a South African Setswana-speaking community. Urban living, employment, education and being married were associated with higher psychological well-being. Rural or urban environmental setting, followed by employment status, accounted for the greatest variance in psychological well-being measures. Age and gender were not significantly associated with well-being. The findings suggest that the current state of African rural living is detrimental to well-being. Through employment being an index of socio-economic status, the unemployed experience poor well-being. Future research efforts to explore the mechanisms of these relationships, and context-relevant intervention programmes are recommended. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10