Introduction: Caring for stroke survivors in primary care settings substantially impacts family life and health. Caregivers of stroke survivors have different challenging experiences in providing care in relation to family happiness. This study aimed to explore family happiness and its contributing factors among family members caring for stroke survivors in suburban Thailand. Methods: Qualitative semi-structured interviews and observations were conducted among 54 family caregivers in suburban Thailand communities from January to July 2020. Interviews and focus group discussions were digitally recorded, independently transcribed and analysed using ATLAS.ti 8.0. Qualitative data analysis method was used. Results: Family happiness was found to help a family function and be satisfied with caring. The analysis revealed three themes for achieving family happiness: 1) ideal caregiver characteristics: virtue, love and gratitude, experience in caring, good health and self-care ability, good management of emotions and freedom to manage problems and obstacles; 2) family function: family structure, roles and duties, relationships and management of family problems; and 3) resource support: financial, health and environmental supports. Conclusion The findings demonstrate how life adaptations can improve family happiness within families of stroke survivors. Understanding caregivers’ perceptions of their experiences in caring for stroke survivors is a challenge for healthcare providers; overcoming this could transform an unpleasant life into caregiving happiness. Appropriate and practical support from healthcare authorities could empower families of stroke survivors to succeed in caregiving and achieve family happiness.
Perception ; Stroke ; Caregivers ; Happiness

BACKGROUND: Happiness may help to prevent negative physiological outcomes in response to life events; however, factors contributing to happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic have not been longitudinally investigated. This study explored the predictors of happiness in mothers of young children in Japan using comparable data that were obtained before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We conducted the baseline survey in February 2020, and 4 months later, we also conducted the follow-up survey. Throughout all 47 prefectures in Japan, 4,700 (100 respondents/prefecture) mothers of infants and/or preschoolers (0-6 years) participated in the baseline online survey; 2,489 of these also participated in the follow-up survey. RESULTS: We performed hierarchical multiple regression analysis and our final model indicated that maternal happiness during COVID-19 pandemic was positively related to employment status (homemaker, β = 0.052, p = 0.014), levels of available social support (average, β = 0.052, p = 0.012, high, β = 0.055, p = 0.010) and happiness score before the pandemic (β = 0.467, p < 0.001), and satisfaction toward the measures against the COVID-19 at partners' workplace (average, β = 0.129, p < 0.001; high, β = 0.279, p < 0.001), preventive behavior against COVID-19 (average, β = 0.055, p = 0.002; high, β = 0.045, p = 0.015) and positive attitudes/thinking (β = 0.087, p < 0.001) during the pandemic. In contrast, poor mental health (K6 ≥5, β = -0.042, p = 0.011) before the pandemic and negative changes during the pandemic (≥3, β = -0.085, p < 0.001) were negatively related to maternal happiness during the pandemic. Our final model explained 44.9% of the variance in mothers' happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS Satisfaction toward the measures against the COVID-19 at partners' workplace, preventive behavior, and positive attitudes/thinking were especially important for maternal happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future study is needed to consider measures against infectious diseases in the workplace that are desirable for the well-being of parents with young children, taking into account the gender perspective.
COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Happiness ; Humans ; Japan/epidemiology* ; Mothers/psychology* ; Pandemics

OBJECTIVES: In recent decades, due to the high prevalence of divorce in numerous countries and the detrimental aftermath thereof, it has become increasingly important to study the components of marital stability. The current study explored fundamental protective factors in long-term marriage through a systematic review.METHODS: Searches for relevant publications were conducted in Embase, Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Magiran, and Scientific Information Database from their inception through January 30, 2019. Through the keyword search, 1,706 articles were found, of which 25 articles remained after screening based on the eligibility criteria.RESULTS: The extracted protective factors associated with marital stability in long-term marriage were classified as interpersonal and intrapersonal. Notable extracted factors included spirituality and religion, commitment, sexual relationship, communication, children, love and attachment, intimacy, and conflict resolution approach. These findings show that some aspects of relationships, such as commitment, act to preserve the pillars of marriage in critical situations, while other aspects, such as intimacy, help to construct marital identity and satisfaction.CONCLUSIONS: The identified components of marital stability are structures that enhance a couple's identity and sense of togetherness. Identifying the specific aspects of marital relationships that contribute to marital stability may help specialists and researchers to target specific types of marital interaction that may enhance the happiness and longevity of relationships, thereby preventing avoidable divorces.
Child ; Divorce ; Happiness ; Humans ; Longevity ; Love ; Marriage ; Mass Screening ; Negotiating ; Prevalence ; Protective Factors ; Specialization ; Spirituality

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the ‘Becoming Happy I’ program on gratitude disposition, self-esteem, flow, and subjective happiness in nursing college students.METHODS: Participants in this study were 39 nursing college students (20 in the experimental group and 19 in the control group) at a college of nursing. The research design was a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest as a quasi-experimental study. Data was collected from February to April in 2011 and analyzed via the SPSS/WIN 18.0 program with the χ² test, Fisher's exact test, repeated measures ANOVA, and Tukey HSD test.RESULTS: There were significant changes in gratitude disposition, self-esteem, flow, and subjective happiness in the experimental group before and after treatment, which was significantly different from the control group, and these effects lasted at a 4-week follow-up.CONCLUSION: The ‘Becoming Happy I’ program was effective in improving gratitude disposition, self-esteem, flow, and subjective happiness for nursing college students. As a result, we recommended that the ‘Becoming Happy I’ program be utilized as an effective intervention for nursing college students to improve gratitude disposition, self-esteem, flow, and subjective happiness.
Follow-Up Studies ; Happiness ; Humans ; Non-Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Nursing ; Research Design ; Self Concept

BACKGROUND: The growth of Korean adolescents' average height has slowed over the past 10 years. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between height and mental health in Korean male adolescents.METHODS: This study used data from the 2015 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (34,152 male school students). The male adolescents were divided into the below-average height and above-average height groups according to age. The association between height and mental health was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression.RESULTS: The above-average height group had significantly higher subjective health (P=0.003) and significantly lower depression than the belowaverage height group (P=0.031). In multivariate logistic regression, the odds ratio of subjective health wass 1.13 (P=0.043), but no significant difference in subjective happiness, depression, stress and suicidal ideation (P>0.05) at both group.CONCLUSION: It was confirmed that height is associated with subjective health in Korean male adolescents.
Adolescent ; Depression ; Diagnostic Self Evaluation ; Happiness ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Mental Health ; Odds Ratio ; Risk-Taking ; Suicidal Ideation

PURPOSE: This study explored factors that influence happiness in nursing students.METHODS: The participants were 159 nursing students at a university in Seoul city. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression with the SPSS Win 25.0.RESULTS: Happiness positively correlated with nursing professionalism (r=.482, p<.001) and academic self-efficacy (r=.422, p<.001). Significant predictors of happiness included nursing professionalism (β=.298, p<.001), academic self-efficacy (β=.2224 p=.001), subjective health status (β=.214, p=.002), major satisfaction (β=−.268, p=.040). These factors explained 35.5% of the variance in student happiness.CONCLUSION: The study shows nursing professionalism, academic self-efficacy, subjective health status and major satisfaction are important factors for happiness in nursing students. These findings can be utilized to develop strategies for increasing nursing students' happiness.
Diagnostic Self Evaluation ; Happiness ; Humans ; Nursing ; Professionalism ; Seoul ; Students, Nursing

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the components and nature of happiness in middle-aged women in Korea. METHODS: Thirty middle-aged women living in metropolitan Seoul and Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces agreed to participate in this study. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with the participants in one-on-one settings. The data were analyzed qualitative using Colaizzi's method of phenomenology. RESULTS: The three theme clusters were extracted from the raw data, along with 13 themes and 138 meaningful sentences and phrases. The three happiness theme clusters in middle-aged women were “live healthy for stability,” “rule one's mind for harmony,” and “activate hopes for self-esteem.” The first theme cluster included healthy life, economic stability, physical youth, and positive thought. The second theme cluster included that harmonious family, ruling of mind, my position as invisible person in social relationships, and precious relationships to support. The last theme included the center of one's life is oneself, a sense of accomplishment, self-improvement, recognition of one's worth and rest for one self. The three theme clusters were associated with the existence, relatedness, and growth (ERG) of ERG areas, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the core components of happiness in middle-aged women are to live healthy and mind-ruled and activate hope. The nature of happiness is egocentric stability in middle-aged women. The results suggest that theme clusters might be used to develop a scale for measuring happiness in middle-aged women. This will be helpful to assess the psychosocial status of middle-aged women in Korea.
Adolescent ; Female ; Gyeonggi-do ; Happiness ; Hope ; Humans ; Korea ; Methods ; Middle Aged ; Qualitative Research ; Seoul

OBJECTIVE: Middle-aged women experience a lot of events of physical changes and various mental conflicts. The purpose of this study is to determine variables related to happiness, and to make and verify the model for happiness of middle-aged women. METHODS: We constructed conceptual model for happiness of middle-aged women in Korea, based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This model consisted of three exogenous variables (health status, financial distress, and social support) and three endogenous variables (self-esteem, positive thinking, and happiness). For middle-aged women in Korea, we returned 442 questionnaires of 460 participants. RESULTS: Model fit of the modified model was satisfied; χ²=102.108, GFI=0.959, CMIN/DF=2.917, RMSEA=0.068, AGFI=0.922, CFI=0.977, SRMR=0.0368. Happiness was explained by 82% through health status, financial distress, social support, self-esteem, and positive thinking. As Maslow's hierarchy of needs, happiness of middle-aged women is related to basic needs (health status, financial distress, and social support), psychological needs (self-esteem and positive thinking) and self-fulfillment needs (happiness). CONCLUSION: Our study shows that it is required intervention for meeting basic factor such as health status, financial distress and social support in order to increase happiness of middle-aged women.
Female ; Happiness ; Humans ; Korea ; Thinking

PURPOSE: The purpose was to explore the breastfeeding experiences of mothers of infants with breast-feeding or breast milk jaundice. METHODS: In-depth qualitative interviews and content analysis were conducted with nine mothers of newborns with breastfeeding and/or breast milk jaundice who breastfed their babies during the first year postpartum. RESULTS: Mothers' experiences can be described in four phases and six themes. (1) Prenatal stage: build breastfeeding belief, i.e., breastfeeding is best and a natural behavior, without awareness of neonatal jaundice; (2) stage after neonatal jaundice started to appear: include two themes, questioning beliefs in breastfeeding and happiness in being a mother. Mothers lacked knowledge and ignored the threat of neonatal jaundice, mainly focused on their physical discomforts and worried about insufficient breast milk; they also felt an intimate mothereinfant bond through breastfeeding; (3) stage when newborns had confirmed diagnosis of breastfeeding or breast milk jaundice that required medical attention: include two themes, diagnosis of breastfeeding or breast milk jaundice and phototherapy caused negative emotions and regaining original beliefs about breastfeeding. They struggled through emotional swings and inconsistent advices about whether phototherapy and formula supplementation are needed. Then, they decided breastfeeding or breast milk jaundice is only temporary and retrieved initial beliefs of breastfeeding. (4) Stage after neonatal jaundice faded and mothers continued breastfeeding: insisting and adapting. CONCLUSION: Breastfeeding mothers were unaware of neonatal jaundice until medical attention was required; they experienced physical and mental distress and gradually learned to manage jaundice while insisting on breastfeeding through their breastfeeding beliefs and happiness in being mothers.
Anxiety ; Breast Feeding ; Breast ; Diagnosis ; Happiness ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Jaundice ; Jaundice, Neonatal ; Milk, Human ; Mothers ; Phototherapy ; Postpartum Period ; Qualitative Research

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to obtain research-based evidence on the relationships among general characteristics, family strength, self-control, and happiness among late school-aged children using a correlational research design. METHODS: The participants were 172 fifth- and sixth-grade students from two public elementary schools. Data were collected by employing structured questionnaires, including the Korean Family Strengths Scale for Strengthening Family II, a self-control scale, and a happiness scale. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 23.0. RESULTS: The level of happiness of late school-aged students showed significant correlations with family strength (r=.78, p<.001), and self-control (r=.59, p<.001). Family strength had a significant positive correlation with self-control (r=.55, p<.001). The factors with a significant impact on participants' happiness were family strength (β=.63, p<.001), self-control (β=.21, p<.001), exercise frequency, and self-perceived health. The total explanatory power of the model was 69%, and the explanatory power of family strength for the level of happiness was 61%, showing that the family strength was the most important factor that promoted happiness in late school-aged students. CONCLUSION: These findings imply that improving family strength is an important aspect of promoting happiness among late school-aged children. Interventions to strengthen late school-aged children's self-control are also necessary.
Child ; Family Characteristics ; Happiness ; Humans ; Research Design ; Self-Control ; Statistics as Topic