Psychological well-being and psychological distress: is it necessary to measure both?

Abstract

Background: The objectives of the study were to explore a self-report measure for psychological well-being and to investigate the relationship between psychological well-being and psychological distress. Method: Telephone interviews of a representative sample of adults (N = 1933) collected information about sociodemographic variables, a standardised measure of psychological distress, and three brief existing scales to assess aspects of psychological well-being: Positive Relations with Others, Environmental Mastery, and Satisfaction with Life. The total of these three scales was also computed and explored as a measure of overall well-being. Results: Variables positively associated with psychological well-being were negatively associated with psychological distress and vice versa. For example low psychological well-being and high psychological distress were associated with being the only adult in the household, speaking a language other than English at home, being divorced or separated, having no educational qualifications beyond secondary school, being unable to work, having a low income, renting one's accommodation, and receiving a pension. Conclusions: The measure of well-being shows psychometric promise for community surveys. Psychological well-being is not exactly the opposite end of the continuum to psychological distress, but more debate is needed about whether and when, research participants need to be asked questions about both.

Psychological Well-Being and Its Relationships with Active and Passive Procrastination

“…Thus, for the purposes of the present study, psychological well-being was operationalised as a combination of positive affective states and optimal cognitive and social functioning. This approach is in line with the suggestions of Winefield, Gill, Taylor, and Pilkington (2012). Diener (1997) inferred that the cognitive component of psychological well-being is an information-based appraisal of ones life satisfaction.…”

Relationship between Psychological Wellbeing and Domestic Violence among Adolescents Home Caregivers and Non-Home Caregivers in Nigeria

“…As summarized by Winefield et al [5]: "Psychological well-being is about lives going well. It is the combination of feeling good and functioning effectively."…”

Half Full or Half Empty: The Measurement of Mental Health and Mental Illness in Emerging Australian Adults

“…From a population health perspective, an exclusive focus on mental illness would prompt further investigation of a considerable 40% of the sample, a disturbing result, whereas a focus on mental wellbeing would convey the impression that 75% of the group are satisfied with their lives, a seemingly positive result. In addition, the observation of cases on the scatterplot indicated that a significant proportion of cases fall outside of a single dimension model, and these languishing and struggling categories of moderate mental health present a significant challenge to gaining a comprehensive and informative picture of groups of emerging adults with a single dimension measurement approach, in line with previous research (Keyes, 2005;Westerhof, 2013, Winefield et al, 2012.…”

“…More recent studies have indicated that while wellbeing and psychological distress are often associated with similar social and demographic characteristics in opposite directions (e.g. being divorced, having tertiary education or low income), these two variables do not represent exact opposite ends of a continuum of mental health (Westerhof & Keyes, 2010;Winefield, Gill, Taylor, & Pilkington, 2012).…”