Psychosocial wellbeing in the Central and Eastern European transition: An overview and systematic bibliographic review

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a systematic review of literature on the psychosocial wellbeing of populations in Central and Eastern Europe during the transition period subsequent to the fall of the SovietBloc. A revision of research addressing emotional wellbeing trends in this period and theoretical models was carried in order to verify their validity in the analysis of empirical studies. Hence, a systematic bibliographic review was conducted, aiming to find possible subjective mediators between social variables derived from change sand emotional wellbeing. The results of the review show that subjective mediators such as locus of control,perceived control, self-efficacy beliefs, perceived familial support, and the subjective evaluation of social change explain part of the relationship between macrosocial changes and emotional wellbeing. Results appear coherent with proposed multidimensional models of social change and mental health, although further research should be conducted to determine the specific weight of these phenomena in individual emotional wellbeing.

Causality Orientations and Psychological Well-Being in Young European and Eurasian Adults

“…Therefore, it remains unclear whether extrinsic aspirations per se and, more importantly, general causality orientations other than autonomy can produce psychological well-being in certain social and cultural contexts (see Ryan & Deci, 2001 on the antecedents of well-being). In a bibliographic review, Eiroa Orosa (2013) reported that locus of control, perceived control, and self-efficacy beliefs, which are conceptually related to autonomy orientation, only partially explained the impact of macrosocial changes and psychological well-being in Central and Eastern European countries. Our fourth research question centered on the relationship of autonomy, controlled, and impersonal causality orientations to psychological well-being in an understudied group: young European and Eurasian adults.…”

The Remains of the Socialist Legacy: The Influence of Socialist Socialization on Attitudes toward Income Inequality

“…[4][5][6], and general well-being indicators cf. [7,8]. In light of these findings the question arises: will post-socialist countries ever see eye to eye with Western European countries in societal trends?…”

A Study of Motives for Tobacco and Alcohol Use Among High School Students in Hungary

“…This is particularly important in a rapidly changing postsocialist country like Hungary where societal processes may have an impact on the individual’s coping resources and behavioral decisions [30]. Despite that fact that frequencies of substance use in Hungary are still relatively greater than those from Western European countries [31], we know less about their background variables, e.g., motivations.…”

“…In a rapidly changing country like Hungary, all these changes may have an effect on coping resources and health decisions [29]. Few data are available for an understanding of these processes [30], although adolescent smoking and drinking are still higher in prevalence in Hungary and other Eastern European countries as compared with Western states [31]. For the present research we used a previously validated multidimensional motive measure to examine relations of four motive dimensions to smoking and drinking behavior.…”