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Although leisure constraints that individuals have to cope with can negatively affect their social inclusion and satisfaction with life, little research has addressed the link between these variables. Therefore, the current paper examined the moderator role of leisure constraints on the relationship between satisfaction with life and leisure constraints among adults living in five different European countries. The respondents were 1,382 women and 877 men adults. The findings of analysis revealed that all factors used in the study accounted for 15% of the variance in satisfaction with life and social inclusion had a significant and positive impact on satisfaction with life. As a result, it can be said that leisure constraints had a moderating effect on the relationship between satisfaction with life and social inclusion. The present research study recommends that social inclusion should be encouraged through decreasing to leisure constraints to increase the life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Wound‐QoL assesses the impact of chronic wounds on patients' health‐related quality of life (HRQoL). A 17‐item and a shortened 14‐item version are available. The Wound‐QoL‐17 has been validated for multiple languages. For the Wound‐QoL‐14, psychometric properties beyond internal consistency were lacking. We aimed to validate both Wound‐QoL versions for international samples representing a broad range of European countries, including countries for which validation data had yet been pending. Patients with chronic wounds of any aetiology or location were recruited in Austria, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine. Psychometric properties were determined for both Wound‐QoL versions for the overall sample and, if feasible, country‐wise. We included 305 patients (age 68.5 years; 52.8% males). Internal consistency was high in both Wound‐QoL‐17 (Cronbach's α: 0.820–0.933) and Wound‐QoL‐14 (0.779–0.925). Test–retest reliability was moderate to good (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.618–0.808). For Wound‐QoL‐17 and Wound‐QoL‐14, convergent validity analyses showed highest correlations with global HRQoL rating (r = 0.765; r = 0.751) and DLQI total score (r = 0.684; r = 0.681). Regarding clinical data, correlations were largest with odour (r = −0.371; r = −0.388) and wound size (r = 0.381; r = 0.383). Country‐wise results were similar. Both Wound‐QoL versions are valid to assess HRQoL of patients with chronic wounds. Due to its psychometric properties and brevity, the Wound‐QoL‐14 might be preferrable in clinical practice where time is rare. The availability of various language versions allows for the use of this questionnaire in international studies and in clinical practice when foreign language patients are being treated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The built environment (BE) impacts on people's disability and health, in terms of overweight, depression, alcohol abuse, poor self-rated health and presence of psychological symptoms; it is reasonable to assume that BE also impacts on participation levels. This paper presents the validation of the COURAGE Built Environment Self-Reported Questionnaire (CBE-SR), an instrument designed to evaluate BE in the context of health and disability. Subjects participating to COURAGE, a cross-sectional study conducted on 10 800 citizens of Poland, Finland and Spain, completed a protocol inclusive of the CBE-SR. Psychometric properties and factor structure were analysed, and factor scores created. Gender differences, differences between persons from different age groups and persons reporting the environment as facilitating, hindering or neutral were calculated. Eight items were deleted so that the final version of CBE-SR comprises 19 items. Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.743 to 0.906, and test-retest stability was demonstrated for the majority of items. Four subscales were identified: Usability of the neighbourhood environment; Hindrance of walkable environment; Easiness of use of public buildings, places and facilities; and Risk of accidents and usability of the living place. Younger respondents reported their neighbourhood as more usable but perceived walkways as more hindering and public buildings as less easy to use; gender differences were almost inexistent. The CBE-SR is a four-scale instrument with good psychometric properties that measures the person-environment interaction. It is sensitive across age groups and is consistent with the subject's overall judgement of the degree to which the environment is facilitating or hindering. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message Poor built environments have a negative impact on the level of a person's participation. However, instruments measuring the person-environment interaction are lacking., The CBE-SR is a valid and reliable instrument that researchers can use to assess the relationships between the intrinsic health state and the objective features of the environment., Understanding this relationship would provide further insight into the need of addressing the individual's functioning either by means of interventions directed to the individual or by making changes to the individual's environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to explore cross‐level mechanisms stimulating employees' innovative behavior in small firms, specifically emotional contagion between small business owners and their employees. Using data from three European countries and applying a multilevel approach, we tested how small business owners' work‐related affect—enthusiasm and comfort—relate to their employees' work‐related affect and innovative work behavior. The sample consisted of 85 small business owners and 711 employees from firms operating in the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. Controlling for country, the results of multilevel modeling showed that small business owners' work‐related affect was positively related to their employees' work‐related affect. The hypothesized contagion of work‐related affect in small firms was, thus, supported. Employees' work‐related affect, in turn, was positively associated with their innovative behavior. Employees' work‐related affect mediated the relationship between small business owners' work‐related affect and employees' innovative behavior. The results also showed cross‐country differences in the strength of some of the relationships. The study is a step forward in understanding innovation in small firms, extending the insights gained from single‐level investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study illustrates the huge untapped potential of quantifying the impact of culture in making meaningful comparisons across groups. Our focus is on cross‐national differences in nurses' reports of their relations with physicians, and how the measurement of this complex construct and the evaluation of true differences are related to dimensions of national culture. Design: We examine across 14 European countries the association between indices of national culture from the seminal work of Hofstede and 39,435 nurses' ratings of their relations with physicians. Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate strong factorial invariance across countries and to examine the influence of power distance and masculinity. Findings: There was wide variation across countries in nurses' reports of their relations with physicians. Strong factorial invariance was shown for a one‐factor model, which confirmed that across countries the seven survey items measure a common factor of physician‐nurse relations. This model showed no country bias for any of the seven survey items, which suggests that differences across countries reflect true differences. These true differences were significantly associated with variation in country values of power distance, which showed a significant negative correlation with physician–nurse relations. Conclusions: Continuously pursuing a better understanding of characteristics that impact the studied indicators, such as national culture, is elementary to better understand the construct under study. In this application, country values of power distance negatively impacted nurse‐reported relations with physicians, which strongly varied across countries. Clinical Relevance: Better nurse‐reported relations between nurses and physicians link to higher nurse job satisfaction, lower emotional exhaustion, better nurse‐perceived quality of care, and lower patient mortality. The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index is an excellent instrument to characterize variation in working relations between nurses and physicians as well as physicians' professional posture towards nurses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The job-related affective well-being measure developed by Warr (1990, J. Occup. Psychol., 63, 193) has been a frequently used tool estimating affect in the work context. The main purpose of this study was to test the measurement invariance of the instrument across cultures and genders. The model with four correlated factors, representing anxiety, comfort, depression, and enthusiasm, had a superior fit compared to alternative models in a sample of 807 employees and was used as the basis of measurement invariance tests. The results of multigroup confirmatory factor analysis showed partial metric invariance across samples of employees from the Netherlands ( n = 254), Poland ( n = 436), and Spain ( n = 207), as well as full scalar invariance across genders (female n = 323; male n = 466). This indicates that cross-cultural comparisons of relationships between job-related affect as measured with this instrument and other constructs can be meaningful. Additionally, mean scores on the scales of the instrument can be meaningfully compared across genders, but not across countries. Practitioner points Warr's job-related affective well-being measure is a valid and reliable operationalization of four correlated affective dimensions: anxiety, comfort, depression, and enthusiasm., Mean scores on these dimensions can be meaningfully compared across genders, but comparisons of mean scores between countries should be interpreted with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tool to assess the built environment, which takes into account issues of disability, accessibility and the need for data comparable across countries and populations, is much needed. The Collaborative Research on Ageing in Europe (COURAGE) in Europe Built Environment Outdoor Checklist (CBE-OUT) helps us to understand when features of the neighbourhood environment have either a positive or negative impact on the accessibility of neighbourhoods for healthy ageing. The CBE-OUT is composed of 128 items that can be recorded when present in the evaluated environment. Audits were performed in households randomly selected from each cluster of the sample for Finland, Poland and Spain, following precise rules defined by experts. Global scores were computed both section by section and in the overall checklist, rescaling the resulting scores from 0 (negative environment) to 100 (positive). The total number of completed CBE-OUT checklists was 2452 (Finland, 245; Poland, 972; and Spain, 1235). Mean global score for our sample is 49.3, suggesting an environment composed both of facilitating and hindering features. Significant differences were observed in the built environment features of the three countries and in particular between Finland and the other two. The assessment of features of built environment is crucial when thinking about ageing and enhanced participation. The COURAGE in Europe project developed this tool to collect information on built environment in an objective evaluation of environmental features and is a recommended methodology for future studies. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message The CBE-OUT checklist is an objective evaluation of the built environment and is centred on technical measurement of features present in the environment and has its foundations in the concepts of disability and accessibility operating in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) model., The CBE-OUT checklist can be analysed using both the total score and the single section score, allowing an evaluation of the facilitating or hindering role of the environment and is usable for predictive analysis of ageing trends., The CBE-OUT checklist makes it possible to collect information about the built environment by means of an objective evaluation of environment features and is a recommended methodology for future studies about the built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to create a simplified, easy implementable multidimensional instrument to assess all relevant elements of the structure and function of social network within individuals across different European countries and to provide the tool for health professionals and policy makers. The analysis was based on the sample of 10 446 non-institutionalized adult population from Finland, Poland and Spain. The Social Network Questionnaire Collaborative Research on Ageing in Europe Social Network Index (COURAGE-SNI) was part of the COURAGE questionnaire. The indicators of the functioning of social network ties (close relations), frequency of direct contact and general support were evaluated. Functions were assess within the main structural components as spouse, parents, children, grandchildren, other relatives, friends, coworkers and neighbours. The exploratory factor analysis revealed five main latent components of social network with one component composed of hierarchical part. The confirmatory factor analysis provided an acceptable fit for the model. The generalize partial credit model was used to calculate factor scores for five components of the COURAGE-SNI considering the social networks of 'spouse/partner', 'parents', 'other family members', 'neighbours' and 'friends and co-workers'. The scores for every component were recalculated so as to provide the social network saturation ranged from 0 (the lowest) to 100% (the highest possible). Finally, the COURAGE-SNI score was obtained as the sum of weighted information calculated by the item response theory procedure for every aforementioned component. In summary, the COURAGE-SNI showed good reliability and content validity and seems to be a promising tool for the assessment of the social network phenomenon across European countries. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message The Courage-SNI is a new tool to assess the construct of social network in population studies., The Courage-SNI is an instrument useful to identify high risk groups or populations whose social network is poorer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Aim While drinking in the event is an important factor in injury occurrence, the pattern of usual drinking may also be important in risk of injury. Explored here is the relationship of an alcohol-related injury with an individual usual drinking pattern. Design Alcohol-related injury is examined using hierarchical linear models, taking into account individual usual volume of consumption over the past 12 months, as well as aggregate-level detrimental drinking pattern (DDP) and alcohol policy measures. Setting Data analyzed are from emergency departments (EDs) in 19 countries, comprising three collaborative studies on alcohol and injury, all of which used a similar methodology. Participants The sample comprised 14 132 injured drinkers across 46 emergency room (ER) studies. Measurements Alcohol-related injury was measured, separately, by any self-reported drinking prior to injury, a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) ≥ 0.08 and self-reported causal attribution of injury to drinking. Findings While individual usual volume strongly predicted an alcohol-related injury for all three measures, usual drinking pattern also predicted an alcohol-related injury (controlling for volume), with episodic heavy and frequent heavy drinking both more predictive of alcohol-related injury than other drinking patterns. When individual usual volume and drinking pattern were controlled, DDP was no longer a significant predictor of alcohol-related injury. Alcohol policy measures were predictive of both BAC and causal attribution (the stronger the policy the lower the rates of alcohol-related injury). Conclusions Volume of alcohol typically consumed and occurrence of heavy drinking episodes are associated independently with incidence of alcohol-related injury. The stronger the anti-alcohol policies in a country, the lower the rates of alcohol-related injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]