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Introduction: Although evidence suggests physical activity (PA) may be associated with mental well-being at older ages, it is unclear whether some types of PA are more important than others. The purpose of this study is to investigate associations of monitored total PA under free-living conditions, self-reported leisure-time PA (LTPA), and walking for pleasure with mental well-being at age 60-64 years., Methods: Data on 930 (47%) men and 1,046 (53%) women from the United Kingdom Medical Research Council (MRC) National Survey of Health and Development collected in 2006-2011 at age 60-64 were used in 2013-2014 to test the associations of PA (PA energy expenditure and time spent in different intensities of activity assessed using combined heart rate and acceleration monitors worn for 5 days, self-reported LTPA, and walking for pleasure) with the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS; range, 14-70)., Results: In linear regression models adjusted for gender, long-term limiting illness, smoking, employment, socioeconomic position, personality, and prior PA, those who walked for >1 hour/week had mean WEMWBS scores 1.47 (95% CI=0.60, 2.34) points higher than those who reported no walking. Those who participated in LTPA at least five times/month had WEMWBS scores 1.25 (95% CI=0.34, 2.16) points higher than those who did not engage in LTPA. There were no statistically significant associations between free-living PA and WEMWBS scores., Conclusions: In adults aged 60-64 years, participation in self-selected activities such as LTPA and walking are positively related to mental well-being, whereas total levels of free-living PA are not., (Copyright © 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Mental wellbeing, conceptualised as positive affect, life satisfaction and realisation of needs that contribute to psychological growth, captures more than the absence of mental ill health. Several nations now aim to monitor and improve mental wellbeing. Whilst many studies document associations between adverse childhood experiences and mental disorders in adulthood, possible links between childhood experiences and adult mental wellbeing have so far received less attention., Methods: Using data from 1976 men and women in the MRC National Survey for Health and Development, we investigated prospective associations between childhood socioeconomic and psychosocial environments and the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, designed to capture both hedonic and eudaimonic facets of wellbeing, at age 60-64., Results: Whilst there was no evidence that childhood socioeconomic circumstances were related to later wellbeing independently of other childhood experiences, elements of childrearing and parenting, parental health and adjustment, and childhood illness were related. More advantaged socioeconomic position was associated with greater wellbeing but this did not explain the links between these childhood exposures and adult wellbeing, suggesting alternative explanatory pathways should be considered., Conclusions: Childhood illness and family psychosocial environment are associated with mental wellbeing in early older age, with effects sizes that are larger or comparable to socioeconomic circumstances in adulthood. Initiatives to improve the nation's mental wellbeing that include programmes targeted to supporting families and children may additionally have benefits that continue into older age.

According to Poloma and Pendleton's (J Psychol Theol 19:71-83, 1991) prayer model, there are four prayer types (colloquial, meditative, petitionary, and ritual), all of which have varying associations with mental health. However, few studies have examined what mechanisms explain these associations. The literature demonstrates that disclosing distressing information can improve mental health. Thus, the current study examined self-disclosure as a mediating variable between Poloma and Pendleton's (J Psychol Theol 19:71-83, 1991) prayer types and mental health. It was hypothesized that self-disclosure would mediate the association between prayer types involving meaningful communication with God (colloquial and meditative prayer types) and mental health and would not mediate associations between petitionary and ritual prayer types and mental health. This cross-sectional, online study analyzed data from praying Christian adults (N = 296) to test the hypotheses. As predicted, self-disclosure mediated the positive associations between colloquial and meditative prayer types and mental health. Self-disclosure was not associated with petitionary or ritual prayer and therefore did not mediate the relationships of these prayer types with mental health, as expected. Petitionary prayer had a negative relationship to mental health, while ritual prayer had a positive relationship to mental health. The results indicate that self-disclosure is an important mediator to consider when investigating the associations between private prayer and mental health.

Significant associations of private prayer with mental health have been found, while mechanisms underlying these associations are largely unknown. This cross-sectional online study (N = 325, age 35.74, SD 18.50, 77.5 % females) used path modeling to test if trust-based beliefs (whether, when, and how prayers are answered) mediated the associations of prayer frequency with the Anxiety, Confusion, and Depression Profile of Mood States-Short Form scales. The association of prayer and depression was fully mediated by trust-based beliefs; associations with anxiety and confusion were partially mediated. Further, the interaction of prayer frequency by stress was associated with anxiety.

In this longitudinal study (N = 98), we examined whether drinking for suppression reasons moderated the relation between depressive symptoms and hooking up for self-affirmation reasons and negative hookup consequences. No moderation was found for hooking up for self-affirmation reasons, but the effect for negative hookup consequences approached significance. When drinking for suppression reasons is low, participants with fewer depressive symptoms reported more negative consequences, and participants with more depressive symptoms reported fewer negative consequences 2 months later. Results are discussed within the context of sex education and mental health programming for young adults.

There are clear, empirical associations between teaching behaviors and students' affect. Yet no study to date has investigated whether teaching behaviors (i.e., instructional, organizational, socio-emotional, and negative) impact students' affect differently based on race/ethnicity. This gap in the literature is concerning given the substantial academic and mental health disparities between African American (AA) and European American (EA) students. Thus, the present study examined whether differences exist in the associations between teaching behaviors and affect in AA and EA high school students. Participating AA and EA high school students (N = 968; 60.2% EA) completed the Teaching Behavior Questionnaire and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale for Children. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found a positive association between instructional teaching behavior and positive affect in EA but not AA students; this association was significantly stronger in EA than in AA students (p < 0.05). There was a positive association between socio-emotional teaching behavior and positive affect (p < 0.05) for AA and EA students; race did not moderate this finding (p > 0.05). Finally, there was a negative association between negative teaching behavior and positive affect in EA but not AA students; race did not moderate this finding (p > 0.05). Regarding negative affect, socio-emotional and negative teaching behavior were positively associated with negative affect (p < 0.05) in EA and AA students, respectively. Race did not moderate these associations (p > 0.05). The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Most research in the psychology of religion does not account for interfaith differences. Many studies rely on predominately Christian samples with only a small representation of other faiths. Other studies focus solely on one religion without testing interfaith comparisons. Drawing from previous research in which closeness to God mediated the relationship between prayer and mental health in a predominately Christian sample, this study tested for mediation across three distinct religious samples: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. Closeness to God mediated the relationship between prayer and mental health in the Christian and Muslim samples, but not in the Jewish sample. Prayer was consistently related to closeness to God, but closeness to God was not consistently related to mental health across the three samples. Implications for spiritually adapted therapies and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multicultural orientation (MCO; Owen, Psychotherapy, 50, 2013, 496; Owen et al., Psychotherapy, 48, 2011, 274) is a framework for understanding how psychotherapists engage with their clients' cultural identities within session and focuses on interpersonally humble processes rather than implementing specific skills that are unique to specific cultural groups. Clients who have therapists with higher MCO report better mental health outcomes and better therapeutic alliances (for a review, see Davis et al., Psychotherapy, 55, 2018, 89). Moreover, religious and spiritual (R/S) clients whose R/S wellness is addressed in session have higher mental health outcomes (Captari et al., Journal of Clinical Psychology, 74, 2018, 1938). However, little is known regarding how psychotherapy processes and MCO align when therapy dyads are discussing religious and spiritual (R/S) issues in session. This empirical case study reviews qualitative and quantitative data from two psychotherapy dyads wherein the clients had similar presenting problems, demographics, and discussed R/S issues with their therapists. Coder ratings of MCO and client-reported mental health and working alliance outcomes of selected sessions were analyzed to understand how these processes occur in actual psychotherapy sessions and what clinical gains were made. While both dyads discussed R/S issues and made clinically significant gains via self-reports of wellbeing, the dyads differed in MCO ratings of humility and comfort. Content analysis of session transcripts unpacked these differences and identified the psychotherapists' interventions and responses to their clients. Key takeaways for psychotherapists working with R/S clients are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In Australia, the number of female psychologists is significantly larger than that of male psychologists. Due to gaps in the literature, it is difficult to establish whether such discrepancies affect mental health support seeking. The present study investigated the preferences of Australian respondents for the sex of a potential therapist and whether the accommodation of such preferences affects mental health support seeking. Method: The study employed a mixed design online survey analysed using multiple linear and multinomial logistic regressions and used a convenience sample of N = 456 Australian participants recruited via social media. Demographics, preferences for therapists' sex, problem type, and likelihood to seek help if preferences for therapists' sex were accommodated or not were collected via an online questionnaire. Analyses included tests for group differences and regressions. Results: Male respondents reported lower baseline likelihood to seek mental health support than female respondents. A main effect of sex of respondent on preferences for therapists' sex was found, but no main effect of problem type on preferences for therapists' sex was evident. Finally, accommodating preferences for therapists' sex was a significant predictor of mental health support seeking. Conclusion: It is prudent to encourage the monitoring and accommodation of clients' preferences of therapists' sex. Additionally, more males could be encouraged to enter the mental health professions. The results of the current study may inform education and health policy. Future research could further explore the effects of occupation and problem type on preferences for therapists' sex and help‐seeking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanisms underlying significant associations between different types of prayer and depression are unknown. Based on the conceptualization of prayer as stress buffering coping style and the Response Style Theory, we proposed that rumination mediates the association of prayer types and stress with depression. This cross-sectional study (N = 227 Christians, Mage 41.74, SD 14.82, age range 18-82 years, 76% female) used path modeling to test whether rumination mediated the associations between prayer types and prayer types by stress interactions with depression. Rumination fully mediated the associations of the colloquial and ritual prayer by stress interactions with depressive symptoms, while meditative and petitionary prayer was directly associated with depressive symptoms. Further, petitionary prayer and the ritual prayer by stress interaction were associated with more and not with less rumination and depressive symptoms, respectively. Summarized, first empirical evidence supports an integration of prayer, stress, and rumination into one model of depression. However, the exact nature of their interplay depends on the prayer type. If replicated, our findings allow the integration of prayer into cognitive-behavioral treatment of depression in religious and spiritual clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have found that disclosure to God partially explains associations between certain prayer types and mental health in a Christian sample. Although researchers have discovered several mediators explaining associations between prayer types and mental health, the use of predominantly Christian samples limits generalizability. In this study, the authors tested disclosure to God as a mediator in Jewish, Muslim, and Christian subsamples. Analyses indicated several differences among the groups; disclosure to God mediated associations between prayer type and mental health only among Christians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored closeness to God and God-mediated control as mediators in the relationship between prayer and mental health. The authors tested 3 models for mediation using structural equation modeling to assess the separate and combined effects in an online sample of 330 praying adults from predominantly Christian backgrounds. Although both mediators were relevant when entered separately, closeness to God proved to be a superior mediator when both variables were entered in 1 model. Counselors should consider prayer behaviors when culturally relevant and encourage meditative and colloquial prayer for clients where increased sources of perceived social support would be beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]