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This paper explores family and non-family factors contributing to happiness among students aged 15-18 in Thailand. Data come from the Social and Cultural Situation and Mental Health Survey (n = 905). Based on regression analysis, family factors are more important than non- family factors in explaining the variations in adolescents' happiness. Regarding the family domain, those who reported sufficient time spent with family members and highest level of love and connectedness were happiest. Those living in a two-parent family were happiest, followed by those living with a married father or a married mother (in a single parent family). Those living in an unmarried mother family were unhappiest, controlling for household economic status. These findings highlight the important role of a father in a country with a matrilocal family system. Regarding non-family factors, adolescents with the highest school attendance, highest self-esteem, and highest economic status who also regularly participated in extracurricular activities were happiest. Adolescents who were older and who had to do chores regularly tended to be less happy than their peers.

In this paper we examine differences in upper secondary school attendance among subgroups of the population in Thailand. We ascertain where inequalities continue to exist and where they have been mediated. We analyze data from samples of the 1990 and 2000 Thai censuses. We find that the gender gap favoring boys has closed at the national level and that girls now transition to upper secondary school more often than do boys. Inequalities still exist according to socioeconomic background of families. Rural-urban differences have narrowed considerably since 1990, but they continue to be observed, particularly in certain parts of the country. Similarly, differences between Muslims and others appear to have lessened over the last decade, but Muslims continue to be disadvantaged compared to others, particularly in the South. (Contains 1 figure, 6 tables and 1 footnote.)

This study examined the effects of several aspects of care-giving on the subjective well-being (SWB) of family caregivers of older adults. These aspects were comprised of external resources including social support, affection, and internal resources including confidence, positive appraisal and coping strategies, and tiredness. The level of happiness (0–10) was used as the gauge of SWB. The data were from a cross-sectional study of 270 primary family caregivers in western Thailand. Multiple regression models controlling for age, gender, kinship to care for recipients, self-rated health, duration and hours of care-giving were estimated. Both social support in terms of appreciation and admiration for care-giving, as opposed to such care being considered a caregivers' duty, as well as inner strength derived from a positive attitude and self-perceived ability in care-giving were positively associated with SWB. Tiredness had a significant negative association with SWB. The implications of these findings for policy and intervention programs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the correlation between household composition and consumption of different groups of high fat, sugar or sodium (HFSS) among older persons in Thailand., Study Design: This study used cross-sectional data from the 2021 population-based survey called the Health Behavior of Population Survey., Methods: Data from this study were drawn from 39,384 sampled Thai older persons age 60 years or over. A food frequency questionnaire was used to collect information about frequency of HFSS food consumption, household composition, and socio-demographic characteristics. Binary logistic regression was performed to investigate correlations between household composition and food consumption., Results: More than three in five older Thais lived in a multigenerational home. The probabilities of consuming high-fat food, fast food, and snacks among older persons who lived with working-age person(s) and child(ren)/adolescents were much higher than for those living alone. Older persons who lived alone had the highest probability of consuming instant food, compared with other types of household composition. Participants who lived with child(ren)/adolescents only or with working-age person(s) only (p ≤ 0.01) and child(ren)/adolescents only (p ≤ 0.001) were more likely to consume sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB)., Conclusions: The findings point to life course interventions to discourage HFSS consumption across generations. Social interventions and public policy aiming at increasing intergenerational interactions could be beneficial for healthier diets for not only older persons but also across generations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate prevalence of life satisfaction in the Thai population before and during the COVID-19 epidemic, and factors associated with life satisfaction during the epidemic. Methods: Multistage sampling was used to draw a sample from the Thai population. A total of 3,115 Thai participants age 15 years or older from a nationally-representative longitudinal survey in 2019 and in 2021 were included in this study. The study applied the Scale with Life Satisfaction (SWLS) instrument to measure life satisfaction among the Thai population before and during the COVID-19 epidemic. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the association between life satisfaction and other variables. The follow-up survey response rate for individuals was 44.8%. Results: An average life satisfaction score during the COVID-19 epidemic (in 2021) was 22.4 which decreased from 25.5 before the COVID-19 epidemic (in 2019). More than one-third of the participants (36.5%) reported having less life satisfaction during the epidemic, which was nearly 20 percentage points higher than before the epidemic (17.7%). Controlling for life satisfaction in 2019, the analysis found statistical associations between demographic and economic characteristics and health-related behaviours, and life satisfaction during 2021. People in the older age cohorts ( p ≤ 0.001), in a rural area ( p ≤ 0.05), having higher education ( p ≤ 0.001), still being employed ( p ≤ 0.01) and becoming unemployed ( p ≤ 0.01) had higher life satisfaction. The possibility of higher life satisfaction was also found in people who maintained good health ( p ≤ 0.01), sufficient physical activity ( p ≤ 0.001), and fruit and vegetable intake ( p ≤ 0.01). People with income loss during the epidemic had lower life satisfaction ( p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: The findings suggest that policies and systems for resilience and social protection are needed for empowering individuals-especially the poor and vulnerable-to cope with crises, and improve health and wellbeing outcomes., Competing Interests: CU and PS declare that they are serving as a steering committee and a Division Director of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, respectively. The remaining authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Phulkerd, Thapsuwan, Soottipong Gray, Chamratrithirong, Pattaravanich, Ungchusak and Saonuam.)