The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11482-025-10502-5.

Abstract Timebanking, a system where individuals earn time credits through volunteering and exchange them for goods and services, has potential to enhance quality of life (QoL). However, existing studies primarily rely on single-case or qualitative designs, leaving the mechanisms linking timebanking to QoL in older adults underexplored. This study examines the chain-mediating roles of volunteering hours and two sequential pathways — empowerment and belonging — in explaining the impact of timebanking on QoL. A quasi-experimental study was conducted on a timebanking program targeting individuals aged 50 and above in Hong Kong between 2021 and 2022. A total of 116 participants in the timebank group and 114 in the comparison group engaged in volunteer activities at local community centers. The timebank group earned and exchanged time credits for rewards, while the comparison group did not. A Parallel Process Latent Growth Curve Model was used to analyze data. After controlling for covariates, the timebank group demonstrated a significantly faster increase in weekly volunteer hours over time compared to the comparison group (β = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.35, 1.61). Timebanking indirectly improved QoL over time, primarily through increased volunteering hours, which subsequently enhanced self-efficacy in volunteering (chain-mediating effect: β = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.11, 5.10). This study provides the first quasi-experimental evidence that timebanking is a promising intervention to improve QoL in older adults. By fostering increased volunteering and enhancing self-efficacy, timebanking offers an innovative and effective approach to promote active aging and well-being.

Abstract With the increasing prevalence of mental health issues among young populations, participatory methods have gained attention for their potential to engage children in the design and implementation of interventions aimed at enhancing their psychological well-being. Despite the growing body of research involving children and adolescents, there remains a significant gap in the literature regarding the systematic use of participatory methods specifically tailored to this demographic. This systematic review addresses the research gap in tailored participatory approaches for improving psychological well-being among children and adolescents amid rising youth mental health challenges. Analyzing 14 empirical studies (1990–2024) in English from Web of Science, Ebscohost, Scope, PsycINFO, three key findings emerge. First, diverse participatory tools—such as creative workshops, art-based activities, and digital platforms—effectively engage youth as active co-designers of interventions, enhancing their agency and ownership. Second, psychological well-being is primarily conceptualized through positive emotional indicators (e.g., happiness, belonging), with limited integration of cognitive, behavioral, or social functioning dimensions. Third, participatory methods increasingly serve dual roles: as research frameworks capturing contextualized needs and as empowerment-driven interventions fostering resilience and self-efficacy. While small sample sizes constrain generalizability, the study underscores participatory methods’ dual value—methodologically, they reveal nuanced well-being dynamics. Practically, they create youth-centered pathways for psychological well-being improvement. The findings advocate for standardized metrics to evaluate participatory methods’ effectiveness and emphasize cross-cultural adaptations to enhance applicability. This synthesis provides actionable insights for developing age-specific interventions, urging policymakers and practitioners to prioritize participatory paradigms that bridge research and real-world psychological well-being outcomes.

Abstract This study aims to explore the relationship between economic insecurity, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data for this study came from five waves of the Understanding American Survey, which was fielded from April 2020 through April 2021. A multilevel modeling approach was used to analyze the longitudinal dataset. The findings reveal a positive association between economic insecurity and depressive symptoms. The results also indicate an indirect effect, demonstrating that economic insecurity influences depressive symptoms through its impact on perceived stress. Additionally, the results suggest that economic insecurity amplifies fluctuations in depressive symptoms over time, although this intensifying effect diminishes as time progresses.

Abstract This study examines the relationship between working from home (WFH) and satisfaction with work-life balance (WLB) and life satisfaction among parents with dependent children, focusing on moderating factors related to work hours and childcare demands. We differentiate between parents who continued WFH from before the COVID-19 pandemic and those who began WFH during the pandemic. Using a dataset collected via a representative online survey in Canada, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and the United States, we provide cross-national estimates of WFH’s impact on WLB and life satisfaction. Data collection took place between June and September 2021, capturing a unique period when WFH was widespread but pandemic-related restrictions had been lifted. Our findings show that both fathers and mothers across all countries reported higher WLB when WFH, particularly if they gained the opportunity to WFH during the pandemic. However, the association between WFH and life satisfaction was less consistent and varied by gender and country. For parents who worked from home prior to the pandemic, WFH was linked to higher WLB satisfaction only if they did not work long hours. Interestingly, mothers who began WFH during the pandemic reported higher WLB satisfaction even when working long hours or bearing primary childcare responsibilities. This suggests that the newly gained ability to WFH was especially valued by mothers as a vital means of balancing intensive work and family demands during the pandemic. These findings underscore the importance of distinguishing between the short- and long-term effects of WFH on WLB in future research.

Abstract Research in urban planning demonstrates that the built environment holds significant power to shape individuals’ subjective wellbeing and quality of life outcomes. In contrast, a substantial body of psychological research suggests that circumstantial and geographical environments play a relatively minor role in explaining variations in happiness. To reconcile these contrasting findings, we conducted a meta-analysis to provide a quantitative synthesis. This study adopts a sequential design. First, we systematically search for and evaluate quantitative evidence from 54 studies examining 29 policy interventions. Based on the included studies, we then identify relevant covariates, focusing on the type of interventions, associated neighbourhood environments, population subgroups, duration, and methodological design, for a meta-regression analysis. Estimates from our meta-regressions reveal that place-based neighbourhood interventions are more likely to produce short-term mental health and wellbeing impacts compared to people-based interventions, such as subsidised residential mobility programmes. However, the wellbeing effects are unequally distributed among population subgroups. Girls are more likely to experience beneficial effects, while boys are more likely to experience detrimental ones. Additionally, the results from our meta-regressions suggest that among various types of neighbourhood environments, the social environment is more likely to be associated with neighbourhood effects than the economic environment.

Abstract There is a demand for information on the quality of life in regions, among policymakers, business organizations and individuals. Much that information is available in the results of empirical studies, but it is difficult to get to that information. How to gather and select the available research findings and present these in a comparable way? In this paper I argue that the most inclusive indicator of quality-of-life in regions is how happy its inhabitants are. Happiness in the sense life-satisfaction is well measurable and comparable across place and time. Several survey studies provided information on the distribution of happiness in regions (average level and inequality) as well as on regional correlates of happiness. Reports of these studies are scattered, and the data are often presented in incomparable ways. Some of them used measures of happiness that do not fit the concept of happiness as life-satisfaction. Findings based on acceptable measures of happiness are gathered in the World Database of Happiness and presented in a standard format and terminology on electronic ‘finding pages’. By September 2024, this archive held 7666 findings on happiness in regions and cities, of which 4373 distributional findings and 2293 correlational findings. In this article, I demonstrate how these findings can be assessed and be used in review studies. Not all the available findings are entered in the World Database of Happiness as yet: about half as much are on the waiting list. Entering the existing findings may add more to our understanding than adding new data to the pile. In this paper, I show how colleagues can do that. I also point out how they use the technique of this findings archive to build a separate database on Happiness in Regions.

This research examines whether employees’ perceptions of service climate are related to organizational performance oriented toward improving the quality of life (QoL) of people with intellectual disability (ID) through the mediation of service quality perceived by family members. The research was conducted in 252 centers for people with ID in Spain. Employees (N = 2.021) reported on service climate. Family members (N = 2.267) reported on service quality and organizational performance oriented toward improving QoL. We used an overall measure of service climate. Service quality was composed of two dimensions: functional (efficiency in the delivery of the core service) and relational (quality of the social interaction between employees and service users beyond the core service) service quality. Organizational performance oriented toward QoL was composed of four dimensions: overall QoL; self-determination; social inclusion; and defense of rights of people with ID. Results supported full mediation, with functional and relational service quality mediating the relationship between service climate and performance oriented toward improving QoL. Implications for research and organizations are also discussed.