Hermstad April K, Haardörfer Regine, Arriola Kimberly Jacob, Stoepker Peter, Leung Emily L, Kegler Michelle C
Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2025 Apr 29;20(4):e0320222. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0320222. eCollection 2025.
Personal well-being is a broad term that encompasses life domains that are not strictly health related, including social, emotional, financial, and environmental factors. Well-being is highly correlated with a range of sociodemographics and health outcomes. Little is known about well-being in rural communities, although the literature suggests that rural communities may be structurally and demographically disadvantaged regarding well-being. This cross-sectional study examined sociodemographic and health-related differences in key well-being domains, using the Personal Well-being Index (PWI). Latent Profile Analysis was used to identify demographic traits and health-related factors associated with differing levels of well-being. As part of a cross-site evaluation of a rural health initiative, we conducted a random, population-based mail survey in 11 rural counties in Georgia (USA). Between December 2018 and June 2019, surveys were mailed to 10,621 households, with 2,788 individuals completing the survey (26.2% response rate). We observed consistent differences in PWI scores and for each domain comprising the PWI across all sociodemographic categories, with characteristics that have historically conferred advantages in the USA (e.g., male gender, White race) generally being associated with greater well-being. The Latent Profile Analysis revealed five distinct well-being profiles reflecting different levels of well-being, with most respondents falling into the Very High or High well-being profile groups. Despite structural and demographic disadvantages, well-being and its sociodemographic and health-related correlates in this rural sample were comparable to that of urban settings. Coalitions working in partnership with researchers and evaluators may be an effective mechanism for identifying the factors that influence well-being and health. Interventions on social determinants of health may help determine what approaches are successful and best promote well-being, in addition to health, while also reducing socioeconomic inequities.
个人幸福感是一个宽泛的术语，涵盖了与健康并非严格相关的生活领域，包括社会、情感、经济和环境因素。幸福感与一系列社会人口统计学特征和健康结果高度相关。尽管文献表明农村社区在幸福感方面可能在结构和人口统计学上处于劣势，但关于农村社区的幸福感却知之甚少。本横断面研究使用个人幸福感指数（PWI），考察了关键幸福感领域在社会人口统计学和健康方面的差异。潜在剖面分析用于识别与不同幸福感水平相关的人口特征和健康相关因素。作为对一项农村健康倡议的跨站点评估的一部分，我们在美国佐治亚州的11个农村县进行了一项基于人群的随机邮件调查。在2018年12月至2019年6月期间，向10621户家庭邮寄了调查问卷，有2788人完成了调查（回复率为26.2%）。我们观察到，在所有社会人口统计学类别中，PWI得分以及构成PWI的每个领域都存在一致的差异，在美国历史上具有优势的特征（如男性、白人种族）通常与更高的幸福感相关。潜在剖面分析揭示了五个不同的幸福感剖面，反映了不同的幸福感水平，大多数受访者属于非常高或高幸福感剖面组。尽管存在结构和人口统计学上的劣势，但这个农村样本中的幸福感及其社会人口统计学和健康相关的关联因素与城市环境中的情况相当。与研究人员和评估人员合作的联盟可能是识别影响幸福感和健康的因素的有效机制。对健康的社会决定因素进行干预，除了有助于确定哪些方法是成功的以及最能促进幸福感和健康之外，还可能有助于减少社会经济不平等。
