The Mental Wellbeing Quiz
Analysis #1 – Mental Wellbeing as a function of Steps to Wellbeing - A sample of 1,660 people who work for the NHS or Social Care Organisations.
Respondents
A sample of 1,660 people, who identified as working either for the NHS or for social care organisations, volunteered to complete the Mental Wellbeing Quiz between 20th December 2021 and 31st March 2022.
Respondents completed the Mental Wellbeing Quiz anonymously online. All respondents confirmed they were over the age of 18. No demographic or identifying information was recorded.
Respondents gave implied consent (via participant information shown in the Terms and Conditions)
Ethics
The data collection protocol for the Mental Wellbeing Quiz received approval from the Movement in Practice Academy Research Ethics Committee (MIPA-REC). The MIPA-REC Protocol number is: MIPA-REC 12/2021/001
Mental Wellbeing Scores as a function of Steps to Wellbeing
The mean Mental Wellbeing scores for each of six Steps to Wellbeing – Social Connections, Physical, Learn New Skills, Give to Others, Mindfulness, The Self-concept – are shown in Table 1.
| Steps to Wellbeing | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|
Social Connections | 6.67 | 2.41 |
Physical | 3.80 | 2.55 |
Learn New Skills | 5.88 | 2.35 |
Give to Others | 6.94 | 2.34 |
Mindfulness | 5.90 | 2.31 |
The Self-concept | 6.14 | 2.57 |
Table 1: Showing the mean and standard deviation (SD) of the Mental Wellbeing scores for each of the Steps to Wellbeing. n = 1660.
Figure 1: Mental Wellbeing score by Steps to Wellbeing. n = 1660.
A General Overview of the Data
Highest Scoring Steps to Wellbeing
It is clear from the data that the highest scoring Steps to Wellbeing are Giving to Others and Social Connections.
This means that people scored highest when they rated statements such as:
- I’ve been offering to help and or support other people
- I’ve been able to give some of my time and attention to other people (or animals) when I want to
- I’m interested in other people
- I’ve been feeling that I have good relationships with other people
- I feel able to connect to others when I want to
- I’ve been able to share positive experiences with other people
A Cluster of Three
The next cluster of Steps to Wellbeing include Learning New Skills, Being Mindful and The Self-Concept
People’s ratings for these three steps to wellbeing are very similar.
People tended to rate the following statements in a similar way:
- I have a sense of purpose
- I’ve been learning new skills
- I’m interested in doing new things
- I’ve been dealing with problems well
- I’ve been thinking clearly
- I’ve been able to make decisions easily
- I’ve been feeling emotionally stable
- I’ve got respect for myself
- I’ve been feeling loved
Lowest Scoring Step to Wellbeing
The lowest rated Step to Wellbeing was Physical.
People gave a low rating to the following statements:
- I’ve been physically active
- I have spare energy
- I’ve been able to get enough physical activity
Statistical Analyses
Statscloud
The data from 1,660 respondents was analysed using StatsCloud
Due to a limitation of Statscloud to analyse only 500 rows of data at a time, we carried out four separate, but identical, analyses with different groups of respondents.
Group A included data from respondents 1-500, Group B included data from respondents 501-1000, Group C included data from respondents 1001-1500 and Group D included data from respondents 1501-1660.
Table 2 shows the mean Mental Wellbeing score for each Step to Wellbeing in Groups A, B, C and D.
| Steps to Wellbeing | Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Social Connections | 6.54 | 6.61 | 6.81 | 6.83 |
Physical | 3.62 | 3.80 | 3.92 | 3.95 |
Learn New Skills | 5.74 | 5.84 | 5.98 | 6.05 |
Give to Others | 6.84 | 6.88 | 7.04 | 7.06 |
Mindfulness | 5.86 | 5.91 | 5.90 | 5.98 |
The Self-concept | 5.96 | 6.16 | 6.26 | 6.18 |
Table 2: Showing the mean Mental Wellbeing scores for each of the Steps to Wellbeing in Groups A, B, C and D. n = 1660.
Analysis by Data Group
Click the links below to see a results section for each Data Group.
Summary Group A
The mean value for Mental Wellbeing was highest in the Give to Others group (M = 6.84, SD = 2.34) followed by the Social Connections (M = 6.54, SD = 2.42)The Self (M = 5.96, SD = 2.56)Mindfulness (M = 5.86, SD = 2.36)Learn New (M = 5.75, SD = 2.34) and Physical (M = 3.63, SD = 2.63) group. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed this difference was statistically significant, F(5, 2999) = 240.45, p < .001, ω2p = 0.71.
Summary Group B
The mean value for Mental Wellbeing was highest in the Give to Others group (M = 6.88, SD = 2.35) followed by the Social Connections (M = 6.61, SD = 2.38)The Self (M = 6.17, SD = 2.53)Mindfulness (M = 5.91, SD = 2.25)Learn New (M = 5.84, SD = 2.26) and Physical (M = 3.80, SD = 2.41) group. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed this difference was statistically significant, F(5, 2999) = 227.13, p < .001, ω2p = 0.69.
Summary Group C
The mean value for Mental Wellbeing was highest in the Give to Others group (M = 7.04, SD = 2.31) followed by the Social Connections (M = 6.81, SD = 2.40)The Self (M = 6.26, SD = 2.59)Learn New (M = 5.98, SD = 2.43)Mindfulness (M = 5.91, SD = 2.30) and Physical (M = 3.92, SD = 2.58) group. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed this difference was statistically significant, F(5, 2999) = 239.56, p < .001, ω2p = 0.70.
Summary Group D
The mean value for Mental Wellbeing was highest in the Give to Others group (M = 7.07, SD = 2.37) followed by the Social Connections (M = 6.83, SD = 2.46)The Self (M = 6.18, SD = 2.62)Learn New (M = 6.06, SD = 2.40)Mindfulness (M = 5.98, SD = 2.44) and Physical (M = 3.95, SD = 2.60) group. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed this difference was statistically significant, F(5, 959) = 78.36, p < .001, ω2p = 0.71.
Discussion
These patterns of data can be interpreted within a three-factor model, where three different aspects of focus can be conceptualised – Extrinsic Focus, Intrinsic Focus and Physical Focus.
Extrinsic Focus
Including the factors GIVING TO OTHERS and SOCIAL CONNECTIONS. External factors drive this form of outward looking focus.
Intrinsic Focus
Including the factors LEARNING NEW SKILLS, BEING MINDFUL and THE SELF-CONCEPT. Internal, cognitive, factors drive this form of inward thinking focus.
Physical Focus
Including the factor PHYSICAL. Movement, energy and bodily factors drive this form of focus.
Interpretation
The current data set was collected from people working either for the National Health Service (NHS) or social care organisations. It is therefore unsurprising that their mental wellbeing has an extrinsic focus, and that this is significantly higher than their intrinsic focus. After all, they have chosen professions which are all about caring for other people.
The intrinsic focus aspect of their mental wellbeing, which is significantly lower than their extrinsic focus, plays a secondary role. They think of others before they think of themselves. This may be a good professional quality but it might have the consequence of reducing their own intrinsic mental wellbeing, characterised by a selfless service to others.
The physical focus of their mental wellbeing plays a very minor role. This is extremely concerning because we know low levels of physical activity have a detrimental effect on people’s health, wellbeing and even longevity.
Recommendations
Taken at the population level we would recommend that people who work for the NHS and for Social Care organisations learn techniques to increase their Intrinsic Focus and their Physical Focus.
Taken at an individual level we would look at their individual mental wellbeing profile and make recommendations accordingly.
Further Information
Information about the Mental Wellbeing Quiz can be found by following the links below
Coming Soon: The Mental Wellbeing Quiz: Analysis #2 - Mental wellbeing as a function of self-report physical activity levels.
