Background. Knowledge about how people with severe mental illness find meaning in non-work occupations is important in order to develop programmes of meaningful daily occupations for this group.

Purpose. To examine the meaning daily occupations may bring to those who are severely mentally ill and unemployed.

Methods. Twelve unemployed people with severe mental illness were interviewed regarding their experience of meaning in daily occupations.

Findings. Meaning was experienced in a balance between occupations that helped the informants control their mental illness. Themes of meaning were: feeling competent and being socially engaged, having routines and being productive, being creative and seeking knowledge, and taking care of body and mind. Substitutes for paid work were found in occupations such as taking care of the household or being productive at a day centre.

Implications. People with severe mental illness should be allowed to play an active role in their rehabilitation process, using the occupational therapist for forming daily routines, creating a balance between work-like and restful occupations, finding occupations that meet one’s skills and training social behaviour. Besides, work-related occupations should be emphasized in the rehabilitation.

Background. Recently, the Occupational Balance Questionnaire developed in Sweden was translated into Norwegian. No studies to date have examined the measurement properties of the Norwegian version of this questionnaire.

Aim. The study is aimed at examining the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Occupational Balance Questionnaire, the OBQ11-N.

Methods. Along with sociodemographic data, 180 occupational therapy students enrolled at two Norwegian universities completed the OBQ11-N as well as one question each related to health and quality of life and some sociodemographic variables. Rasch analysis was employed for examining rating scale functioning, item and person validity, dimensionality, and differential item functioning.

Results. Item categories were ordered, but there were potential gaps in the measurement of the construct. Person reliability was fair, whereas item reliability was low. Point biserial correlations were positive, indicating that all items contributed to the construct. Factor loadings were low for two items, and there were indices of a second underlying dimension and item redundancy. Many people were not aligned with the items, and some items functioned differently across various demographic variables.

Conclusion and Significance. The OBQ11-N did not function as an adequate measure of occupational balance in a sample of students. Potentially, the detected measurement problems may be solved by adding more relevant items to a larger item pool, from which the best fitting items should be selected.

Introduction

Occupational balance (OB) is related to many health indicators, including quality of life. The Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ11) was developed to measure OB, and to date, no Arabic translations of the questionnaire exist. The aim of the study was to describe the translation process of OBQ11 to Arabic and to evaluate its content validity, internal consistency, construct validity, and convergent validity.

Methods

OBQ11 was translated to Arabic (OBQ11-A) following standard guidelines. Content validity feedback was obtained from ten Arabic-speaking occupational therapists and in a cognitive debriefing with seven volunteers. In addition, OBQ11-A and the Family Quality of Life Survey-2006 were administered to 67 Arabic-speaking participants from a larger study about OB among parents.

Results

High level of agreement was found on the content of OBQ11-A from the occupational therapists. Cognitive debriefing interviews indicated that OBQ11-A was easy to understand. Cronbach?s alpha for the total OBQ11-A score was 0.864 indicating good internal consistency. Exploratory factor analysis showed acceptable factor loadings for all items. The total scores showed positive statistically significant associations with Family Quality of Life Scores (r = 0.561, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

OBQ11-A may prove useful for assessing OB in Arabic-speaking populations. Further research is needed to establish its reliability.

Background: People with psychiatric disabilities often find it difficult to maintain a satisfactory occupational balance.

Aims/objectives: This study aimed to investigate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ11-T) in mental health.

Material and methods: OBQ11-T was applied to 149 people for construct validity analysis and to 61 of them for reliability analysis. Validity was determined using factor analyses. The reliability of the OBQ between the first and second evaluations was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for each item and the total OBQ11-T score. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha.

Results: The results of factor analysis revealed one factor that explains 35.94% of the total variance in the model. OBQ11-T item 1 had the lowest and OBQ11-T item 4 had the highest factor loadings. The model fits the data according to the indices of relative fit (RMSEA = 0.087, CMIN/DF = 2.129, CFI = 0.901). There was an excellent correlation between test and retest OBQ11-T total scores (ICC = 0.905). All items of the OBQ11-T showed good reliability. Cronbach’s alpha for the OBQ11-T total score was 0.839, indicating acceptable internal consistency.

Conclusions and significance: The current study showed that OBQ11-T is a valid and reliable tool for measuring the self-rated occupational balance of people with mental illness.

Daily occupations form a pattern dominated by a few main occupations intertwined with hidden occupations. A third category is denoted unexpected occupations or minor events that interrupt the rhythm of main and hidden occupations. The phenomenon of unexpected occupations can be interpreted as an illustration of interruptions in daily life or daily minor stressors. The study aimed to investigate women’s perceived frequency of such disturbing interruptions, and possible relationships with their self-rated health and satisfaction with life as a whole. The study included 202 women aged 38 years, and 286 women aged 50 years who replied to a mailed questionnaire. The results showed that perceived high frequency of interruptions was related to poor subjective health among the younger women, and to low satisfaction with life as a whole in both age groups. Furthermore, the younger women perceived disturbing interruptions more frequently than the older ones, and among the younger women those who had children living at home and lived with a partner experienced disturbing interruptions more frequently than those without children living at home or those living single. The results should be interpreted with caution because the measurement of perceived interruptions has not yet been subjected to psychometric evaluation.

The book is a unique text that offers empirical research and theories to a concept not yet recognized in the scientific community. Dr Kathleen Matuska and Dr Charles Christiansen, joined by Dr Helene Polatajko and Dr Jane Davies proficiently address the various ways to conceptualize life balance as distinguishable among other positive state constructs. Resulting from an informed discussion among international scientists who gathered for a discussion on life balance, this text compiles conceptual commonalities, associations, and discrepancies affiliated with life balance research. This groundbreaking and forward-thinking text implements a multidisciplinary approach to learning about life balance with contributions from psychological, sociological, occupational, economical, leisure, and family studies.

Background: There is need for interventions for people with depression and anxiety, not only focusing on psychological symptoms, but also how to cope with everyday life. The TTM involves that individuals during five sessions, paint and tell their life story. The focus is on everyday occupations, and finally, they create a picture of their future goals. In this study, the TTM was compared to regular occupational therapy.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the TTM compared to regular occupational therapy regarding everyday occupations, psychological symptoms and health in people with depression and/or anxiety disorders.

Methods: 118 clients, 18-65 years, diagnosed with depression or anxiety in primary care and mental health care were randomized to the TTM or regular occupational therapy. Before and after treatment as well as 3 and 12 months afterwards they answered self-assessment questionnaires. Parametric statistical analysis was used.

Results: There were continued positive significant outcomes of everyday occupations, psychological symptoms and health shown in both groups; 3 months as well as 12 months after completed treatment. No significant differences were found between the groups.

Conclusions: The TTM can contribute to an increased number of interventions for people suffering from depression and anxiety.

IMPORTANCE: Although occupational balance (OB) is a construct of importance to occupational therapy, existing OB assessments have not been validated in clinical populations.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the validity and reliability of the 11-item version of the Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ11) in U.S. adults with Type 1 diabetes.

DESIGN: Data were analyzed from adults with Type 1 diabetes enrolled in a larger longitudinal study examining the relationships among blood glucose, emotion, and functioning. Dimensionality of the OBQ11 was assessed with item response theory (IRT); convergent validity was tested by examining whether associations between the OBQ11 and other constructs were consistent with a priori hypotheses.

SETTING: Three outpatient clinical sites in the United States.

PARTICIPANTS: Data from 208 U.S. adults with Type 1 diabetes were included in the analyses (42% Latino, 29% White, 14% African American, 7% multiethnic, and 8% other).

OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Assessments administered include the OBQ11, Patient Health Questionnaire (depression), and Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire.

RESULTS: Overall, results from IRT models and correlational tests supported the reliability and validity of the OBQ11. For instance, higher scores on the OBQ11 were significantly associated with better self-ratings of diabetes management behaviors (r = .28, p < .001), lower depression symptoms (r = -.53, p < .001), and greater positive affect (r = .32, p < .001). A single-factor generalized partial credit model fit the OBQ11 acceptably well, supporting its unidimensionality.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The OBQ11 may be a reliable and valid measure of OB appropriate for use in clinical populations such as adults with diabetes. What This Article Adds: OB is not often formally assessed by occupational therapists in the United States, even though the contributions of OB to health and well-being are core components of the philosophy of occupational therapy. The current evidence supports the validity of the OBQ11 in a clinical population of adults with Type 1 diabetes and demonstrates significant associations between OB and health management behaviors. Study results may encourage greater consideration and assessment of OB in occupational therapy clinical practice in the United States.

Background: The aims of this longitudinal study were to analyse whether perceptions of employment,domestic work and leisure were predictors of health among women and men, and whether the predictors revealed were the same for both genders. Method: A random sample comprising of 2,683 employees in public health care and social insurance offices (2286 women and 397 men) in western Sweden, answered a survey twice, within a two-year interval. Results: The results showed that perceptions of low stress, good balance and high meaning in the occupations of everyday life predicted both good self-rated health and balanced work attendance among women but not among men. For men, the most important predictor of both good self-rated health and balanced work attendance was low work place stress. Conclusion: The men seemed to have a better balance between employment, domestic work, and leisure than the women. Furthermore, the results indicated that leisure might be a more pronounced health protector for women than for men.

BACKGROUND/AIM:

More knowledge is needed about the role of perceived control in the associations between different perceptions of daily occupations and positive health outcomes. The aim was to explore the associations between different subjective perceptions of daily occupations, in terms of occupational balance, occupational meaning, occupational value and satisfaction with occupations, and life satisfaction, and the role of perceived control in those associations.

METHODS:

A questionnaire including questions about perceptions of daily occupations, perceived control and life satisfaction were answered by a random sample of 488 middle-aged Swedish women. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to test the associations between perceptions of daily occupations and life satisfaction, and the role of perceived control.

RESULTS:

After adjustments for perceived control women who perceived a high level of satisfaction with work and leisure, occupational balance, occupational meaning and occupational value perceived greater life satisfaction than the other women. Perceived control was not significant in the model.

CONCLUSIONS:

It seems that occupational balance and occupational meaning were pivotal for the women's life satisfaction, but satisfaction with work and leisure, as well as perceived occupational value, was also of importance. The assumption that perceived control would have a role in the association between perceptions of occupations and life satisfaction was not confirmed.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:

The results indicate that occupational therapists need to focus on occupational balance, occupational meaning, occupational value and satisfaction with work and leisure to promote positive health outcomes, in terms of life satisfaction, when working with middle-aged female clients.

There is growing interest in developing a conceptual understanding of the experience of balance in everyday life, from an occupational perspective. The purpose of this study was to gain insights about balance in the everyday lives of women with stress-related disorders. Data were gathered from 19 women who were past the first phase of recovery from a stress-related disorder and participated in one of five focus groups. Analysis revealed that the participants experienced a continuum between imbalance and balance in everyday life. The themes that emerged were image of occupational self, strategies to manage and control everyday life, occupational repertoire, and occupational experience. Balance in everyday life was achieved through a dynamic interaction between these themes, which the women characterised as respecting their own values, needs, and resources; having strategies to manage and control everyday life; having a harmonious occupational repertoire; and engaging in personally meaningful occupation. Engagement in personally meaningful occupation appears to be a mechanism that enables people to achieve balance in everyday life by enabling them to develop a successful occupational selfimage, manageability, control, and a harmonious occupational repertoire. Well-being seems to be the outcome of balance in everyday life, and lack of balance is experienced as overload.

One purpose of the present study is to explore the stability of the pattern of health/work and sickness absence among middle-aged women over a period of three years. Two hypotheses were tested: 1. that enduringly healthy working women would perceive more valued occupational roles and higher well-being than long-term sick-listed women, and 2. that high levels of well-being at baseline would predict enduring health and occupational role value at a 3-year follow-up. Middle-aged women (n = 208) answered a postal survey with the Role checklist, a well-being scale and questions about work and sickness situation. The results showed that there was a considerable variability in the pattern of health/work and sickness absence. The results showed that the enduringly healthy women experienced a more valued worker role and higher well-being than the long-term sick-listed women. Furthermore, high levels of well-being concerning health and work predicted enduring health in the studied sample.

Introduction: Occupational balance and satisfaction with daily occupations are two central concepts in occupational science. The aim of the present study was therefore to explore associations between different aspects of occupational balance and satisfaction with daily occupations. A second aim was to explore whether different aspects of occupational balance predicted satisfaction with daily occupations 12 months later.

Methods: The present study had an exploratory correlational longitudinal pilot study design and was part of a project in which the Tree Theme Method was evaluated for patients with depression and/or anxiety disorders. Data collected directly after the intervention (n=107) and 12 months later (n=84) were used in the present study. The Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ) and the Satisfaction with Daily Occupations (SDO) were used, and binary logistic regressions were used to explore associations between them.

Results: Statistically significant associations were found between the following aspects of occupational balance: Balance between work, home, family, leisure, rest, and sleep; Having neither too much nor too little to do during a regular week; Satisfaction with time spent in rest, recovery, and sleep and satisfaction with daily occupations directly after the intervention. The occupational balance item Balance between energy-giving/energy-taking occupations directly after the intervention predicted satisfaction with daily occupations 12 months later.

Conclusion: This study provides some support for the assumption about an association between occupational balance and satisfaction with daily occupations. Studies with larger sample sizes and in other cultures are recommended to confirm the presence of these associations and/or to find other associations.

The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to examine how subjective experiences of engagement in patterns of daily occupations (gainful employment, domestic work, enjoyable and recreational occupations) were associated with perceived health among women of working age. The sample (n_488) was drawn from a longitudinal cohort study of women of working age in Gothenburg, Sweden. Participants were women 38 (n_202) and 50 (n_286) years of age. They completed a questionnaire including questions about occupational experiences in relation to their patterns of daily occupations, perceived health, and socioeconomic factors. The results of the present study showed that a combination of different experience dimensions of patterns of daily occupations was associated with perceived health among women of working age, even when adjusted for socioeconomic factors and age. The results provided occupational pattern-related health indicators, i.e. manageability, personally meaningful occupations, and occupational balance. To combine these health indicators can be a way for occupational therapists to enable women to develop strategies to promote health and to prevent stress and sick leave.

This phenomenological research is the second part of two analysis phases. The purpose of the first analysis phase was to gain insights about the experiences, perceptions, and attitudes about lifestyle balance of 19 women who were recovering from stress-related disorders. The findings indicated that the women perceived both balance and imbalance relative to their image of occupational self, strategies to manage and control everyday life, occupational repertoire, and occupational experience. The purpose of the second analysis phase was to re-analyze the data for its congruence with the Matuska and Christiansen life balance model using a matrix system, and to test the validity of the model. Results from the second phase are reported. When discussing the continuum between balance and imbalance in their lives, the women described occupations that met needs related to each of the five lifestyle balance model dimensions. They felt balanced or imbalanced depending on whether they were able to maintain their physical health, nurture important relationships, create a positive identity, pursue rewarding and stimulating occupations, and manage their time and energy to achieve daily goals and renewal. These findings provide additional validity for the life balance model, which may be used in occupational science.

Introduction: Occupational balance is the experience of having the right amount and right variation between work, domestic work, leisure, rest, and sleep. There is limited knowledge about which factors predict parents’ combined occupational balance, and if the combined occupational balance is associated with work and life satisfaction.

Aim: The first aim was to explore whether domestic work and childcare at baseline predicted combined occupational balance at follow-up among working cohabiting parents. The second aim was to explore associations between different combinations of occupational balance, and work and life satisfaction at follow-up.

Method: A sample of 139 cohabiting parents responded to a questionnaire. Cohabiting parents can experience their occupational balance differently, and in the present study their experiences were divided into high and low after the median. The parents’ balance was then combined in terms of high-high, high-low and low-low. Associations between childcare, domestic work, work and life satisfaction, and combined occupational balance were analysed with multinomial logistic regression analyses.

Results: Satisfaction with the division of domestic work predicted a high-high occupational balance in parent couples. Associations were found between high-high as well as high-low combined occupational balance and life satisfaction, and between high-high occupational balance and work satisfaction.

Conclusions: It seems important for both parents in a couple to experience satisfaction with the division of domestic work to experience high occupational balance as well as work and life satisfaction.

This study aimed to describe and analyse self-rated health in relation to sense of coherence and socioeconomic and health-related factors and to explore the associations between self-rated health and these factors in order to identify health resources and health limitations in a group of healthy middle-aged women. Healthy middle-aged women from a defined geographical area in Southern Sweden ( n =577) answered a postal survey with the sense of coherence scale and questions about socioeconomic and health-related conditions. The results showed that very good/rather good self-rated health was associated with high sense of coherence and good economic situation, and these factors can be seen as a health resource. Poor self-rated health was most strongly associated with perceived symptoms of tension, weak sense of coherence, treatment for depression, treatment for chronic disease, and difficult economic situation, and these factors can be seen as health limitations. In conclusion, only 29% of the women rated their health as very good and 41% of the women had symptoms of tension but they were not sick-listed. It is of major public health interest to improve the understanding of self-rated health and to develop health promotion for women and methods to prevent symptoms of tension and sick-listing.

Bakgrund/Syfte

Aktivitetsbalans definieras som att: ”uppfatta livet som innehållande rätt mängd och rätt variation mellan olika aktiviteter i relation till: aktivitetskategorier, aktiviteter med olika karaktäristika samt tidsanvändning”. Aktivitetsbalans ses alltså som personens egna subjektiva upplevelse av sin mix av aktiviteter i aktivitetsmönstret oberoende av vilka aktiviteter som ingår. Baserat på denna definition utvecklades ett instrument för självskattad aktivitetsbalans (OBQ11) som är reliabilitets- och validitetstestat och avsett att användas både i praxis och forskning.

Metod/Tillvägagångssätt

Instrumentet har utvecklats stegvis. Först identifierades ett antal indikatorer på aktivitetsbalans baserat på forskning samt erfarenheter från praxis. Utifrån dessa indikatorer utvecklades ett antal påståenden som granskades av experter inom området. Baserat på deras synpunkter omformulerades och reducerades antalet påståenden. Denna första version testades med klassisk testteori. Därefter gjordes en Raschanalys och antalet påståenden reducerades till nuvarande version, OBQ11.

Resultat/Preliminärt resultat

Instrumentet består av 11 påståenden där svaren kan användas som en screening för att få en bild av hur aktivitetsbalansen ser ut. I praxis behöver OBQ11 kompletteras med en dialog för att få en större förståelse för personens aktivitetsbalans och vad som eventuellt behöver förändras för att personen ska uppleva en bättre aktivitetsbalans. Instrumentet kan också användas som uppföljning och utvärdering av interventioner i både praxis och forskning. Instrumentet självskattad aktivitetsbalans (OBQ11) ges from hösten 2022 ut av Sveriges Arbetsterapeuter.

Slutsats/Praktisk tillämpning

Instrumentet självskattad aktivitetsbalans (OBQ11) är testat i olika grupper, både i normalpopulationer och i olika diagnosgrupper och är validerat och reliabelt för dessa grupper. Det är ännu inte testat på barn och ungdomar.

OBQ11 ett självskattningsinstrument om personens aktivitetsbalans med 11 påståenden. Svaren på dessa kan användas enskilt eller summerade, som en screening för att få en bild av en persons aktivitetsbalans.

The aim of this phenomenographic study was to identify and characterise what women with the diagnoses Rheumatoid Arthritis and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis consider important in the occupational performance of daily occupations to experience health regardless of their disease. Nine women, 42-65 years old participated in the study. By using a phenomenographic method with semi-structured questions the main category “Being able to be as active as possible in daily occupations” emerged. It was important for the participants to perform personally meaningful occupations to experience health. The participants found it especially important to be able to perform self-care and homemaking. The participants could experience health despite suffering from a chronic disease by using assistive devices, adjusting their daily occupations according to their level of physical function and strength and getting support from other individuals. By having access to a variety of treatments the participants could maintain or increase their level och performance of daily occupations. Though being deficient in physical function, the participants were able to achieve maximum of occupational performance by adjusting the occupation component and the environment component.

This study demonstrates how the quality of life and occupational balance of graduate OT students were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It also highlights students’ perception of how the experience will affect their future practice. The understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student wellness allows program faculty to best support OT students and prepares educators for future disasters and crises.

Introduction: Occupational balance is a fundamental concept that plays an influential role in enhancing health and well-being.

Method: The Persian Occupational Balance Questionnaire-11 was administered to 157 healthy individuals in the test phase and 80 healthy individuals in the retest phase. Floor or ceiling effects, construct validity, discriminant validity, internal consistency reliability, test–retest reliability, standard error of the measurement and smallest detectable change were examined.

Results: The Persian Occupational Balance Questionnaire-11 showed no missing responses. There were no floor or ceiling effects for the total score. The independent t-test did not show a statistically significant difference between groups (based on age category, marital status and job status) that didn’t support discriminant validity. Factor analysis demonstrated a three-factor solution for the Persian Occupational Balance Questionnaire-11 which jointly accounted for 57.62% of the total variance. There was high internal consistency for test (α = 0.813) and retest (α = 0.853). The test–retest reliability for Persian Occupational Balance Questionnaire-11 with a 1-week interval was excellent (ICCagreement = 0.880). The standard error of the measurement and smallest detectable change were 2.02 and 5.60, respectively.

Conclusion: Persian Occupational Balance Questionnaire-11 is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing occupational balance in healthy Persian-speaking participants.

Objective. To explore how individuals with systemic sclerosis (SSc) manage their work life.

Methods. We conducted four focus group interviews which included 17 patients. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcribed texts were analysed according to thematic content analysis. Relevant statements, that generated preliminary categories, were identified after which, themes and underlying sub-themes were generated.

 Results. Four themes emerged:  adaptation, strategy, communication and attitude. Flexible working hours, workplace and work assignments corresponding to the individuals’ recourses, were the most important adaptation requirements for SSc patients. Reluctance to disclose their illness was the most prominent reason for not requesting adaptations. Strategies to facilitate working at home, such as receiving assistance with household chores as well as buying in cleaning services were easy to realize and saved energy for meaningful activities. The participants tried to prioritize meaningful activities rather than spending energy on unnecessary activities both at work and outside of work. Fatigue influenced activities at work but mostly outside of work and to manage their working life the participants were dependent of having time for recovery, above all rest.

Conclusion. The ability to develop adaptations and strategies, to a great extent, depends on the individual’s understanding and acceptance of their disease, awareness and respect for their own needs for meaningful activities and an ability to communicate this at work and outside of work. As health professionals we should enhance the confidence of persons with SSc to strengthen their ability to bring about the necessary dialogue.

Background: The concept occupational balance has been linked with health and well-being, and it is therefore viewed as an important concept for occupational therapy practice, theory and research. To operationalize and measure occupational balance, the Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ) was developed in Sweden. To date, no Norwegian translations of the OBQ exists.

Aim: To describe the process of developing a Norwegian version of the 11-items Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ11-N) and to evaluate its feasibility and face validity.

Methods: The development process followed a predetermined series of steps, including forward and back translation and cognitive interviews with a pilot sample.

Results: The pilot study sample (n = 8) varied with respect to age, gender and education level. There was high level of agreement between the participants with regard to their understanding of the content of the items. Three of the items were slightly modified in terms of words and phrasing.

Conclusion: The OBQ11-N was developed according to established translation guidelines and appears to be feasible and have good face validity.

Significance: The OBQ11-N may prove useful for assessing occupational balance and associated factors in Norwegian population groups. However, more research is needed to establish the Norwegian version of the questionnaire as psychometrically valid. 

Occupational balance is a frequently used concept in occupational therapy, but it is complex and differences in content exist. Further knowledge would be valuable for scholars, practitioners, and measurement development. Concept analysis is a way to clarify concepts. The present concept analysis used Walker and Avant's procedure for analysing the concept of occupational balance, with 43 articles included in the analysis. The results showed that occupational balance can be defined as the individual's perception of having the right amount of occupations and the right variation between occupations. Three perspectives of occupational balance were identified: in relation to occupational areas, in relation to occupations with different characteristics, and in relation to time use. The knowledge gained may guide the use of the concept, and some suggestions are made for its use and for further research.

A life in balance is commonly related to health and well-being. However, our knowledge regarding the perceptions of life balance among the general population is limited. Our aim was to explore the perception of life balance among working people without recent long-term sick leave. Individual interviews were conducted with 7 men and 12 women and analyzed according to grounded theory, aiming at achieving a description. The results showed that life balance includes four interrelated dimensions: activity balance, balance in body and mind, balance in relation to others, and time balance. Life balance was regarded by the participants as health related, promoted by a sense of security, and affected by context and individual strategies. Life balance was also seen as being individually defined and dynamic. The results indicate that the perceptions of life balance might be quite general because they show similarities with previous research on different populations.

Background

People with depression and anxiety disorder may experience occupational performance issues (OPIs). Further knowledge about these issues longitudinally and about potential differences between people is valuable.

Aim

To explore experienced OPIs longitudinally in a sample living with depression and/or anxiety disorder participating in occupational therapy and varying in terms of their work situation.

Material and methods

The Canadian occupational performance measure (COPM) was completed by 54 participants with depression and/or anxiety at four measure-points from baseline to one-year after participation in occupational therapy. The participants constituted three groups: continuously on sick leave (SL), returned to work within a year and continuing working. Descriptive and non-parametric analysis was used.

Results

Participants in all groups identified OPIs in all occupational areas in the COPM. All groups increased their occupational performance and satisfaction with their occupational performance in the area socialisation. Each group also made improvements in relation to other occupational areas, varying between the groups.

Conclusions

OPIs and improvements were identified among the participants regardless of them being on SL, returning to work or working.

Significance

The diverse nature of OPIs and improvements in the clients indicate the relevance of occupational therapy.

Background: Anxiety and depressive disorders are common in western societies and related to occupational problems.

Objective: To describe occupational balance in people with anxiety and/or depression and associations with higher occupational balance.

Methods: Clients (20 men and 98 women), aged 18 to 65 years were recruited from outpatient mental health care or primary health care. They had a diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression as well as occupational problems.

The participants answered questionnaires about occupational balance, occupational performance, satisfaction with occupational performance, quality of life, and psychological problems.

Results: The participants rated generally low occupational balance. However, the level of occupational balance differed depending on their self-rated level of anxiety and depression; quality of life; occupational performance; and satisfaction with the occupational performance.

High occupational balance was, in a logistic regression, associated with high satisfaction with occupational performance, high quality of life, and low level of depression.

Conclusion: The results indicate that satisfaction with occupational performance is a relevant aspect in relation to occupational balance in clients with anxiety and depression.

Antecedentes: El equilibrio ocupacional es un concepto importante en la ciencia ocupacional, aunque su estudio se ha realizado principalmente desde una perspectiva individual. Otra perspectiva relevante en el equilibrio ocupacional es la perspectiva interpersonal, por ejemplo, en qué medida el equilibrio ocupacional de una persona afecta a los demás y se ve afectado por estos. El objetivo de esta revisión es describir en qué medida se ha abordado recientemente el equilibrio ocupacional desde una perspectiva interpersonal.

Métodos: Se ha utilizado una metodología de revisión de alcance. Se utilizaron datos de artículos publicados entre 2014 y 2017 que cumplían los siguientes criterios de inclusión: artículos completos que recogían una investigación primaria; publicados en inglés; incluían los conceptos «equilibrio ocupacional», «equilibrio en la vida cotidiana» o «equilibrio personal» en el resumen, en las palabras clave o en el título; tener un foco ocupacional en el equilibrio; y aportar información relevante respecto a la perspectiva interpersonal.

Resultados: Se incluyeron nueve artículos. La perspectiva interpersonal se vio principalmente respecto a parejas o familias, cosa que muestra el impacto positivo del apoyo y el impacto negativo de las madres de satisfacer las necesidades de los demás. Un artículo abordó aspectos relacionados con organizaciones y actitudes en el lugar de trabajo en padres respecto a hijos pequeños.

Conclusión: Los hallazgos evidencian la importancia de considerar el equilibrio ocupacional de la persona y de su entorno, mostrando, al mismo tiempo, algunas de las complejidades del equilibrio ocupacional. La cantidad limitada de artículos identificados indica que todavía existe una falta de estudios que apliquen una perspectiva interpersonal, por lo que profundizar en los análisis de la influencia interpersonal en el equilibrio ocupacional podría ser una senda fructífera que convendría emprender.

Life balance seems subjective, health related, and multidimensional. However, the concept is complex. Exploring what people themselves consider more or less important for their life balance and whether this differs between people would develop new knowledge. Q methodology was chosen for the present study, in which 32 working men and women without recent long-term sick leave participated. They sorted 42 statements regarding life balance according to their importance for each participant's life balance. The analysis resulted in four different viewpoints concerning life balance. All four viewpoints considered good relationships with those closest to them, as well as knowing that these people were doing well, as important. Each viewpoint also showed a unique orientation towards what was considered important for life balance: occupational balance (viewpoint 1), self-actualization (viewpoint 2), self-awareness (viewpoint 3), and reciprocal relationships (viewpoint 4). The results. showed support for life balance as being a subjective, multidimensional, and health-related phenomenon. The results demonstrated the importance of relationships for life balance and heterogeneity in what people considered important for their own life balance.

An analysis of data from a previously conducted grounded theory study exploring perceptions of life balance among 19 working adults without recent long term sick leave was carried out. The aim of this secondary analysis was to use these perceptions of life balance to validate the Model of Lifestyle Balance proposed by Matuska and Christiansen. For the validation, a matrix was used. The results showed that Matuska and Christiansen's five need-based dimensions were represented by the participants’ perceptions of life balance, but also an additional aspect not included in the model. The participants stressed healthy habits in relation to sleep, exercise and eating, and good relationships as important for life balance. Furthermore, it was described as important to perceive sufficient challenge and meaningfulness in their occupations and to organize time and energy. Finally, the participants stressed financial security as important for life balance. These findings provide additional evidence of the validity of the Model of Lifestyle Balance, a model that appears to be useful in occupational science.