University students in the Czech Republic suffer from a low level of mental well-being. Research in other university student populations suggests that academic motivation, self-compassion, and self-criticism are strongly related to mental well-being. Students who are motivated to study, are kind toward themselves, and are less judgmental of themselves tend to have a high level of mental well-being. These relationships had not been evaluated in Czech students. Accordingly, this cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the relationships between mental well-being, academic motivation (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation), self-compassion (self-reassurance) and self-criticism (self-inadequacy and self-hate). Of 130 students approached, a convenience sampling of 119 psychology students at a university in the Czech Republic completed a survey regarding these constructs. Correlation, regression, and path analyses were conducted. Mental well-being was positively associated with intrinsic motivation and self-compassion, and negatively associated with amotivation and self-criticism. Self-compassion was identified as the strongest predictor of mental well-being. Lastly, intrinsic motivation mediated the pathway from self-compassion to mental well-being, but not the one from self-inadequacy to mental well-being, and the one from self-hate to mental well-being. Our findings can help educators to identify effective means to protect students’ mental well-being. Cultivating students’ self-compassion may be helpful to protect their mental well-being. University staff and educators in the Czech Republic need to consider ways to embed self-compassion training into their students’ programmes or university life.

Parents of autistic children report higher levels of parenting stress than any other child-related disabilities, with atypical child behaviour being identified as a key contributor to stress. As stress causes many negative health problems, it is important to understand what interventions are reportedly effective to reduce parenting stress in the literature. Five electronic databases—Cochrane, ProQuest, Pubmed, ScienceDirect, and Scopus—were searched for relevant literature focusing on stress reduction intervention studies, studies on parents of children diagnosed with ASD, and publications no older than ten years. The PRISMA 2020 checklist was used for reporting. A total of 11 articles from 169 were included, including 22 interventions identified and categorised based on theoretical approach, i.e., Applied Behavioural Analysis, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Humanistics, and psychoeducation. The evidence synthesised advocates for an integrative approach, such as Mindfulness-Based Positive Behaviour Support, an evidence-based practice approach that appears to offer greater advantages in reducing parenting stress. The implications of our results can inform educators and practitioners regarding available stress interventions for parents of children with ASD. Our findings warrant rigorous design research such as randomised controlled trials to be conducted to further identify the effects of these interventions.

Poor mental health of healthcare students is a cause for concern in many universities. Though previous research has identified mental health shame and self-compassion as critical in this student group, how these variables differ across different healthcare disciplines remains to be evaluated. Healthcare students (n = 344; counselling, occupational therapy, social work and nursing) completed measures regarding these variables. MANOVA and regression analyses were performed. (1) Counselling and nursing students were more depressed than occupational therapy students; (2) nursing students were more anxious than occupational therapy and social work students; (3) occupational therapy students had more positive attitudes towards mental health than the others; and (4) nursing students worried about their own reputation associated with their family more than counselling students. Self-compassion was the strongest predictor of mental health in all groups; however, the effect sizes varied: largest in nursing and smallest in social work students. Findings will help inform effective interventions for students in each healthcare discipline.

While workplace mental health has attracted attention in many countries, work motivation remains under-researched. Research identified that work motivation is associated with many organisational positive outcomes including workplace mental health. One well-recognised measure is the Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS). Conceptualised on the Self-Determination Theory, this 18-item scale examines six types of work motivation: Intrinsic Motivation, Integrated Regulation, Identified Regulation, Introjected Regulation, External Regulation, and Amotivation. WEIMS can be too long for busy people at work. Accordingly, we constructed and validated a shorter form of WEIMS (SWEIMS), comprising 12 items that evaluate the same six work motivation types. Data collected from two professional samples were analysed to construct and validate the factorial structure: 155 construction workers (138 males and 17 females, Age 40.28 ± 11.05) and 103 hospitality workers (47 males and 56 females, Age 28.2 ± 8.6 years). Correlation analyses and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. Two items from each type were selected based on the strength of correlations with the target WEIMS subscale. SWEIMS demonstrated adequate internal consistency (α ≧ 0.65), and strong correlations with the original version of WEIMS (r = 0.73) in both samples. SWEIMS confirmatory factor analysis replicated the six-factor model of the original SWEIMS. SWEIMS can be a reliable, valid, and user-friendly alternative to WEIMS.

Climate change has a substantial impact on human health, and the rising levels of climate change anxiety have led to a global call for action. However, data exploring the relationship between climate change, mental health, and individuals with parental responsibility is limited. This study examined the association between parental climate anxiety and their discussions with their children about climate change, eco-behaviors, and demographic factors. This cross-sectional study employed an anonymous online questionnaire comprised of the 22-item climate change anxiety and eco-behaviors validated scale, disseminated using a snowball sampling technique. Participants were eligible if they (i) were guardians with parental responsibilities of at least one primary school-age child (5 – 11 years old) and (ii) lived in the United Kingdom (UK). A total of 153 participants were included in the analysis. The findings revealed that parents who reported discussing climate change with their children, engaging in eco-friendly and pro-environmental actions, and noticing that their child/children were worried about climate change experienced higher levels of climate change anxiety. This study offers valuable insights into the nuanced engagements around climate change and mental health among those with parental responsibility in the UK. The implications of these findings extend to informing policies, interventions, and educational strategies aimed at supporting parents and guardians to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on mental health.