Guest Editors
Guest Editor 1:
Iva Sklempe Kokic
Affiliation: Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Kinesiology Osijek, Drinska 16a, Osijek, Croatia
Biography: Iva Sklempe is an Assistant Professor in Biomedicine and Health at Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia, Faculty of Kinesiology where she currently holds the position of Vice Dean for Research and International Cooperation. She is also visiting lecturer at University of Rijeka, Croatia, Faculty of Health Studies and College of Applied Sciences “Lavoslav Ruzicka” in Vukovar, Croatia.
Her main research interests include relationship between quality of life, physical activity and lifestyle, as well as musculoskeletal health and impact of different exercise interventions on quality of life, metabolic and musculoskeletal conditions.
She has degrees in Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, as well as PhD in Applied Kinesiology from Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia. During her career she has published multiple peer-reviewed research papers as a leading author, led several clinical trials, and served as a reviewer in several academic journals. More information can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/iva-sklempe-kokic-1b1163a/.
Guest Editor 2:
Tena Velki
Affiliation: Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education, Cara Hadrijana 10, Osijek, Croatia
Biography: Tena Velki is an Associate Professor in Psychology at Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia, Faculty of Education. She hosts the Assistant Training Program for Children with Developmental Disabilities and a postgraduate specialist study in Inclusive Education. She is part of the editorial board of two Croatian journals, Life and school: journal for the theory and practice of education and Croatian Journal of Education.
Her research interests are focused primarily on the area of developmental psychology, developmental disorders, inclusion and rights of children with disabilities. In addition, the area of information security, data privacy and the risk behavior of computer users have been actively in her focus in the last 10 years.
She graduated psychology in 2008 at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science in Osijek, and finished PhD study in 2012 at the Faculty Humanities and Social Science in Zagreb. During her career she has received several rewards for her scientific work and promotion of applied psychology in Croatia. In the last 15 years, she has published over 60 scientific papers and 9 books. More information can be found at https://www.bib.irb.hr/pregled/profil/29084.
Guest Editor 3:
Ivana Duvnjak
Affiliation: Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Kinesiology Osijek, Drinska 16a, Osijek, Croatia
Biography: Ivana Duvnjak is a Lecturer in Psychology at Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia, Faculty of Kinesiology. She worked in practice as an expert associate psychologist in several elementary and high schools. She participated in several projects related to children and young people. In the teaching profession, she teaches courses in the fields of sports psychology, communication skills and educational psychology. In addition, she has previous experience in teaching developmental and child psychology, prevention and general psychology.
Her main research interest refers to protective and risky behaviors in the development of children and young people. Also, she is involved in scientific work regarding positive psychology, developmental psychology, educational and sports psychology and developmental disabilities.
She graduated in psychology from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science in Osijek, and currently attending a postgraduate doctoral study in psychology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, University of Rijeka. She is a co-author of scientific papers on the developmental characteristics of children and youth, children with developmental disabilities, risky behaviors, physical activity and psychological positive aspects of young people. More information can be found at https://www.bib.irb.hr/pregled/profil/32722.
Summary
There are many definitions and concepts of quality of life and well-being in different disciplines and contexts such as public health, psychology, clinical medicine, social sciences, education, etc. While quality of life can be defined as an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value system in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns (WHO), the term is also closely interconnected with other terms such as well-being, life satisfaction and health, including mental, physical, social, and functional health. Quality of life in medicine applies to healthy lifestyle, and relation between health and disease. World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being”. The study of well-being is increasingly researched in the past few decades. This concept is investigated mostly within two perspectives – hedonic and eudaimonic. Hedonic perspective encompasses globally positive life evaluation, and positive over negative emotions. Eudaimonic perspective include various constructs such as self-determination, mastery, growth, relationships with others, and social integration. These perspectives showed useful in the context of exploring adaptation and protective factors in attaining positive functioning. Furthermore, it is known that regular physical activity and healthy lifestyle contribute to physical health indicators, positive mental health, and well-being in different populations, from childhood to older age.
Although much progress has been made in the interdisciplinary research on relationship between quality of life, well-being, mental health and lifestyle, sedentary behaviour and physical activity in recent years, many aspects remain unexplored. For instance, Covid-19 pandemic caused detrimental effects on mental health causing social isolation and physical inactivity. Long-term consequences of these processes are still unknown and unresearched. Likewise, there is still much to investigate regarding possible improvements of mental health and well-being of different populations (including children, elderly, athletes, caregivers and healthcare workers, individuals suffering from chronic disease, etc.) using different interventions in the domain of exercise science/kinesiology, psychology and education.
Therefore, we invite researchers from different fields to contribute to this special issue with their original research or review articles using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed research methods. This issue focuses on quality of life, well-being and mental health in the context of physical activity and health, i.e. relationship and interconnections between these concepts as well as different interventions which aim to improve quality of life, well-being and mental health.
The topics of interest for the special issue include, but are not limited, the following:
· Association between quality of life, well-being and mental health with physical activity, exercise and lifestyle
· Psychological aspects of well-being and quality of life among different populations
· Impact of physical activity and lifestyle interventions on quality of life, well-being and mental health
· Quality of life and well-being among different populations, for example healthy populations such as children, athletes or caregivers and patients with chronic disease, children with disabilities or elderly
· COVID-19 effect on different aspects of quality of life, well-being and mental health and possible countermeasures
· Interventions for improving quality of life, well-being, and mental health in different populations
Keywords
quality of life, well-being, mental health, physical health, psychology, physical activity, rehabilitation, healthcare, life satisfaction, happiness
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