Mental Capital and Wellbeing

by Cooper, Cary; Goswami, Usha; Sahakian, Barbara J.

• ISBN13: 9781405185912
• ISBN10: 1405185910
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-11-16
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This major new reference presents The Foresight Mental Capital and Wellbeing Project (a UK Government project in the Government Office for Science). It offers a comprehensive exploration of how mental capital and wellbeing operate over the lifespan; how experiences in the family, in the school, at work and following retirement augment or reduce mental capital and wellbeing, and the impact that this has for the individual and for the welfare and economic progress of the nation.'Mental Capital and Mental Well-being' comprises a series of scientific reviews written by leading international scientists and social scientists in the field. The reviews undertake systematic analyses of the evidence base surrounding five key themes, on which they propose future policies will have to be based. An internationally renowned team of Editors introduce each theme and draw together conclusions in terms of both policy and practice.Section I: 'Learning through Life' provides a coherent overview of a fast-moving and complex field of policy and practice. Educational attainment has a considerable impact on physical and mental well-being, both directly and indirectly, by enabling people better to achieve their goals. The ability to continue learning throughout the lifespan is critical to a successful and rewarding life in contemporary societies.Section II: 'Mental Health' draws together the most recent evidence about positive mental health as well as a range of mental disorders to consider their importance to the population and economy in terms of prevalence and disability and the wider burden on society.Section III: 'Mental Well-being at Work'. It is estimated that 13 million working days are lost through stress each year, costing the economy over £3.7 billion per annum. This theme explores those drivers that influence the nature and structure of work and the impact this has on employee well-being.Section IV: 'Learning Difficulties'. This theme provides a cutting-edge picture of how recent insights from genetics, cognitive and neuroscience improve our understanding of learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Reviews focus on how current research can contribute to early diagnosis and improved interventionSection V: 'Mental Capital throughout Life'. Mental capital refers to the totality of an individual's cognitive and emotional resources, including their cognitive capability, flexibility and efficiency of learning, emotional intelligence and resilience in the face of stress. The extent of an individual's resources reflects his or her basic endowment (e.g. genes and early biological programming), motivation and experiences (e.g. education) which take place throughout the life course. This section presents the very latest on the science of mental capital throughout life.

Author Biography

Cary L. Cooper, CBE is Distinguished Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health and Pro Vice Chancellor at Lancaster University. He is the author of over 100 books (on occupational stress, women at work and industrial and organizational psychology), has written over 400 scholarly articles for academic journals, and is a frequent contributor to national newspapers, TV and radio. Cary is the Editor on the international journal ‘Stress and Health’ and President of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy.

Usha Goswami is Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. She is currently engaged in setting up a Centre for Neuroscience in Education at the Faculty. She advised on the National Curriculum and the National Literacy Project, and was one of the three UK members of the Managing Committee of the European Concerted Action on Learning Disorders as a Barrier to Human Development (COST-A8).

Barbara J Sahakian is Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine. She has an international reputation in the fields of cognitive psychopharmacology, neuroethics, neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry and neuroimaging.

John Field is Professor in the Institute of Education, University of Stirling, where he directs the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning. He has written widely in the social sciences, and specialises on social and economic aspects of adult learning.

Rachel Jenkins is Professor of Epidemiology and International Mental Health Policy at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London. She is the author of over 30 books and 300 scholarly articles, and works nationally and internationally on epidemiological and policy research, development and implementation of policy, and training primary care in low and middle income countries.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors

Foreword

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Mental Capital and Wellbeing Through Life

Mental capital and wellbeing through life future challenges

Neuroscience in education

Neuroscience of human reward

Neuroeconomics

Cognitive reserve and mental capital

Mapping brain maturation and development of social cognition during adolescence

Reinforcement, impulsivity and behavioural economics

The neural basis of resilience

Neurocognition and social cognition in adolescent drug users: vulnerability and consequences

Pharmacological cognitive enhancement

Stem cells in neural regeneration and adult neurogenesis

Early detection of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease can example using the CANTAB PAL

Neurocognition and neuroimaging in anxiety disorders implications for treatment and functional outcome

Neurocognition and social cognition in middle-aged and older adult drug users vulnerability and consequences

Determinants of normal cognitive ageing implications for mental capital

The neuroscience of social cognition in teenagers implications for inclusion in society

Stress-related mood disorder novel concepts for treatment and prevention

Nutrition, cognitive wellbeing and socioeconomic status

Nutrition and cognitive health

Effect of chronic stress on cognitive function through life

Depression and its toll on mental capital

Cognitive training influence on neuropsychological and brain function in later life

The effect of physical activity on mental capital and wellbeing

Technology solutions to prevent waste of mental capital

Housing as a determinant of mental capital

Brain-computer interfaces and cognitive neural prostheses

The cellular and molecular logic of neural circuit assembly progress and challenges

Learning Through Life

Learning through life future challenges

Learning at work opportunities and barriers

Participation in learning barriers to learning

Evidence-informed principles from the Teaching and Learning Research Programme

Estimating the effects of learning

Self-regulation and executive function what can teachers and schools do?

Models of provision of lifelong learning how is it done around the world?

The economic importance of social skills a short (and selective) survey of recent research

Mental Health and Ill-Health

Mental health and ill-health future challenges

Genetics of mental ill-health in children and adults and interaction of genes with social factors

The influence of demographic, social and physical factors on ageing and the mental health of older people

The influence of social, demographic and physical factors on positive mental health in children, adults and older people

The influence of social, demographic and physical factors on mental disorders in children and adolescents

The mental ill-health of prisoners

The mental ill-health of homeless people

The mental ill-health of children in local authority care

Mental ill-health: cost implications

Factors influencing recovery from serious mental illness and enhancing participation in family, social and working life

The influence of social, demographic, physical and any other risk factors on the prevalence and consequences of personality disorders

Epidemiological linkages between mental ill-health and violence risk factors and wider consequences

Genetics of ageing, mental ill-health and dementia in the elderly

The mental ill-health of people who migrate, and their descendants risk factors, associated disability and wider consequences

Influence of social, demographic and physical factors on substance abuse in all age groups

Neurocognition and neuroimaging in major depressive disorder and bipolar depression implications for treatment and functional outcome

Wellbeing and Work

Wellbeing and work future challenges

Current sources of workplace stress and wellbeing

Links between mental wellbeing at work and productivity

The impact of management style on mental wellbeing at work

Flexible-working time arrangements and their impact on work-family interface and mental wellbeing at work

The impact of new technology in the workplace on mental wellbeing

Stress management and wellbeing interventions in the workplace

Working longer hours of work and health

Leisure the next 25 years

Training and its significance in the workplace

Careers at work

Violence at work

Learning Difficulties

Learning difficulties future challenges

Specific language impairment

Dyslexia

Adult intellectual (learning) disabilities

Dyscalculia

Deafness and hearing impairment

Genetics and the future diagnosis of learning disabilities

Conduct disorder and antisocial behaviour in the under-5s

Social cognition and school exclusion

Autism-spectrum conditions

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

New technologies and interventions for learning difficulties dyslexia in Finnish as a case study

Trajectories of development and learning difficulties

Early neural markers of language-learning difficulty in German

Depression in childhood and adolescence

Eating disorders

Cross-Cutting Reviews

Psychological wellbeing: evidence regarding its causes and consequences

Neurobiology of wellbeing: a lifecourse perspective

Comparative cultural perspectives on wellbeing

Technology futures

The effect of the physical environment on mental wellbeing

Conclusions

Conclusions

Overview of the work of the Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing

Structure of the Project reports and supporting papers

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