Americans lead shorter and less healthy lives than do people in other high-income countries. We review the evidence and explanations for these variations in longevity and health. Our overview ...suggests that the US health disadvantage applies to multiple mortality and morbidity outcomes. The American health disadvantage begins at birth and extends across the life course, and it is particularly marked for American women and for regions in the US South and Midwest. Proposed explanations include differences in health care, individual behaviors, socioeconomic inequalities, and the built physical environment. Although these factors may contribute to poorer health in America, a focus on proximal causes fails to adequately account for the ubiquity of the US health disadvantage across the life course. We discuss the role of specific public policies and conclude that while multiple causes are implicated, crucial differences in social policy might underlie an important part of the US health disadvantage.
We examined whether changes in different forms of social participation were associated with changes in depressive symptoms in older Europeans. We used lagged individual fixed-effects models based on ...data from 9,068 persons aged ≥50 years in wave 1 (2004/2005), wave 2 (2006/2007), and wave 4 (2010/2011) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). After we controlled for a wide set of confounders, increased participation in religious organizations predicted a decline in depressive symptoms (EURO-D Scale; possible range, 0-12) 4 years later (β = -0.190 units, 95% confidence interval: -0.365, -0.016), while participation in political/community organizations was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms (β = 0.222 units, 95% confidence interval: 0.018, 0.428). There were no significant differences between European regions in these associations. Our findings suggest that social participation is associated with depressive symptoms, but the direction and strength of the association depend on the type of social activity. Participation in religious organizations may offer mental health benefits beyond those offered by other forms of social participation.
This paper examines the impact of raising the State Pension age on women's health. Exploiting a UK pension reform that increased women's State Pension age for up to 6 years since 2010, we show that ...raising the State Pension age leads to an increase of up to 12 percentage points in the probability of depressive symptoms, alongside an increase in self‐reported medically diagnosed depression among women in a lower occupational grade. Our results suggest that these effects are driven by prolonged exposure to high‐strain jobs characterised by high demands and low control. Effects are consistent across multiple subcomponents of the General Health Question and Short‐Form‐12 (SF‐12) scores, and robust to alternative empirical specifications, including “placebo” analyses for women who never worked and for men.
Job loss in the years before retirement has been found to increase risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), but some studies suggest that CVD mortality among older workers declines during recessions. We ...hypothesized that recessionary labor market conditions were associated with reduced CVD risk among persons who did not experience job loss and increased CVD risk among persons who lost their jobs. In our analyses, we used longitudinal, nationally representative data from Americans 50 years of age or older who were enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study and surveyed every 2 years from 1992 to 2010 about their employment status and whether they had experienced a stroke or myocardial infarction. To measure local labor market conditions, Health and Retirement Study data were linked to county unemployment rates. Among workers who experienced job loss, recessionary labor market conditions at the time of job loss were associated with a significantly higher CVD risk (hazard ratio = 2.54, 95% confidence interval: 1.39, 4.65). In contrast, among workers who did not experience job loss, recessionary labor market conditions were associated with a lower CVD risk (hazard ratio = 0.50, 95% confidence interval: 0.31, 0.78). These results suggest that recessions might be protective in the absence of job loss but hazardous in the presence of job loss.
To explore relationships between disability, food insecurity (FI) and age and examine how socio-economic factors impact risk of FI among disabled people in working and older age.
Logistic regression ...models used to analyse the contribution of socio-economic factors to gaps in risk of FI for disabled people. In models stratified into working and older age groups, differences in risk of FI for disabled and non-disabled people were examined by employment, education and assets.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2016 and 2018.
A representative sample of 6187 adults aged 16+, of whom 28 % were disabled, from the Food & You survey.
The gap in FI risk by disability status decreased as age increased. For ages 25-34 for disabled
. non-disabled people, risk of FI was 31 % (95 % CI 21-41 %)
. 10 % (8-12 %); at ages 45 to 54, it was 18 % (11-23 %)
. 7 % (5-8 %), and at ages 75+, there was no gap in risk. Accounting for socio-economic variables halved the gap in risk among working ages. However, among working-age adults, FI among disabled people in full-time work was 15 % (11-20 %) compared with only 7 % (6-9 %) among non-disabled people in full-time work. Among older people, disabled people without savings were at higher risk of FI (5 % (3-7 %)) than non-disabled people without savings (2 % (1-3 %)) but having savings closed risk gap.
Socio-economic resources partially explain disparities in FI risk when disabled. Disparities remained for people in full-time work and among people without savings in older age.
To examine whether late-career job loss increased depression among older workers approaching retirement in the USA and Europe.
Longitudinal data came from the Health and Retirement Survey and the ...Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe. Workers aged 50 to 64 years in 13 European countries and the USA were assessed biennially from 2006 to 2010. Individual fixed effects models were used to test the effect of job loss on depressive symptoms, controlling for age, sex, physical health, initial wealth and socio-demographic factors.
Job loss was associated with a 4.78% 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.823% to 8.74% increase in depressive symptoms in the USA compared with a 3.35% (95% CI: 0.486% to 6.22%) increase in Europe. Job loss due to a worker's unexpected firm closure increased depression scores in both the USA (beta=28.2%, 95% CI: 8.55% to 47.8%) and Europe (beta=7.50%, 95% CI: 1.25% to 13.70%), but pooled models suggested significantly stronger effects for US workers (P<0.001). American workers who were poorer before the recession experienced significantly larger increases in depressive symptoms compared with wealthier US workers (beta for interaction=-0.054, 95% CI: -0.082 to -0.025), whereas pre-existing wealth did not moderate the impact of job loss among European workers.
Job loss is associated with increased depressive symptoms in the USA and Europe, but effects of job loss due to plant closure are stronger for American workers. Wealth mitigates the impact of job loss on depression in the USA more than in Europe.
BackgroundSocial engagement and social isolation are key determinants of mental health in older age, yet there is limited evidence on how public policies may contribute to reducing isolation, ...promoting social engagement and improving mental health among older people. This study examines the impact of the introduction of an age-friendly transportation policy, free bus passes, on the mental health of older people in England.MethodsWe use an instrumental variable (IV) approach that exploits eligibility criteria for free bus passes to estimate the impact of increased public transportation use on depressive symptoms, loneliness, social isolation and social engagement.ResultsEligibility for the free bus travel pass was associated with an 8% (95% CI 6.4% to 9.6%) increase in the use of public transportation among older people. The IV model suggests that using public transport reduces depressive symptoms by 0.952 points (95% CI −1.712 to −0.192) on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. IV models also suggest that using public transport reduces feelings of loneliness (β −0.794, 95% CI −1.528 to −0.061), increases volunteering at least monthly (β 0.237, 95% CI 0.059 to 0.414) and increases having regular contact with children (β 0.480, 95% CI 0.208 to 0.752) and friends (β 0.311, 95% CI 0.109 to 0.513).ConclusionFree bus travel is associated with reductions in depressive symptoms and feelings of loneliness among older people. Transportation policies may increase older people’s social engagement and consequently deliver significant benefits to mental health.
Interventions that combine cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with unconditional cash transfers (UCT) reduce the risk of antisocial behavior (ASB), but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. In this ...paper, we test the role of psychological and cognitive mechanisms in explaining this effect. We assessed the mediating role of executive function, self-control, and time preferences.
We used data from the Sustainable Transformation of Youth in Liberia, a community-based randomized controlled trial of criminally engaged men. The men were randomized into: Group-1: control (n = 237); and Group-2: CBT+UCT (n = 207). ASB was measured 12-13 months after the interventions were completed, and the following mediators were assessed 2-5 weeks later: (i) self-control, (ii) time preferences and (iii) executive functions. We estimated the natural direct effect (NDE) and the natural indirect effect (NIE) of the intervention over ASB.
Self-control, time preferences and a weighted index of all three mediators were associated with ASB scores, but the intervention influenced time preferences only B = 0.09 95%CI (0.03; 0.15). There was no evidence that the effect of the intervention on ASB was mediated by self-control BNIE = 0.007 95%CI (-0.01; 0.02), time preferences BNIE = -0.02 95%CI (-0.05; 0.01), executive functions BNIE = 0.002 95%CI (-0.002; 0.006) or the weighted index of the mediators BNIE = -0.0005 95%CI (-0.03; 0.02).
UCT and CBT lead to improvements in ASB, even in the absence of mediation via psychological and cognitive functions. Findings suggest that the causal mechanisms may involve non-psychological pathways.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Economic recessions have been linked to adult health, but few studies have examined how recessions influence the health of young children. This study examined the impact of life transitions ...linked to the recent financial crisis on the health of young children in Ireland. Data came from the Growing Up in Ireland Infant Cohort Study (n = 11,134), which assessed children before (2008), during (2011), and after (2013) the Great Recession that followed the financial crisis of 2008 and incorporated questions on the impacts of the financial crisis on families. Using fixed-effects models to control for confounding, we found that a reduction in welfare benefits during the recession was associated with a significant increase in the risks of asthma (β = 0.014, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.004, 0.023) and atopy (β = 0.014, 95% CI: 0.001, 0.027). While parental job loss was not associated with child health, a reduction in working hours was associated with increased reports of child health problems (β = 0.024, 95% CI: 0.004, 0.043), as were difficulties affording basic necessities (β = 0.019, 95% CI: 0.001, 0.038). Results suggest that failing to protect vulnerable families and children during economic recessions may have long-lasting implications for child health.
Studies across Europe and the US report that childhood socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with poorer health in adulthood. By contrast, a study in Japan suggests that childhood socioeconomic ...disadvantage may be positive for adult health. In this paper, we assess the association between intergenerational income mobility and self-rated health in Japan, using detailed childhood income data for 1610 men and 1885 women aged 30–49 years. We use an instrumental variable approach to identify the causal effect of upward income mobility on adult health. We find that low father's income during childhood is associated with smoking and alcohol consumption in adult life for both men and women. For men, upward income mobility was associated with worse health. Certain behavioural choices related to income mobility, such as long working hours, may have detrimental health effects.
•We estimate father's income during childhood using a pseudo-cohort approach.•Low father's income during childhood is associated with health behavioural choices.•There is no association of father's income in childhood with adult health for men.•Lower childhood income is associated with worse health in adulthood for women.•Upward income mobility is associated with worse health in adulthood only for men.
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