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Neighbourhood socioeconomic status (NSES) has been identified as a determinant of mental health. In this study, we aimed to quantify how many cases of common mental health problems could be prevented by increasing NSES in the most socioeconomically deprived neighbourhoods in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and how the increases in NSES would affect mental health inequalities. We used publicly available data for conducting a quantitative Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of two counterfactual policy scenarios. In Scenario 1, we set the NSES to the Rotterdam median score for all neighbourhoods which were below the Rotterdam median. In Scenario 2, we set the NSES score to the Dutch national average socioeconomic status score for the neighbourhoods that were below the national average. We estimated that Scenario 1 could prevent 5847 (95% CI, 2700–7999) or 10.7% of annual cases of common mental health problems, and Scenario 2 could prevent 10 713 (95% CI, 4875–14 799) or 19.6% of annual cases in Rotterdam while also reducing mental health inequalities between neighbourhoods in both scenarios. Given the substantial improvements in population mental health that enhanced neighbourhood socioeconomic conditions would bring, policy implementation is urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research has indicated that residents who perceive their neighborhood as more cohesive have better mental and physical health than those with lower perceived neighborhood social cohesion. However, because most studies are based on cross-sectional data, it remains unclear whether improving the perceptions of social cohesion leads to better health over time. This study applied random effects within-between models to examine the within-individual and between-individual associations of perceived neighborhood social cohesion and poor self-assessed health (SAH) in a cohort of Dutch adults with 17-year follow-up. We also tested whether such associations varied by age, educational level, and gender. The results of pooled analyses indicated that higher perceived neighborhood social cohesion was associated with better SAH [odds ratio (OR): 0.72; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.65, 0.80], but did not find conclusive evidence that within-individual changes in perceived neighborhood social cohesion were associated with SAH (OR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.89, 1.04). We also did not observe any moderating effects for age, educational level, or gender. This study provides some evidence that improving social cohesion in neighborhoods may be a beneficial health promotion strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Experiencing financial scarcity taxes cognitive bandwidth. This leaves less capacity to withhold temptations and makes relying on easiest default options more likely. Whether this default option is (un)healthy may depend on the amount of cultural capital acquired during life course. This study examined whether the association between financial scarcity and health behaviours is moderated by cultural capital. Methods Self-reported data were used from Dutch adults of the 2014-survey of the GLOBE study (N  = 2466). Using linear regression analysis, financial strain (no, some, great) and cultural capital (institutionalized, objectivized, incorporated) were related to body mass index (BMI), alcohol intake, sports participation, cycling and walking, fruit intake and vegetable consumption. The interaction between financial strain and cultural capital was used to assess moderation. Results Experiencing some financial strain was associated with a higher BMI (0.7 kg/m2) and less sport participation (−31.8 min/week). Great financial strain was associated with less sport participation (−41.4 min/week). Being in the lowest tertile of cultural capital was associated with a higher BMI (1.3 kg/m2), drinking less alcohol (−10.0 units/week), less sport participation (−31.5 min/week) and consuming less fruit (−2.9 pieces/week). Cultural capital had no significant moderating effect on the relationship between financial strain and these health behaviours. Conclusion Financial strain and cultural capital seem associated with different health behaviours. Cultural capital had no moderating effect on the relationship between financial strain and different health behaviours. While financial strain and cultural capital could both be entry points for interventions to improve health behaviour, underlying mechanisms require further attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Children of lower-educated parents and children in schools with a relatively high percentage of peers with lower-educated parents (lower parental education schools) are more likely to develop emotional and behavioural problems compared to children in higher-educated households and schools. Universal school-based preventive interventions, such as the Good Behaviour Game (GBG), are generally effective in preventing the development of emotional and behavioural problems, but information about potential moderators is limited. This study examined whether the effectiveness of the GBG in preventing emotional and behavioural problems differs between children in lower- and higher-educated households and schools. Methods Using a longitudinal multi-level randomized controlled trial design, 731 children (M age=6.02 towards the end of kindergarten) from 31 mainstream schools (intervention arm: 21 schools, 484 children; control arm: 10 schools, 247 children) were followed annually from kindergarten to second grade (2004–2006). The GBG was implemented in first and second grades. Results Overall, the GBG prevented the development of emotional and behavioural problems. However, for emotional problems, the GBG-effect was slightly more pronounced in higher parental education schools than in lower parental education schools (B higher parental education schools =−0.281, P  <0.001; B lower parental education schools =−0.140, P   =  0.016). No moderation by household-level parental education was found. Conclusions Studies into universal school-based preventive interventions, and in particular the GBG, should consider and incorporate school-level factors when studying the effectiveness of such interventions. More attention should be directed towards factors that may influence universal prevention effectiveness, particularly in lower parental education schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government policies that promote healthy food environments are considered promising to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in diet. Empirical evidence of effects on these inequalities, however, is relatively scarce and, with a few exceptions, tends to be inconclusive. We use two contemporary theories that help to understand socioeconomic inequalities in health and health-related behaviours (Bourdieu's capital theory and Mullainathan and Shafir's scarcity theory) to reason how policies influencing food environments may differentially impact lower and higher socioeconomic groups. In essence, these theories enable us to understand how specific elements of broader daily living conditions (e.g. social practices that lead to habitus formation, material conditions that shape experiences of scarcity) may lead to a greater benefit of certain food environment policies for the healthfulness of diets of lower or higher socioeconomic groups. We conclude that the application of theories on the mechanisms underlying socioeconomic inequalities in health can help to guide future empirical studies in testing theory-based hypotheses on differential effects of policies, and thereby enhance the development of effective policies tackling socioeconomic inequalities in dietary intakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed the impacts of Tanzania's adolescent-focused Cash Plus intervention on depression. In this pragmatic cluster-randomized controlled trial, 130 villages were randomly allocated to an intervention or control arm (1:1). Youth aged 14–19 years living in households receiving governmental cash transfers were invited to participate. The intervention included an intensive period (a 12-session course) and an aftercare period (9 months of mentoring, productive grants, and strengthened health services). We examined intervention impacts on a depressive symptoms scale (10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale score (range, 0–30)) and rates of depressive symptomatology (score ≥10 points on the scale), recorded at study baseline (April–June 2017), midline (May–July 2018), and endline (June–August 2019). Using intention-to-treat methodology, we employed logistic and generalized linear models to estimate effects for binary and continuous outcomes, respectively. Quantile regression was used to estimate effects across the scale. From 2,458 baseline participants, 941 intervention and 992 control adolescents were reinterviewed at both follow-ups. At endline, the intervention reduced the odds of depressive symptomatology (adjusted odds ratio = 0.67, 95% confidence interval: 0.52, 0.86), with an undetectable mean scale difference (risk difference = −0.36, 95% confidence interval: –0.84, 0.11). Quantile regression results demonstrated an intervention effect along the upper distribution of the scale. Integration of multisectoral initiatives within existing social protection systems shows potential to improve mental health among youth in low-resource settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Why lower socioeconomic groups behave less healthily can only partly be explained by direct costs of behaving healthily. We hypothesize that low income increases the risk of facing financial strain. Experiencing financial strain takes up cognitive ‘bandwidth’ and leads to less self-control, and subsequently results in more unhealthy behaviour. We therefore aim to investigate (i) whether a low income increases the likelihood of experiencing financial strain and of unhealthy behaviours, (ii) to what extent more financial strain is associated with less self-control and, subsequently, (iii) whether less self-control is related to more unhealthy behaviour. Methods Cross-sectional survey data were obtained from participants (25–75 years) in the fifth wave of the Dutch GLOBE study (N = 2812) in 2014. The associations between income, financial strain, self-control and health-behaviour-related outcomes (physical inactivity in leisure-time, obesity, smoking, excessive alcohol intake, and weekly fruit and vegetable intake) were analysed with linear regression and generalized linear regression models (log link). Results Experiencing great compared with no financial strain increased the risk of all health-behaviour-related outcomes, independent of income. Low self-control, as compared with high self-control, also increased the risk of an unhealthy lifestyle. Taking self-control into account slightly attenuated the associations between financial strain and the outcomes. Conclusion Great financial strain and low self-control are consistently associated with unhealthy behaviours. Self-control may partly mediate between financial strain and unhealthy behaviour. Interventions that relieve financial strain may free up cognitive bandwidth and improve health behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This study aimed to assess the contribution of material, behavioural, cultural and psychosocial factors in the explanation of socioeconomic inequalities (education and income) in oral health of Dutch adults. Methods Cross-sectional data from participants (25–75 years of age) of the fifth wave of the GLOBE cohort were used (n = 2812). Questionnaires were used to obtain data on material factors (e.g. financial difficulties), behavioural factors (e.g. smoking), cultural factors (e.g. cultural activities) and psychosocial factors (e.g. psychological distress). Oral health outcomes were self-reported number of teeth and self-rated oral health (SROH). Mediation analysis, using multivariable negative binomial regression and logistic regression, was performed. Results Education level and income showed a graded positive relationship with both oral health outcomes. Adding material, behavioural, cultural and psychosocial factors substantially reduced the rate ratio for the number of teeth of the lowest education group from 0.79 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75–0.83) to 0.92 (95% CI: 0.87–0.97) and of the lowest income group from 0.80 (95% CI: 0.73–0.88) to 1.04 (95% CI: 0.96–1.14). Inclusion of all factors also substantially reduced the odds ratio for poor SROH of the lowest education group from 1.61 (95% CI: 1.28–2.03) to 1.12 (95% CI: 0.85–1.48) and of the lowest income groups from 3.18 (95% CI: 2.13–4.74) to 1.48 (95% CI: 0.90–2.45). Conclusion In general, behavioural factors contributed most to the explanation of socioeconomic inequalities in adult oral health, followed by material factors. The contribution of cultural and psychosocial factors was relatively moderate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Some birth cohorts experience a larger burden of depression than others. We hypothesize that lifestyle, i.e. BMI, alcohol consumption, smoking and physical activity, are potential drivers of these generational differences. Methods We analyzed data from US adults aged 50-80 years enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study (N = 163,760 person-years). Birth cohort effects were estimated with the age-period-cohort model approach according to Carstensen. Consequently, we assessed the contribution of lifestyle factors by comparing the predicted probability of elevated depressive symptoms to a counterfactual scenario in which all birth cohorts are assigned the lifestyle factor distribution of the 1945 cohort (counterfactual decomposition analysis). We stratified all analyses by sex and ethnicity. Results BMI contributes to an increased probability of elevated depressive symptoms of up to 32.7% (95%CI: 190.9-11.23%, 1923 cohort) for cohorts born before 1927 and a decrease of up to 16.7% (95%CI: 0.5-26.8, 1964 cohort) for cohorts born after 1959. Contributions are most pronounced in females and white/Caucasians. Alcohol consumption contributes up to 20% (95%CI: 0.8%;45.3%, 1925 cohort) to cohort effects of elevated depressive symptoms, whereas the magnitude differs by ethnicity. We found no evidence for contributions of smoking or physical activity. Conclusions Birth cohort effects of elevated depressive symptoms can be partly explained by lifestyle. In particular, mental health of females and the white/Caucasian population may have suffered from the increase in obesity levels in the US. Key messages BMI and alcohol consumption, but not smoking or physical activity, contribute to birth cohort differences in depression risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors convey their response to a feedback about their study on the association between use of public transportation and cognitive performance among older people in Great Britain. Topics mentioned include the average association between changes in transportation use and cognitive function, omitted variable bias and random measurement error in self-reported public transportation use, and an increase in frequency of transportation use by prior public transportation users.

The association between the change in a central pattern of body fat and blood pressure and lipoprotein levels was investigated longitudinally in a healthy population of young males and females over 15 years. The subjects (males, n = 84; females, n = 98), participants in the Amsterdam Growth and Health Study, were measured six times between the mean ages of 13 and 27 years. As an indicator of a central pattern of body fat, subscapular/triceps skinfold ratio (S/T ratio) was used as an independent variable. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), total serum cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and TC/HDL-C ratio were used as dependent variables. Longitudinal associations were analyzed by generalized estimating equations (GEE) in which data of the six periods of measurement were included simultaneously. Between ages 13 and 27 years, and after adjustment for the sum of four skinfolds, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol intake, the increase of the S/T ratio was significantly associated with an increase in SBP in males and females and with a decrease in level of HDL-C in males only. The change in central pattern of body fat negatively affects the change in established risk factors for cardiovascular diseases early in life. Am J Epidemiol 1998; 147:686–93. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]