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U.S. non-citizen residents are burdened by inequitable access to socioeconomic resources, potentially placing them at heightened risk of COVID-19-related disparities. However, COVID-19 impacts on non-citizens are not well understood. Accordingly, the current study investigated COVID-19 mortality disparities within New York (NYC) and Los Angeles (LAC) to test our hypothesis that areas with large proportions of non-citizens will have disproportionately high COVID-19 mortality rates. We examined ecological associations between March 2020-January 2021 COVID-19 mortality rates (per 100,000 residents) and percent non-citizens (using ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTA) for NYC and City/Community units of analysis for LAC) while controlling for sociodemographic factors. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed significant positive associations between the percentage of non-citizen residents and COVID-19 mortality rates in NYC (95% CI 0.309, 5.181) and LAC (95% CI 0.498, 8.720). Despite NYC and LAC policies intended to provide sanctuary and improve healthcare access for non-citizen residents, communities with larger proportions of non-citizens appear to endure higher COVID-19 mortality rates. The challenges that non-citizens endure-e.g., inequitable access to public benefits-may discourage help-seeking behaviors. Thus, improved health surveillance, public health messaging, and sanctuary policies will be essential for reducing COVID-19 mortality disparities in communities with large shares of non-citizens.

ObjectiveThis study examined whether perceived neighborhood cohesion (the extent to which neighbors trust and count on one another) buffers against the mental health effects of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThe XXX University National COVID-19 and Mental Health Study surveyed US adults (N = 3965; M age = 39 years), measuring depressive symptoms, staying home more during than before the 2020 pandemic, and perceived neighborhood cohesion.ResultsA series of linear regressions indicated that perceiving one's neighborhood as more cohesive was not only associated with fewer depressive symptoms, but also attenuated the relationship between spending more time at home during the pandemic and depressive symptoms. These relationships persisted even after taking into account several individual-level sociodemographic characteristics as well as multiple contextual features, i.e., median household income, population density, and racial/ethnic diversity of the zip codes in which participants resided.ConclusionsNeighborhood cohesion may be leveraged to mitigate pandemic impacts on depressive symptoms.

We present a two-assignment series that developed students' sociological imaginations and that could be done in a face-to-face or online course. The series used the Sociological Images blog and students' own visual images (e.g., photographs) to meet course learning goals: (1) link sociological theories and concepts to social events/trends, (2) apply these ideas to real life by identifying sociologically relevant images in daily life, and (3) communicate sociological analysis in academic and popular written forms. The use of a blog encourages students to embrace public sociology. We present faculty and student assessment data (pretest from nonequivalent comparisons group) from six lower division sociology classes at a regional university (N = 157). Students entered with little a priori ability to examine images using a sociological lens, and students who completed the series successfully applied sociological concepts and theories to critically examine elements of their lives, achieving core sociology disciplinary learning goals.

IntroductionAlthough California is home to the largest Hispanic/Latino population, few studies have compared smoking behavior trends of Hispanic/Latino nationality groups in California to the remaining United States, which may identify the impact of the states antitobacco efforts on these groups. This study compared smoking status, frequency, and intensity among Mexican Americans, Central/South Americans, and non-Hispanic Whites in California to the remaining United States in the 1990s and 2000s.MethodsData were analyzed using the 1992-2011 Current Population Survey Tobacco Use Supplement to report the estimated prevalence of smoking status, frequency, and intensity by decade, race/ethnicity, and state residence. Weighted logistic regression explored sociodemographic factors associated with never and heavy smoking (≥20 cigarettes per day).ResultsThere were absolute overall increases from 6.8% to 9.6% in never smoking across all groups. Compared to the remaining United States, there was a greater decrease in heavy smoking among Mexican American current smokers in California (5.1%) and a greater increase in light and intermittent smokers among Central/South American current smokers in California (9.3%) between decades. Compared to those living in the remaining United States, smokers living in California had lower odds of heavy smoking (1990s: odds ratio [OR] = 0.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.62, 0.66; 2000s: 0.54, 95% CI = 0.52, 0.55).ConclusionsCalifornia state residence significantly impacted smoking behaviors as indicated by significant differences in smoking intensity between California and the remaining United States among Hispanic/Latino nationality groups. Understanding smoking behaviors across Hispanic/Latino nationality groups in California and the United States can inform tobacco control and smoking prevention strategies for these groups.ImplicationsThe present study explored the differences in smoking behaviors between Whites, Mexican Americans, and Central South/Americans living in California versus the rest of the United States in the 1990s and the 2000s. The results contribute to our current knowledge as there have been minimal efforts to provide disaggregated cigarette consumption information among Hispanic/Latino nationality groups. Additionally, by comparing cigarette consumption between those in California and the remaining United States, our data may provide insight into the impact of California's antitobacco efforts in reaching Hispanic/Latino subpopulations relative to the remaining US states, many of which have had less tobacco control policy implementation.

The retail environment is a major social determinant of health, yet little is known about the e-cigarette specialty retailer environment. The e-cigarette specialty retail environment may be associated with e-cigarette use by middle and high school students, an issue that was addressed in a recent article entitled, "E-cigarette use among students and e-cigarette specialty retailer presence near schools," by Bostean and colleagues (G. Bostean, C.M. Crespi, P. Vorapharuek, W.J. McCarthy, 2016 [1]). We present data relating to e-cigarette specialty retailers in Orange County, California. We describe the data collection method (including the search methodology to identify e-cigarette specialty retailers), present descriptive retailer data including school proximity, and provide data from multi-level regressions predicting individual-level student use of e-cigarettes based on presence of an e-cigarette specialty retailer in proximity to schools.

Few studies examine nativity disparities in smoking in the U.S., thus a major gap remains in understanding whether immigrant Latinos' smoking prevalence is stable, converging, or diverging, compared with U.S.-born Latinos. This study aimed to disentangle the roles of period changes, duration of U.S. residence, and immigrant arrival cohort in explaining the gap in smoking prevalence between foreign-born and U.S.-born Latinos. Using repeated cross-sectional data spanning 1998-2013 (U.S. National Health Interview Survey), regressions predicted current smoking among foreign-born and U.S.-born Latino men and women (n = 12,492). We contrasted findings from conventional regression analyses that simply include period and duration of residence effects, to two methods of assessing arrival cohort effects: the first accounted for baseline differences in smoking among arrival cohorts, while the second examined smoking probabilities by tracking foreign-born arrival cohorts as they increase their duration of U.S. residence. Findings showed that Latino immigrants maintained lower prevalence of current smoking compared with U.S.-born Latinos over the period 1998-2013, and that longer duration of U.S. residence is associated with lower odds of smoking among men. Two findings are particularly novel: (1) accounting for immigrant arrival cohort dampens the overall protective effect of duration of residence among men; and (2) the earliest arrival cohort of Latino immigrant men experienced the steepest decline in smoking over duration of U.S. residence. Results have methodological and theoretical implications for smoking studies and the Latino mortality paradox.

ObjectiveThis study examined the association between presence of e-cigarette specialty retailers near schools and e-cigarette use among middle and high school students in Orange County (OC), CA.MethodsThe OC subsample of the 2013-2014 California Healthy Kids Survey (N=67,701) was combined with geocoded e-cigarette retailers to determine whether a retailer was present within one-quarter mile of each public school in OC. Multilevel logistic regression models evaluated individual-level and school-level e-cigarette use correlates among middle and high school students.ResultsAmong middle school students, the presence of an e-cigarette retailer within one-quarter mile of their school predicted lifetime e-cigarette use (OR=1.70, 95% CI=1.02, 2.83), controlling for confounders but no effect for current use. No significant effect was found for high school students.ConclusionsE-cigarette specialty retailers clustered around schools may be an environmental influence on student e-cigarette experimentation.

We determined the extent to which adolescents who have never used tobacco try e-cigarettes. Data on the prevalence and correlates of e-cigarette use among 482,179 California middle and high school students are from the 2013-2014 California Healthy Kids Survey. Overall, 24.4% had ever used e-cigarettes (13.4% have never used tobacco and 11.0% have used tobacco), and 12.9% were current e-cigarette users (5.9% have never used tobacco). Among those who have never used tobacco, males and older students were more likely to use e-cigarettes than females and younger students. Hispanics (odds ratio [OR] = 1.60; confidence interval [CI] = 1.53, 1.67) and those of other races (OR = 1.24; CI = 1.19, 1.29) were more likely than Whites to have ever used e-cigarettes, but only among those who had never used smokeless tobacco and never smoked a whole cigarette. E-cigarette use is very prevalent among California students who have never smoked tobacco, especially among Hispanic and other race students, males, and older students.

Studies find that longer-term immigrants have higher body mass index (BMI) than their more recently-arrived counterparts. Most interpretations of these health patterns by duration of U.S. residence rely on theories of immigrant integration; they posit that with increasing time in the United States, immigrants incorporate economically, socially, and culturally into aspects of U.S. society, and that these changes impact health. Few studies empirically examine whether these aspects of integration are indeed mediators of the association between duration of U.S. stay and BMI, and if their patterns differ across immigrant subgroups. This study examines data from the National Latino and Asian American Survey, using path analytic methods to simultaneously test six hypothesized mediators between duration and BMI: household income, English language ability, ethnic identity, family cohesion, acculturative stress and discrimination for both Latino and Asian immigrants, stratified by gender. We find little evidence for an association between duration and BMI for either Latino or Asian men. For women, duration and BMI have a significant and positive relationship, although the pathways differ between the two ethnic groups. For Latina women, household income and acculturative stress are significant indirect pathways, although they work in opposing directions. For Asian women, English proficiency and discrimination are significant indirect pathways. Our findings reveal complex pathways between duration and BMI that vary by ethnicity and gender and highlight limitations in the negative acculturation theory, which suggests that exposure to the United States should have a net negative impact on health. In contrast, our findings suggest not all groups show declining health with longer duration, as measured by BMI, and that integration processes do not always translate into health differences in the expected directions. Future research on duration patterns may need to consider alternative explanations beyond incorporation-based processes, such as cross-national health theories or age, period, cohort effects

Active transportation modes such as walking and biking are gaining popularity for their extensive health and environmental benefits, yet scholars know little about how place-based accessibility varies by area sociodemographic composition. This study is among the first to examine sociodemographic disparities (by both race and socioeconomic status) in bikeability while allowing for heterogeneity in disparities. Consideration of bikeability disparities is particularly critical within the framework of urban planning concepts that promote equitable accessibility and reduced dependency on automobiles, such as the 15-minute city. Geographically Weighted Regressions examined associations between census tract-level bikeability (using an index that combines five components), socioeconomic status, and percentage non-White residents (controlling for age of structures in tracts). Findings showed that the strength and directionality of associations between bikeability and race/socioeconomic status varied throughout the county, providing targeted information on where greater concentrations of low socioeconomic status and non-White residents were associated with lower bikeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In one Los Angeles study, 20 % of day laborers reported excessive drinking. Older adults are more sensitive to alcohol's effects, yet heavy drinking persists among Latinos until they are in their 60s. No interventions to reduce heavy drinking exist for aging day laborers. We recruited 14 day laborers aged 50 and older in Los Angeles. We identified their unhealthy alcohol use behaviors and comorbidities and conducted semi-structured interviews to understand their perceptions of unhealthy alcohol use. We found social disadvantages and conditions exacerbated by alcohol use, like depression. Participants were concerned with dying and premature aging, and reported that family could influence behavior change. An intervention should consider (1) integrating family values and (2) increasing knowledge about alcohol use and comorbidities. Further studies are needed to explore family influence on aging Latino day laborers.

We examined whether social support from family and friends, separately, reduce the deleterious effect of neighborhood stressors on psychological distress among Latinos by subgroup. Utilizing data from a nationally representative sample of 2,524 Latinos (National Latino and Asian American Survey), we found that neighborhood stressors were associated with higher distress among people with low and average levels of family support, although there was no significant association between neighborhood stressors and distress among those with high levels of family support. Although both family and friend support reduced the deleterious mental health impact of neighborhood stressors, when mutually adjusted, only family support remained statistically significant as a stress buffer and only for Mexicans and Cubans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to writer Aki N. Bandara's critique in the same issue of the journal which addresses the authors' article from 2015 entitled "E-Cigarette Use Among Never-Smoking California Students," and it mentions adolescents' perceptions about safety.