Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2022
US shelter in place policies and child abuse Google search volume during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unemployment, school closures, movement restrictions, and social isolation, all of which are child abuse risk factors. Our objective was to estimate the effect of COVID-19 shelter in place (SIP) policies on child abuse as captured by Google searches. We applied a differences-in-differences design to estimate the effect of SIP on child abuse search volume. ⋯ We did not find strong evidence for an effect of SIP on child abuse searches. However, an increase in total search volume during the pandemic that may be differential between states with and without SIP policies could have biased these findings. Future work should examine the effect of SIP at the individual and population level using other data sources.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2022
Psychosocial impact of COVID-19 among adults in the southeastern United States.
Limited research has explored the mental health impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the U. S., especially among Black and low-income Americans who are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. To address this gap in the literature, we investigated factors associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms during the pandemic. ⋯ Individuals whose physical activity or vegetable/fruit consumption decreased since the start of the pandemic also had higher odds of moderate/severe depression and anxiety. Results overall suggest that individuals in fair/poor health, living alone, and/or experiencing decreased physical activity and vegetable/fruit consumption have higher risk of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Clinical and public health interventions are needed to support individuals experiencing depression and anxiety during the pandemic.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2022
ReviewCan positive psychological interventions improve health behaviors? A systematic review of the literature.
Positive psychological interventions (PPIs), which aim to cultivate psychological well-being, have the potential to improve health behavior adherence. This systematic review summarized the existing literature on PPI studies with a health behavior outcome to examine study methodology, quality, and efficacy. Of the 27 identified studies, 20 measured physical activity, eight measured medication adherence, seven measured diet, and three measured smoking (eight targeted multiple behaviors). ⋯ In summary, PPIs are being increasingly studied as a strategy to enhance health behavior adherence. The existing literature is limited by small sample size, low study quality and inconsistent intervention content and outcome measurement. Future research should establish the most effective components of PPIs that can be tailored to different populations, use objective health behavior measurement, and robustly examine the effects of PPIs on health behaviors in fully powered RCTs.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2022
Racial resentment and support for decriminalization of drug possession in the United States.
Drug criminalization creates significant barriers to prevention and treatment of substance use disorders and racial equity objectives, and removal of criminal penalties for drug possession is increasingly being endorsed by health and justice advocates. We present empirical data estimating the share of U. S. adults who support eliminating criminal penalties for possession of all illicit drugs, and examine factors associated with public support. ⋯ Among white respondents, greater racial resentment was strongly associated with reduced support for drug decriminalization. Support for drug decriminalization varies considerably by beliefs about politics and race, with racial resentment among white Americans potentially comprising a barrier to drug policy reform. Findings can inform communication and advocacy efforts to promote drug policy reform in the United States.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2022
Associations of parental physical activity trajectories with offspring's physical activity patterns from childhood to middle adulthood: The Young Finns Study.
We investigated the association of parental physical activity (PA) trajectories with offspring's youth and adult PA. Self-reported PA data were extracted from the Young Finns Study with three follow-ups for parents between 1980 and 1986 and nine follow-ups for their offspring in youth between 1980 and 2011 (aged 9-39 years, n = 2402) and in adulthood in 2018. Accelerometer-derived PA was quantified in 2018-2020 (aged 43-58 years, n = 1134). ⋯ Persistently active and increasingly active offspring in youth accumulated more adult total PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA, step counts, and self-reported PA than persistently low-active ones (all p < 0.036). Parental persistent PA, particularly paternal persistent PA, predicts offspring's PA concurrently and prospectively. Increasing and maintaining PA in youth predicts higher PA levels in midlife.