Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Jan 2023
Digital screen time and suicidality during high school: How important is cyberbullying? A mediation analysis using the youth risk behavioral surveillance survey, 2011-2019.
Elevated digital screen time (i.e., 2+ hours per day) is associated with suicidal ideations, planning, and attempts during adolescence. Recent studies suggest quality, rather than duration, of digital screen time is most impactful on adolescent mental health. We investigate the role of cyberbullying victimization on the relationship between elevated digital screen time and risk factors for completed suicide. ⋯ Similar mediating effects were observed in models stratified by sex. Findings reinforce prior research demonstrating that the quality of leisure, digital media strongly influences the relationship between digital screen time and mental health during adolescence. Findings need replication via longitudinal designs.
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Preventive medicine · Jan 2023
Sense of control as a mediator of the association between social capital and health inequality in China.
Social capital was shown to be associated with health. However, less is known about the pathways of the association and whether the mediating effect of the pathways varies across different income groups. Using adults (≥18 years) data from the 2010 Chinese General Social Survey (N = 3265), we examined the mediating effect of sense of control between social capital and health and whether income groups moderated the mediating effect in China. ⋯ Moderated mediation analysis further showed that sense of control mediated the association between frequency of socializing and health in all income groups, with the mediating effect decreasing when income increased (β (95% CI) from Q1 to Q5: 0.026 (0.015, 0.040); 0.022 (0.012, 0.036); 0.018 (0.009, 0.030); 0.013 (0.005, 0.024); 0.008 (0.000, 0.018)). Moderated mediation analysis also showed the same patterns for the mediating effect of sense of control on the association between trust and health and reciprocity and health. Our study suggested that employing social capital to promote sense of control could not only be beneficial for people's health but also be helpful to narrow the health gap on the income gradient.
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Preventive medicine · Jan 2023
Mentorship in adolescence and subsequent depression and adiposity among child maltreatment survivors in a United States nationally representative sample.
Child maltreatment (CM) is associated with multiple adverse health outcomes. Hence, there is a great need to identify factors that promote resilience in CM survivors. Mentorship may promote positive coping in CM survivors, but this may vary by health outcome and mentor/mentee characteristics. ⋯ The influence of mentorship in CM survivors is heterogeneous. While mentorship was associated with reduced psychopathology, it was also linked with worse physical health, underscoring that mentoring does not necessarily promote long-term resilience to physical health outcomes, particularly in minorities. A better understanding of how mentors influence specific mentee behaviors may be important in informing how mentors can promote better physical health and lower obesity risk among CM survivors.
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Preventive medicine · Jan 2023
The intersection of internalizing symptoms and alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective cohort study.
Given the well-established relationship between alcohol and internalizing symptoms, potential increases in depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to increases in alcohol consumption and binge drinking. This study examines this association from before to during two phases of the pandemic in a cohort of Canadian youth. We used linked data from a sub-sample of 1901 secondary school students who participated in three consecutive school years of the Cannabis use, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol use, Smoking, and Sedentary behaviour (COMPASS) study between 2018/19 and 2020/21. ⋯ The depression-alcohol use association was stronger among females than males. This study demonstrates a modest association between internalizing symptoms and alcohol use, particularly for depression symptoms and in females. The identified depression-alcohol use association suggests that preventing or treating depression might be beneficial for adolescent alcohol use and vice versa.
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The opioid epidemic in the United States disproportionately affects Medicaid beneficiaries than other groups. This results in a significant financial burden on state Medicaid programs. In this analysis, we investigate the association of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) treatment initiation and linkage to ongoing care on overall healthcare costs of Medicaid Fee-for-Service patients. ⋯ We found that in individuals with OUD who initiated MOUD treatment but were not linked to ongoing care had the highest healthcare cost, while those who were linked to ongoing MOUD treatment had the lowest healthcare cost. MOUD treatment is not only effective at addressing the significant morbidity and mortality burden of OUD but also associated with decreased financial cost, which is disproportionately incurred by Medicaid. Additional policy and care delivery changes are needed to focus efforts to improve linkage to ongoing treatment.