Community Attachments are Associated with COVID-19 Public Health Behaviors Among Adolescents in Pakistan

Susceptibility to COVID-19 misinformation--believing false statements to be true--negatively relates to compliance with public health measures. Here, we make the prediction that metacognitive insight into the varying accuracy of own beliefs predicts compliance with recommended health behaviors, above and beyond the accuracy of these beliefs. In a national sample of German citizens, we investigate metacognitive sensitivity, the degree to which confidence differentiates correct from incorrect beliefs. Bayesian and frequentist analyses show that citizens with higher metacognitive sensitivity were more likely to adopt recommended public health measures. Importantly, this benefit of metacognitive introspection into own beliefs held controlling for the accuracy of the beliefs. The present research highlights that insight into the varying accuracy of beliefs, rather than only the beliefs themselves, relate to citizens’ behavior during the pandemic

Download Full-text

EnCLASS: an innovative project merging 2 international surveys (HBSC/ESPAD) among French students

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckz187 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

E Godeau ◽

V Ehlinger ◽

S Spilka

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

High School ◽

Substance Use ◽

Health Behavior ◽

Secondary School ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

Adolescent Health ◽

International Level ◽

School Students ◽

Health Promotion In Schools

Abstract Problem For two decades, France has taken part in two “competing” school-based, cross-national surveys exploring the health behaviors and well-being of adolescent (Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, 11-13-15 year-olds) and their substance use (European School Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD), 15-16 year-olds). Description of problem Since 2010, French data is provided at national level by grade rather than age. This allowed providing a continuous observation of health behaviors among adolescents, looking at the temporal spread of substance use and providing a better understanding of the role of school as a setting for adolescents’ health. But the difficulty of participating every 4 years in two big surveys remained. Effects of changes In 2018, France decided to conduct the 2 surveys in a unified and simultaneous way across middle- and high-school. This project is called ’National Survey in Middle- and High-school for Adolescents on Health and Substances’, EnCLASS, explicit acronym easy to pronounce and remember in French. If the main objective of “merging” these surveys is to improve the monitoring of health behaviours and substance use throughout adolescence, it also allows a significant gain regarding preparation, coordination and organization of the fieldwork, hence of overall costs, while ensuring perfect comparability of data at international level. Evolution of data visualization on substance use will be used to illustrate the challenges and improvements of such a process, based on data collected in 2018 among more than 20,000 representative secondary-school students. Lessons In addition to a greater facility of interpreting and reading findings, presenting data throughout secondary school grades improves its impact and use in a public health perspective and allowing identifying operational targets for prevention and health promotion in schools, as classes are their main settings. Key messages EnCLASS is unique in Europe, it ensures an excellent comparability of data at international level while providing an innovative national monitoring of adolescent health behavior, including drug use. Further, by its improved quality, perspective and relevance, EnCLASS can contribute to Public health policies analysis regarding school-students in France in a less expensive and better way.

Download Full-text

Health behaviours during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: implications for obesity

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980020003031 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 23 (17) ◽

pp. 3121-3125 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Niyati Parekh ◽

Andrea L Deierlein

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Health Behaviours ◽

Cardiometabolic Health ◽

Dietary Intakes ◽

Sedentary Behaviors ◽

Assistance Programs ◽

Individual Level ◽

Nutrition Assistance

AbstractObjective:Obesity is a risk factor for severe complications and death from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Public health efforts to control the pandemic may alter health behaviors related to weight gain, inflammation, and poor cardiometabolic health, exacerbating the prevalence of obesity, poor immune health, and chronic diseases.Design:We reviewed how the pandemic adversely influences many of these behaviors, specifically physical activity, sedentary behaviors, sleep, and dietary intakes, and provided individual level strategies that may be used to mitigate them.Results:At the community level and higher, public health and health care professionals need to advocate for intervention strategies and policy changes that address these behaviors, such as increasing nutrition assistance programs and creating designated areas for recreation and active transportation, to reduce disparities among vulnerable populations.Conclusions:The long-lasting impact of the pandemic on health behaviors, and the possibility of a second COVID-19 wave, emphasize the need for creative and evolving, multi-level approaches to assist individuals in adapting their health behaviors to prevent both chronic and infectious diseases.

Download Full-text

Law, Stigma, and Meaning: Implications for Obesity and HIV Prevention

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1177/1073110517750583 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 45 (4) ◽

pp. 492-501 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michael V. Stanton ◽

Jason A. Smith

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Hiv Prevention ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Health Problems ◽

Health Policies ◽

Health Law ◽

Positive Health ◽

Public Health Law ◽

Policy Makers

Public health law has focused primarily on combatting stigma through laws targeting discrimination based on attributes (de jure), when the reach of stigma extends far beyond mere appearances. By exploring the lived experience of stigmatized individuals, policy makers might more deeply understand public health problems, more appropriately create health policies, and more effectively promote positive health behaviors. Efforts to address stigma must focus on all aspects of stigma to be effective.

Download Full-text

Measurement Error in Studies of the Built Environment: Validating Commercial Data as Objective Measures of Neighborhood Destinations

Journal of Physical Activity and Health ◽

10.1123/jpah.10.6.792 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 792-804 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Paula Louise Hooper ◽

Nicholas Middleton ◽

Matthew Knuiman ◽

Billie Giles-Corti

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Measurement Error ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

Health Research ◽

Public Health Research ◽

Objective Measures ◽

Housing Developments ◽

Residential Environments ◽

Data Extract ◽

Yellow Pages

Background:There is increasing focus on the influence of neighborhood destinations on a variety of health behaviors. Commercial databases, integrated with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), are popular sources of destination information for public health researchers. However, the suitability and accuracy of these data for public health research purposes has been generally unexplored.Methods:This study validated the presence and number of a broad range of destination types listed within an Australian-based commercial database (Yellow Pages), thought to be important for encouraging health behaviors, against those identified via field audit. The study was conducted in and around 5 housing developments within the RESIDential Environments project across metropolitan Perth, Western Australia.Results:Overall agreement of the count of destinations listed within the Yellow Pages ranged from 0.29–0.76, depending on the study area, the timing of the data extract and the geocoding methods used. Results also indicated considerable variation between different extracts from the same commercial dataset, and appreciable over- and under-counting of different destination types compared with field audit findings.Conclusions:The choice of database and extraction time and methods, have important implications in the quantification of neighborhood destination mix and robustness of associations with public health behaviors.

Download Full-text

Peer Crowd Identification and Adolescent Health Behaviors: Results From a Statewide Representative Study

Health Education & Behavior ◽

10.1177/1090198118759148 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 40-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Jeffrey W. Jordan ◽

Carolyn A. Stalgaitis ◽

John Charles ◽

Patrick A. Madden ◽

Anjana G. Radhakrishnan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Substance Use ◽

High Risk ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

Representative Sample ◽

Risky Behaviors ◽

Risk Groups ◽

Representative Study ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Peer Crowds

Purpose. Peer crowds are macro-level subcultures that share similarities across geographic areas. Over the past decade, dozens of studies have explored the association between adolescent peer crowds and risk behaviors, and how they can inform public health efforts. However, despite the interest, researchers have not yet reported on crowd size and risk levels from a representative sample, making it difficult for practitioners to apply peer crowd science to interventions. The current study reports findings from the first statewide representative sample of adolescent peer crowd identification and health behaviors. Methods. Weighted data were analyzed from the 2015 Virginia Youth Survey of Health Behaviors ( n = 4,367). Peer crowds were measured via the I-Base Survey™, a photo-based peer crowd survey instrument. Frequencies and confidence intervals of select behaviors including tobacco use, substance use, nutrition, physical activity, and violence were examined to identify high- and low-risk crowds. Logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios for each crowd and behavior. Results. Risky behaviors clustered in two peer crowds. Hip Hop crowd identification was associated with substance use, violence, and some depression and suicidal behaviors. Alternative crowd identification was associated with increased risk for some substance use behaviors, depression and suicide, bullying, physical inactivity, and obesity. Mainstream and, to a lesser extent, Popular, identities were associated with decreased risk for most behaviors. Conclusions. Findings from the first representative study of peer crowds and adolescent behavior identify two high-risk groups, providing critical insights for practitioners seeking to maximize public health interventions by targeting high-risk crowds.

Download Full-text

Policy liberalism and source of news predict pandemic-related health behaviors and trust in the scientific community

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0252670 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (6) ◽

pp. e0252670

Author(s):

Madeleine Reinhardt ◽

Matthew B. Findley ◽

Renee A. Countryman

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

News Media ◽

Perceived Risk ◽

Scientific Community ◽

The United States ◽

World Health ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Health Measures

In March of 2020, the United States was confronted with a major public health crisis caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This study aimed to identify what factors influence adherence to recently implemented public health measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing, trust of scientific organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on information pertaining to the pandemic, and level of perceived risk. Data were collected from June 30, 2020 to July 22, 2020 on 951 adult residents of the United States using an online survey through Microsoft Forms. Multiple linear regression was used to identify the strongest predictors for compliance to pandemic-related health measures, trust in the scientific community, and perceived risk. Results showed that the strongest predictor of all variables of interest was degree of policy liberalism. Additionally, participants who consumed more conservative news media conformed less to the pandemic health guidelines and had less trust in the scientific community. Degree of policy liberalism was found to have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between gender and conformity to pandemic-related health behaviors. These findings have concerning implications that factors like degree of policy liberalism and source of news are more influential in predicting adherence to life-saving health measures than established risk factors like pre-existing health conditions.

Download Full-text

Who is to blame for COVID-19? Examining politicized fear and health behavior through a mixed methods study in the United States

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0256136 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (9) ◽

pp. e0256136

Author(s):

Lisa J. Hardy ◽

Adi Mana ◽

Leah Mundell ◽

Moran Neuman ◽

Sharón Benheim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Mixed Methods ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

The United States ◽

Mixed Methods Design ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Government Power ◽

Political Spectrum

Background Political ideologies drove public actions and health behaviors in the first year of the global pandemic. Different ideas about contagion, health behaviors, and the actions of governing bodies impacted the spread of the virus and health and life. Researchers used an immediate, mixed methods design to explore sociocultural responses to the virus and identified differences and similarities in anxiety, fear, blame, and perceptions of nation across political divides. Methods Researchers conducted 60 in-depth, semi-structured interviews and administered over 1,000 questionnaires with people living in the United States. The team analyzed data through an exploratory and confirmatory sequential mixed methods design. Results In the first months of the pandemic interviewees cited economic inequality, untrustworthy corporations and other entities, and the federal government as threats to life and pandemic control. Participants invoked ideas about others to determine blame. Findings reveal heavy associations between lack of safety during a public health crisis and blame of “culture” and government power across the political spectrum. Conclusion Data indicate anxiety across political differences related to ideas of contagion and the maleficence of a powerful elite. Findings on how people understand the nation, politics, and pandemic management contribute to understanding dimensions of health behaviors and underlying connections between anxiety and the uptake of conspiracy theories in public health. The article ends with recommendations drawn from project findings for future pandemic response.

Download Full-text

Effects of New Media Use on Health Behaviors: A Case Study in China

Iranian Journal of Public Health ◽

10.18502/ijph.v50i5.6112 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lifang Tang ◽

Jie Wang

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

New Media ◽

Health Communication ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

Mass Communication ◽

Health Knowledge ◽

Media Use ◽

Online Social Network ◽

Influencing Mechanism ◽

Hypothesis Model

Background: Mass communication is one of the most important ways in health communication. The emergence of new media has changed the way people acquire health information and then their health behaviors. However, few studies have been conducted about complicated relations between media use and health behaviors under new media conditions and further systematic explanation is needed. Methods: A hypothesis model for the influence of WeChat use on health behaviors was constructed to explore the internal influencing mechanism of new media use on health behaviors. An empirical analysis on the internal influencing mechanism of WeChat use on health behaviors was carried out with a survey data consist of 463 young active users on famous online social network sites in China from March to June 2019. Results: New media use represented by WeChat has significant positive influence on health behaviors. Individuals who frequently use new media related to health have better health conditions than those who rarely use them. The improvement of health behaviors is mainly attributed to acquisition of health knowledge. Such effect is also mediated by the degree of individuals’ trust in health knowledge. Conclusion: This study not only discloses the influencing mechanism of new media use and health knowledge on health behaviors, but also confirms the value of new media in promoting public health communication and public health behaviors. Conclusions provide significant references in decision-making to develop effective guidance of public health.

Download Full-text