scholarly journals Poverty, inequality and a political economy of mental health

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. Burns
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Mental Health Outcomes ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Impact

The relationship between poverty and mental health is indisputable. However, to have an influence on the next set of sustainable global development goals, we need to understand the causal relationships between social determinants such as poverty, inequality, lack of education and unemployment; thereby clarifying which aspects of poverty are the key drivers of mental illness. Some of the major challenges identified by Lund (2014) in understanding the poverty–mental health relationship are discussed including: the need for appropriate poverty indicators; extending this research agenda to a broader range of mental health outcomes; the need to engage with theoretical concepts such as Amartya Sen's capability framework; and the need to integrate the concept of income/economic inequality into studies of poverty and mental health. Although income inequality is a powerful driver of poor physical and mental health outcomes, it features rarely in research and discourse on social determinants of mental health. This paper interrogates in detail the relationships between poverty, income inequality and mental health, specifically: the role of income inequality as a mediator of the poverty–mental health relationship; the relative utility of commonly used income inequality metrics; and the likely mechanisms underlying the impact of inequality on mental health, including direct stress due to the setting up of social comparisons as well as the erosion of social capital leading to social fragmentation. Finally, we need to interrogate the upstream political, social and economic causes of inequality itself, since these should also become potential targets in efforts to promote sustainable development goals and improve population (mental) health. In particular, neoliberal (market-oriented) political doctrines lead to both increased income inequality and reduced social cohesion. In conclusion, understanding the relationships between politics, poverty, inequality and mental health outcomes requires us to develop a robust, evidence-based ‘political economy of mental health.’

scholarly journals Smartphone Addiction and Associated Health Outcomes in Adult Populations: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (22) ◽  
pp. 12257
Author(s):  
Zubair Ahmed Ratan ◽  
Anne-Maree Parrish ◽  
Sojib Bin Zaman ◽  
Mohammad Saud Alotaibi ◽  
Hassan Hosseinzadeh
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Mental Health Outcomes ◽  
Smartphone Addiction ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

Background: Smartphones play a critical role in increasing human–machine interactions, with many advantages. However, the growing popularity of smartphone use has led to smartphone overuse and addiction. This review aims to systematically investigate the impact of smartphone addiction on health outcomes. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to carry out the systematic review. Five electronic databases including Medline, Web of Science, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Scopus were searched to identify eligible studies. Eligible studies were screened against predetermined inclusion criteria and data were extracted according to the review questions. This review is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020181404). The quality of the articles was assessed using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. Results: A total of 27 of 2550 articles met the inclusion criteria. All of the studies were cross-sectional and focused on physical, mental, and neurological health outcomes. The majority of the studies focused on mental health outcomes and consistent associations were observed between smartphone addiction and several mental health outcomes. Anxiety and depression were commonly found to mediate mental health problems. A wide range of physical health sequelae was also associated with smartphone addiction. Furthermore, there was an association between smartphone addiction and neurological disorders. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that there are consistent associations between smartphone addiction and physical and mental health, especially mental health. Social awareness campaigns about smartphone addiction and its impact on physical and mental health are needed. Further studies, especially randomized controlled trials, are warranted to validate the impacts of smartphone addiction.

Physical and Mental Health Behaviors among Individuals with Severe Mental Illness: A Comprehensive Needs Assessment

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
Jill L. Bezyak ◽  
Alena Clark ◽  
Chung-Yi Chiu ◽  
Fong Chan ◽  
Nora Testerman
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Behavior ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
Needs Assessment ◽  
Mental Health Outcomes ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
The Impact

Individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) are at greater risk for health problems and premature death when compared to the rest of the population. Information on the impact of nutrition education, physical activity, and social support on physical and mental health outcomes of people with SMI is just beginning to emerge. The primary purpose of this study was to implement a comprehensive needs assessment related to social support and health behavior among individuals with SMI in order to clarify their relationship with physical and mental health outcomes. Needs assessment information was collected from 18 participants over the course of a six-week period. Participants reported significant problems with physical health, below average ratings on physical and mental health indicators, varied use and satisfaction with social support, and current areas of need. The present study demonstrated the feasibility of using a comprehensive needs assessment tool to evaluate social support, health behavior and health outcomes of people with SMI.

scholarly journals The disease burden of multimorbidity and its interaction with educational level

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0243275
Author(s):  
Yi Hsuan Chen ◽  
Milad Karimi ◽  
Maureen P. M. H. Rutten-van Mölken
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
National Health Survey ◽  
Mental Health Outcomes ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Indicator Variable ◽  
The Impact

Introduction Policies to adequately respond to the rise in multimorbidity have top-priority. To understand the actual burden of multimorbidity, this study aimed to: 1) estimate the trend in prevalence of multimorbidity in the Netherlands, 2) study the association between multimorbidity and physical and mental health outcomes and healthcare cost, and 3) investigate how the association between multimorbidity and health outcomes interacts with socio-economic status (SES). Methods Prevalence estimates were obtained from a nationally representative pharmacy database over 2007–2016. Impact on costs was estimated in a fixed effect regression model on claims data over 2009–2015. Data on physical and mental health and SES were obtained from the National Health Survey in 2017, in which the Katz-10 was used to measure limitations in activities of daily living (ADL) and the Mental Health Inventory (MHI) to measure mental health. SES was approximated by the level of education. Generalized linear models (2-part models for ADL) were used to analyze the health data. In all models an indicator variable for the presence or absence of multimorbidity was included or a categorical variable for the number of chronic conditions. Interactions terms of multimorbidity and educational level were added into the previously mentioned models. Results Over the past ten years, there was an increase of 1.6%-point in the percentage of people with multimorbidity. The percentage of people with three or more conditions increased with +2.1%-point. People with multimorbidity had considerably worse physical and mental health outcomes than people without multimorbidity. For the ADL, the impact of multimorbidity was three times greater in the lowest educational level than in the highest educational level. For the MHI, the impact of multimorbidity was two times greater in the lowest than in the highest educational level. Each additional chronic condition was associated with a greater worsening in health outcomes. Similarly, for costs, where there was no evidence of a diminishing impact of additional conditions either. In patients with multimorbidity total healthcare costs were on average €874 higher than in patients with a single morbidity. Conclusion The impact of multimorbidity on health and costs seems to be greater in the sicker and lower educated population.

scholarly journals Potential impact of physical distancing on physical and mental health: a rapid narrative umbrella review of meta-analyses on the link between social connection and health

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. e042335
Author(s):  
Nexhmedin Morina ◽  
Ahlke Kip ◽  
Thole Hilko Hoppen ◽  
Stefan Priebe ◽  
Thomas Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Mental Health Outcomes ◽  
Social Connection ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Meta Analyses

BackgroundThe imperative for physical distancing (mostly referred to as social distancing) during COVID-19 pandemic may deteriorate physical and mental health. We aimed at summarising the strength of evidence in the published literature on the association of physical and mental health with social connection via social isolation, living alone and loneliness.MethodsWe conducted a systematic search in April 2020 to identify meta-analyses using the Medline, PsycINFO and Web of Science databases. The search strategy included terms of social isolation, loneliness, living alone and meta-analysis. Eligible meta-analyses needed to report any sort of association between an indicator of social connection and any physical or mental health outcome. The findings were summarised in a narrative synthesis.ResultsTwenty-five meta-analyses met our criteria, of which 10 focused on physical health and 15 on mental health outcomes. The results suggest that lack of social connection is associated with chronic physical symptoms, frailty, coronary heart disease, malnutrition, hospital readmission, reduced vaccine uptake, early mortality, depression, social anxiety, psychosis, cognitive impairment in later life and suicidal ideation.ConclusionsThe existing evidence clearly indicates that social connection is associated with a range of poor physical and mental health outcomes. A potential negative impact on these outcomes needs to be considered in future decisions on physical distancing measures.

The Impact of Mobile Application Systems Use on Mental Health Outcomes: A Secondary Analysis of the Effect of Systems Usage on Anxiety, Worry, & Emotional Reactivity Among Participants in the Unwinding Anxiety Program (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Nardi ◽  
Alexandra Roy ◽  
Shira Dunsiger ◽  
Judson Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Emotional Regulation ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Health Behavior Change ◽  
Mental Health Outcomes ◽  
Interoceptive Awareness ◽  
Point Increase ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Mobile health applications provide a promising avenue to help mitigate the burden on mental health services by complimenting therapist-led treatments for anxiety. However, it remains unclear how specific systems' use of application components (i.e., tools) may be associated with changes in clinical symptomatology (i.e., anxiety, worry). OBJECTIVE This study was a secondary analysis of systems usage data from the Stage I randomized controlled trial testing the impact of the Unwinding Anxiety mobile application among adults with GAD. This secondary analysis was conducted to assess how using specific application tools may be associated with improvements in anxiety, worry, emotional regulation, and interoceptive awareness. METHODS We present analyses of the intervention group (i.e., those who received the Unwinding Anxiety program) during the Stage 1 trial. Total use of specific mobile application tools (i.e., ecological tools, meditation practices, educational modules) as well use specific to each tool (e.g., stress meter, lovingkindness meditation practice) were calculated. We utilized multivariate linear models to investigate the effect of total use of these tools on anxiety, worry, interoceptive awareness, emotional regulation at 2-months post-program initiation controlling for baseline scores, age, and education level. In addition, associations between systems usage metrics and baseline participant characteristics were assessed for differences in usage groupings. RESULTS The sample was primarily female (n=25; 92.6%) and the average age was 42.9 years old (SD=15.6) and educational module completion, the central intervention component, averaged 20.2 + 11.4 modules out of XXX for the total sample. Multivariate models revealed that completing >75% of the program was associated with an average 22.6-point increase in interoceptive awareness (SE=8.32, p=0.013) and an 11.6-point decrease in worry (SE=4.12, p=0.009). In addition, a single log unit change in total number of meditations was associated with a 0.95-point reduction in GAD-7 scores (SE=0.27, p=0.005) while a single log unit use of the stress meter was associated with an average of a 0.5-point increase in emotional regulation scores (FFMQ) (SE=0.21, p=0.027). CONCLUSIONS The work presented offers a clearer understanding of the impact of specific mobile app systems use on mental health outcomes. In addition, this research lays the groundwork for future comprehensive investigations of systems usage in dosing studies for health behavior change. CLINICALTRIAL Developing a Novel Digital Therapeutic for the Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (NCT03683472).

Longitudinal Effects of Gendered Harassment Perpetration and Victimization on Mental Health Outcomes in Adolescence

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (23-24) ◽  
pp. 5997-6016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Rinehart ◽  
Dorothy L. Espelage ◽  
Kristen L. Bub
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Mental Health Outcomes ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Negative Outcomes ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Homophobic Name Calling ◽  
Gendered Harassment

Gendered harassment, including sexual harassment and homophobic name-calling, is prevalent in adolescents and is linked to negative outcomes including depression, anxiety, suicidality, substance abuse, and personal distress. However, much of the extant literature is cross-sectional and rarely are perpetrators of these behaviors included in studies of outcomes. Therefore, the current study examined the effects of longitudinal changes in gendered harassment perpetration and victimization on changes in mental health outcomes among a large sample of early adolescents. Given that these behaviors commonly occur in the context of a patriarchal society (males hold power), we also investigated the impact of gender on gendered harassment. Participants included 3,549 students from four Midwestern middle schools (50.4% female, 49% African American, 34% White) at two time points (13 and 17 years old). Results indicated that increases from age 13 to 17 years in sexual harassment perpetration and victimization and homophobic name-calling perpetration and victimization predicted increases in depression symptoms and substance use. Gender did not moderate these pathways. These findings highlight that negative outcomes are associated with changes in gendered harassment among adolescents and emphasize the importance of prevention efforts. Implications for school interventions are discussed.

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