scholarly journals Social services Interventions and the Mental Health and Mortality of care leavers: a population based data linkage study in Northern Ireland and Finland

Author(s):  
Aideen Maguire ◽  
Anne Kouvonen ◽  
Dermot O'Reilly ◽  
Hanna Remes ◽  
Joonas Pitkänen ◽  
...  

BackgroundResearch has highlighted the poor mental health of looked after children compared to those never in care. However, little is known on what becomes of these children and their mental health trajectories after they leave the care of social services. In addition, previous studies are limited in their ability to differentiate between type of social care intervention received; kinship care, foster care or residential care. AimTo utilise nationwide social services data from two countries (Northern Ireland (NI) and Finland), with similar populations but different intervention policies, linked to a range of demographic and health datasets to examine the mental health outcomes of young adults in the years following leaving care. MethodsData from both countries on children born 1991-2000 were linked to social services data, hospital admissions, prescribed medication data and death records. Mental health outcomes were defined after the age of 18years (when statutory care provision ends) examined by care intervention and included admissions to psychiatric hospital, for self-harm and death by suicide. ResultsThe gender split in care in Finland is reflective of the population but more males are in care in NI. Initial results from Finnish data suggest those exposed to care in childhood have an increased risk of self-harm, psychiatric hospital admission and suicide after the age of 18years compared to those never in care. After adjusting for gender, age of entry to care and deprivation at birth those exposed to any care intervention had 3 times the risk of suicide (HR=3.06, 95% CI 1.18,7.98). Risk increased with duration in care but was equivalent across care intervention types. Analysis on the NI data is underway. ConclusionFull results will be available December 2019 and will explore which care pathways are most associated with poor mental health outcomes informing discussion around intervention opportunities and policy.

Author(s):  
Sarah McKenna ◽  
Aideen Maguire ◽  
Dermot O'Reilly

Background Research has consistently found a high prevalence of mental ill-health among children in out-of-home care. However, results have varied significantly by study location, type of care intervention, sample population and mental health measurement, and concerns have been raised about appropriate reference populations. In addition, little is known about children known to social services who remain with their birth families. Aim To examine mental ill-health amongst children known to social services based on care exposure including those who remain at home, those placed in foster care, kinship care or institutional care and the general population not known to social services. Methods Northern Ireland is unique in that has an integrated health and social care system and holds data centrally on all children known to social services. Social services data (1995-2015) will be linked to hospital discharge data (2010-2015), prescribed medication data (2010-2015), self-harm data (2010-2015) and death records (2010-2015) to investigate mental health outcomes in terms of psychiatric hospital admissions, psychotropic medication uptake, self-harm and suicide. Results Data cleaning has been completed and analysis is underway. Preliminary results will be available by December 2019. Descriptive statistics will provide a mental health profile of children in care compared not only to children in the general population but to those who are known to social services but remain in their own home. Regression models will determine which factors are most associated with poor mental health outcomes. Conclusion This project is the UK’s first population-wide data linkage study examining the mental health of children in the social care system, including looked-after children and those known to social services who remain in their own home. Project partners in the Department of Health recognise the potential of these findings to inform future policy relating to targeting interventions for children in receipt of social care services.


Trauma Care ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-74
Author(s):  
Nicola Magnavita ◽  
Ilaria Capitanelli ◽  
Gabriele Arnesano ◽  
Angela Iuliano ◽  
Igor Mauro ◽  
...  

Exposure to major trauma can have significant consequences for workers’ mental health, but common trauma may also result in poor mental health outcomes. This cross-sectional study retrospectively investigated the occurrence of common physical or psychological workplace trauma in 901 health, social service, and trading company workers and studied these experiences in relation to occupational stress, anxiety, and depression. Stress was measured with the effort/reward imbalance (ERI) model while anxiety and depression were evaluated with the Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale (GADS). Healthcare workers reported a high frequency of trauma and significantly higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression than other workers. Even in the entire population of workers of the various professional categories, verbal violence (harassment and threats), traffic accidents, home injuries, and family bereavement were significantly associated with high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Major trauma survivors are known to be at increased risk of mental disorders and require support in the workplace, however, even minor repeated emotional trauma and injuries can affect mental health. During mandatory health surveillance, the occupational physician should systematically collect information on minor trauma and mental health outcomes when assessing the occupational fitness of the workers assigned to him.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Lebenbaum ◽  
Therese A. Stukel ◽  
Natasha Ruth Saunders ◽  
Hong Lu ◽  
Marcelo Urquia ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Gender inequality varies across countries and is associated with poor outcomes including violence against women and depression. Little is known about the relationship of source county gender inequality and poor health outcomes in female immigrants. Methods We used administrative databases to conduct a cohort study of 299,228 female immigrants ages 6–29 years becoming permanent residence in Ontario, Canada between 2003 and 2017 and followed up to March 31, 2020 for severe presentations of suffering assault, and selected mental health disorders (mood or anxiety, self-harm) as measured by hospital visits or death. Poisson regression examined the influence of source-country Gender Inequality Index (GII) quartile (Q) accounting for individual and country level characteristics. Results Immigrants from countries with the highest gender inequality (GII Q4) accounted for 40% of the sample, of whom 83% were from South Asia (SA) or Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The overall rate of assault was 10.9/10,000 person years (PY) while the rate of the poor mental health outcome was 77.5/10,000 PY. Both GII Q2 (Incident Rate Ratio (IRR): 1.48, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.08, 2.01) and GII Q4 (IRR: 1.58, 95%CI: 1.08, 2.31) were significantly associated with experiencing assault but not with poor mental health. For females from countries with the highest gender inequality, there were significant regional differences in rates of assault, with SSA migrants experiencing high rates compared with those from SA. Relative to economic immigrants, refugees were at increased risk of sustaining assaults (IRR: 2.96, 95%CI: 2.32, 3.76) and poor mental health (IRR: 1.73, 95%CI: 1.50, 2.01). Higher educational attainment (bachelor’s degree or higher) at immigration was protective (assaults IRR: 0.64, 95%CI: 0.51, 0.80; poor mental health IRR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.60, 0.80). Conclusion Source country gender inequality is not consistently associated with post-migration violence against women or severe depression, anxiety and self-harm in Ontario, Canada. Community-based research and intervention to address the documented socio-demographic disparities in outcomes of female immigrants is needed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (12) ◽  
pp. 776-788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracie O. Afifi ◽  
Harriet L. MacMillan ◽  
Tamara Taillieu ◽  
Sarah Turner ◽  
Kristene Cheung ◽  
...  

Objective: Child abuse can have devastating mental health consequences. Fortunately, not all individuals exposed to child abuse will suffer from poor mental health. Understanding what factors are related to good mental health following child abuse can provide evidence to inform prevention of impairment. Our objectives were to 1) describe the prevalence of good, moderate, and poor mental health among respondents with and without a child abuse history; 2) examine the relationships between child abuse and good, moderate, and poor mental health outcomes; 3) examine the relationships between individual- and relationship-level factors and better mental health outcomes; and 4) determine if individual- and relationship-level factors moderate the relationship between child abuse and mental health. Method: Data were from the nationally representative 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health ( n = 23,395; household response rate = 79.8%; 18 years and older). Good, moderate, and poor mental health was assessed using current functioning and well-being, past-year mental disorders, and past-year suicidal ideation. Results: Only 56.3% of respondents with a child abuse history report good mental health compared to 72.4% of those without a child abuse history. Individual- and relationship-level factors associated with better mental health included higher education and income, physical activity, good coping skills to handle problems and daily demands, and supportive relationships that foster attachment, guidance, reliable alliance, social integration, and reassurance of worth. Conclusions: This study identifies several individual- and relationship-level factors that could be targeted for intervention strategies aimed at improving mental health outcomes following child abuse.


2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane McCusker ◽  
Martin Cole ◽  
Sylvie Lambert ◽  
Mark Yaffe ◽  
Antonio Ciampi ◽  
...  

Objective: To explore the effects of baseline psychological and antidepressant medication treatment in a trial of lay telephone coaching in a low-intensity, supported depression self-care intervention. Method: A single blind, individually randomised, pragmatic trial was conducted among primary care adults with chronic physical conditions and comorbid depressive symptoms. Eligible subjects were randomised to receive a depression self-care toolkit with (intervention group) or without (control group) telephone coaching provided by trained lay coaches. For this brief communication, a secondary analysis of the trial data focused on the effects of baseline psychological and antidepressant treatments on mental health outcomes (Patient Health Questionnaire 9 [PHQ-9], SF-12 Mental Component Summary [MCS], Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 [GAD-7]) and satisfaction with the intervention. Results: In total, 223 patients were randomised, and 165 (74.0%) completed both 3- and 6-month follow-ups. There were 2 significant interactions of baseline treatment and study group for 6-month mental health outcomes. A significant benefit of coaching on 6-month PHQ-9 was seen only among participants who were not receiving baseline psychological treatment. A smaller interaction was found for baseline antidepressant medications and 6-month mental health. There was a significant main effect for baseline psychological treatment and lower 6-month satisfaction. Conclusions: Depressed patients receiving baseline psychological treatment may not benefit from lay coaching offered as part of a low-intensity depression self-care intervention.


2020 ◽  
pp. 088626051989842
Author(s):  
Juan C. Mendoza-Perez ◽  
Luis Ortiz-Hernandez

The aim of this study was to determine whether the experiences of direct or subtle forms of discrimination and violence are associated with mental health in Mexican gay, homosexual, and bisexual (GHB) men. A cross-sectional survey was conducted online; the sample consisted of 4,827 GHB men. Ten forms of overt and subtle sexual orientation–based discrimination and violence (SO-DV) were assessed. Linear and logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between SO-DV experiences and mental health outcomes. Physical violence was reported less frequently than the other forms of SO-DV. As the number of settings in which SO-DV were experienced increased, a stronger association with negative mental health outcomes was observed. Experiences of subtle SO-DV were associated with increased distress, lower vitality, and increased risk of suicidal ideation. Disapproval of gender nonconformity was associated with negative mental health outcomes independently of violence based on sexual orientation. Subtle forms of SO-DV are more common than direct and overt forms. Both types of SO-DV could negatively affect mental health. Studies investigating these negative experiences are required to gain an understanding of the health inequalities faced by non-heterosexual populations.


2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 342-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Cacciatore ◽  
J. Frøen ◽  
Michael Killian

Every year around the globe there are more than two million stillbirths, yet stillbirth is generally treated as a non-event, considered less impactful than the death of a live-born child. In up to 60 percent of third-trimester stillbirths, the causes of death were attributed to maternal conditions or were "undetermined." As a result, mothers blame themselves or specific others. This analysis set out to determine how the attitudes of 2,232 bereaved mothers predict their mental health outcomes measuring depressive and anxious symptoms with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL). Of the women sampled, 24.6% reported blaming themselves, and 42.3% reported elevated HSCL mean scores. Self-blame in particular is correlated with symptoms of anxiety and depression. Multivariate analyses predicting elevated HSCL scores demonstrated the importance of time after death, level of education, and reported abuse during pregnancy in the models, as did self-blame and blaming others. Controlling for other demographic and pregnancy-related variables, self-blame was the strongest predictor of poor mental health outcomes. Implications for mental health counselors are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anca Mirsu-Paun ◽  
Jason A. Oliver

A meta-analysis of 20 manuscripts reporting on 21 unique studies (N = 19,623) was conducted to investigate the magnitude of the association between adolescent romantic relationship quality (RRQ), romantic relationship breakups (RRB) and mental health outcomes (i.e., depression, suicide ideation, deliberate self-harm, and suicide attempt). Potential moderators of these relationships were also explored. The sample included U.S. and non-U.S. adolescents (13–17 years old), and young adults (18–29 years old). Results indicated statistically significant but modest relationships between both RRQ and RRB and mental health, with the first showing a stronger association. There was some evidence suggesting this relationship may be stronger for women, but no evidence it differed as a function of nationality or age. Additional research is needed to address the distinction between clinical and non-clinical populations on specific outcomes and to further explore the role of mental health outcomes as related to romantic relationship quality and breakups. Implications for practice include the need for (a) services to individuals emotionally affected by romantic relationships, (b) relationship quality psycho-education, and (c) screenings of individuals at risk due to low romantic relationship quality or recent relationship breakup.


Author(s):  
Umar Toseeb ◽  
Dieter Wolke

AbstractSibling bullying is associated with poor mental health outcomes, but the relevance of specific bullying roles remains unclear. Data from a population-based study (n = 17,157, 48% female) focusing on early (11 years), middle (14 years), and late (17 years) adolescence were analyzed. Associations between sibling bullying roles in early adolescence and positive and negative mental health outcomes in late adolescence were investigated. Generally, bullying, irrespective of role, was associated with poorer mental health outcomes in late adolescence. As the frequency of bullying victimization increased between early and middle adolescence so did the severity of mental health outcomes in late adolescence. The developmental trajectories of externalizing problems were influenced by bullying in early adolescence. Sibling bullying, irrespective of role, is associated with poor mental health outcomes.


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