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Elgendi MM, Stewart SH, DesRoches DI, Corkum P, Nogueira-Arjona R, Deacon SH. Division of Labour and Parental Mental Health and Relationship Well-Being during COVID-19 Pandemic-Mandated Homeschooling. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022; 19:17021. [PMID: 36554900 PMCID: PMC9779066 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192417021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
While the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way parents partition tasks between one another, it is not clear how these division of labour arrangements affect well-being. Pre-pandemic research offers two hypotheses: economic theory argues optimal outcomes result from partners specialising in different tasks, whereas psychological theory argues for a more equitable division of labour. The question of which approach optimizes well-being is more pressing in recent times, with COVID-19 school closures leaving many couples with the burden of homeschooling. It is unknown whether specialisation or equity confer more benefits for mandated homeschoolers, relative to non-homeschoolers or voluntary homeschoolers. Couples (n = 962) with children in grades 1-5 completed measures of workload division and parental well-being. A linear mixed modelling in the total sample revealed that specialisation, but not equity, promoted increased parental emotional and relationship well-being. These relations were moderated by schooling status: voluntary homeschoolers' well-being benefitted from specialisation, whereas mandated homeschoolers' well-being did not benefit from either strategy; non-homeschoolers well-being benefitted from both strategies. Across the mixed-gender couples, mothers' and fathers' well-being both benefitted from specialisation; equity was only beneficial for mothers' well-being. Overall, couples might be advised to adopt highly equitable and specialised arrangements to promote both parents' well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariam M. Elgendi
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Sherry H. Stewart
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Danika I. DesRoches
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Penny Corkum
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | | | - S. Hélène Deacon
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
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Nieto-González IL, Rodríguez-Donate MC, Guirao-Pérez G. Tobacco Consumption and Mental Health in the Canary Islands: A Quantitative Analysis. Front Public Health 2022; 10:959442. [PMID: 35899167 PMCID: PMC9309548 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.959442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the detrimental health effects of tobacco, there has been scant research into determining comprehensive profiles to characterize individuals with a higher risk of smoking. This paper identifies such profiles and probabilistically quantifies the effects of certain traits on the decision to smoke in the Canary Islands. This characterization is approached from a broad and novel point of view for the region studied, given that the analysis not only studies sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle and health, but also incorporates mental health. The results show that suffering from some type of psychopathology leads to a higher probability of tobacco consumption. Moreover, just as the promotion of a healthy lifestyle has a direct impact on tobacco consumption, the implementation of public policies that reduce the risks of suffering from a mental illness could also reduce the prevalence of smoking in the region and contribute to the design of more effective prevention strategies.
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Gondek D, Lacey RE, Blanchflower DG, Patalay P. How is the distribution of psychological distress changing over time? Who is driving these changes? Analysis of the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2022; 57:1007-1016. [PMID: 34807287 PMCID: PMC9042977 DOI: 10.1007/s00127-021-02206-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
AIMS The main objective of this study was to investigate distributional shifts underlying observed age and cohort differences in mean levels of psychological distress in the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts. METHODS This study used data from the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts (n = 24,707). Psychological distress was measured by the Malaise Inventory at ages 23, 33, 42 and 50 in the 1958 cohort and 26, 34, 42 and 46-48 in the 1970 cohort. RESULTS The shifts in the distribution across age appear to be mainly due to changing proportion of those with moderate symptoms, except for midlife (age 42-50) when we observed polarisation in distress- an increase in proportions of people with no symptoms and multiple symptoms. The elevated levels of distress in the 1970 cohort, compared with the 1958 cohort, appeared to be due to an increase in the proportion of individuals with both moderate and high symptoms. For instance, at age 33/34 42.3% endorsed at least two symptoms in the 1970 cohort vs 24.7% in 1958, resulting in a shift in the entire distribution of distress towards the more severe end of the spectrum. CONCLUSIONS Our study demonstrates the importance of studying not only mean levels of distress over time, but also the underlying shifts in its distribution. Due to the large dispersion of distress scores at any given measurement occasion, understanding the underlying distribution provides a more complete picture of population trends.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dawid Gondek
- Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Rebecca E Lacey
- Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Dawid G Blanchflower
- Department of Economics, Dartmouth College, Hanover, USA
- Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
- National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, USA
| | - Praveetha Patalay
- Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Department of Social Science, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, London, UK
- MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, Department of Population Science and Experimental Medicine, University College London, London, UK
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Escudero-Castillo I, Mato-Díaz FJ, Rodriguez-Alvarez A. Furloughs, Teleworking and Other Work Situations during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Impact on Mental Well-Being. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021; 18:2898. [PMID: 33809017 PMCID: PMC8000869 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18062898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
As a consequence of the Spring 2020 lockdown that occurred in Spain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people lost their jobs or had to be furloughed. The objective of this study is to analyse the influence of the latter changes in labour market status on psychological well-being. For this purpose, an ad-hoc questionnaire featuring socio-demographic and mental health criteria was created. Granted that the pandemic can be viewed as an exogenous shock, the bias caused by the bidirectional problems between the work situation and mental well-being can be tackled. Results indicate that the lockdown exerted a greater negative effect on the self-perceived well-being of unemployed and furloughed persons than on those in employment. Moreover, among those in continuous employment, teleworkers experienced a lesser degree of self-perceived well-being post lockdown as compared to those people remaining in the same work location throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Finally, the lockdown provoked worse effects on the self-perceived well-being of women as compared to men, a result that appears to be related to gender differences in household production. In conclusion, these results could be especially relevant given that the evolution of the pandemic is having ongoing effects on employment and, therefore, on the mental health of workers.
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Leinsalu M, Reile R, Stickley A. Economic fluctuations and long-term trends in depression: a repeated cross-sectional study in Estonia 2004-2016. J Epidemiol Community Health 2019; 73:1026-1032. [PMID: 31406016 PMCID: PMC6877707 DOI: 10.1136/jech-2018-211939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2018] [Revised: 06/06/2019] [Accepted: 07/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Background In the 2000s, the Baltic countries experienced unprecedented credit-driven economic growth that was followed by a deep recession. This study examined the impact of profound macroeconomic changes on population mental health in Estonia in 2004–2016. Methods Data on 17 794 individuals in the 20–64 age group were obtained from seven nationally representative cross-sectional surveys. The prevalence of past 30-day depression was calculated for men and women further stratified by sociodemographic characteristics. Multivariable regression analysis was used to assess whether these characteristics were associated with the yearly variation in depression. Results In 2006, the adjusted prevalence ratio for depression was 0.77 (95% CI 0.64 to 0.93) for men and 0.85 (95% CI 0.74 to 0.97) for women as compared with 2004; in 2010, the prevalence ratio as compared with 2008 for both men and women was 1.22 (95% CIs 1.04 to 1.43 and 1.09 to 1.37, respectively). Among men, the increase in the prevalence of depression in 2008–2010 was statistically significant for 35–64 year olds, ethnic Estonians, those who were married, mid-educated or were employed, whereas among women, a significant increase was observed in 50–64 year olds, Estonians and non-Estonians, those who were not-married, were highly educated or mid-educated, in the mid-income group or were employed. Conclusions Population mental health is responsive to macroeconomic changes. In less wealthy high-income countries, the greater impact of recession on depression among advantaged groups may relate to a higher debt burden coupled with job insecurity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mall Leinsalu
- Stockholm Centre for Health and Social Change, Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden .,Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia
| | - Rainer Reile
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia
| | - Andrew Stickley
- Stockholm Centre for Health and Social Change, Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden.,Department of Preventive Intervention for Psychiatric Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan
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Saez M, Barceló MA, Saurina C, Cabrera A, Daponte A. Evaluation of the Biases in the Studies that Assess the Effects of the Great Recession on Health. A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019; 16:E2479. [PMID: 31336776 PMCID: PMC6678595 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16142479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Revised: 07/06/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Our main objective was to evaluate the fundamental biases detected in studies assessing the effects the Great Recession had on health for the case of Spain. As secondary objectives we presented methods to control these biases and to discuss the results of the studies in question if they had controlled for them. METHODS We carried out a systematic review of the literature published up to June 2018. We evaluated the biases that could have happened in all the eligible studies. RESULTS From the review, we finally selected 53 studies. Of the studies we reviewed, 60.38% or 32 out of 53, were evaluated as having a high risk of bias. The main biases our review revealed were problems with evaluation, time bias, lack of control of unobserved confounding, and non-exogeneity when defining the onset of the Great Recession. CONCLUSIONS The results from the studies that controlled the biases were quite consistent. Summing up, the studies reviewed found that the Great Recession increased the risk of declaring poor self-rated health and the deterioration of mental health. Both the mortality rate and the suicide rate may well have increased after the Great Recession, probably after a three- to four-year delay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Saez
- Research Group on Statistics, Econometrics and Health (GRECS), University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Spain.
- Network Biomedical Research Center of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Maria Antònia Barceló
- Research Group on Statistics, Econometrics and Health (GRECS), University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Spain
- Network Biomedical Research Center of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Carme Saurina
- Research Group on Statistics, Econometrics and Health (GRECS), University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Spain
- Network Biomedical Research Center of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Andrés Cabrera
- Network Biomedical Research Center of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Andalusian School of Public Health, 18080 Granada, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria (IBS), Hospital Universitario de Granada, Universidad de Granada, 18014 Granada, Spain
| | - Antonio Daponte
- Network Biomedical Research Center of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Andalusian School of Public Health, 18080 Granada, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria (IBS), Hospital Universitario de Granada, Universidad de Granada, 18014 Granada, Spain
- Observatorio de Salud y Medio Ambiente de Andalucía (OSMAN), 18080 Granada, Spain
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