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van der Put AC, Mandemakers JJ, de Wit JB, van der Lippe T. Worksite Health Promotion and Work Performance: Both Awareness and Use Matter. J Occup Environ Med 2023; 65:949-957. [PMID: 37595105 PMCID: PMC10662622 DOI: 10.1097/jom.0000000000002942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/20/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This work aimed to study whether being aware of the existence of worksite health promotion (WHP), using it, or both are related to employees' task and contextual performance. METHODS Multilevel cross-sectional data came from the European Sustainable Workforce Survey, with data from more than 11,000 employees in 259 organizations. Generalized structural equation modeling was used to examine two types of WHP: healthy menus and sports facilities. RESULTS Awareness of healthy menus and sports facilities was positively associated with task and contextual performance. Healthy menus use was related to both higher task and contextual performance, whereas sports facilities use was only associated with contextual performance. The relation of WHP use was stronger for contextual than for task performance. CONCLUSIONS Organizations should ensure that employees are aware of the availability of WHP as well as stimulate employees to make use of it.
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van der Put AC, Mandemakers JJ, de Wit JBF, van der Lippe T. Worksite health promotion for employees working from home: A vignette experiment examining intentions to participate. Appl Psychol Health Well Being 2023; 15:1065-1084. [PMID: 36539216 DOI: 10.1111/aphw.12427] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
This study explores which factors affect employees' intention to participate in worksite health promotion (WHP) when they work from home. Employees increasingly work from home, yet existing WHP is mainly tied to the workplace. We lack knowledge on what might stimulate employees to make use of WHP specifically when they work from home. Drawing on the theory of reasoned action, we studied whether type of activity, duration, if WHP takes place during work time, how often employees work from home (shaping employees' attitude) and colleague participation (social norms) explain employees' intention to participate in WHP when working from home. To do so, we employed a vignette experiment. Results show that employees' intentions are higher for walking and taking breaks than for an online sports class. Moreover, intentions are higher for shorter activities and when participating in WHP can be done during work time. The more colleagues participate, the higher intentions of employees to do so too. By offering WHP for employees at home, employers can promote employees' health even when these are not present in the workplace. Our study provides leads into how employers may create conditions under which employees use WHP when working from home.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne C van der Put
- Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | | | - John B F de Wit
- Interdisciplinary Social Science: Public Health, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Tanja van der Lippe
- Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Otten K, Mandemakers JJ. Partners in Health: Investigating Social Genetic Effects Among Married and Cohabiting Couples. Behav Genet 2023; 53:348-358. [PMID: 37284978 PMCID: PMC10276063 DOI: 10.1007/s10519-023-10147-w] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Partners resemble each other in health behaviors and outcomes such as alcohol use, smoking, physical activity, and obesity. While this is consistent with social contagion theory suggesting partner influence, it is notoriously difficult to establish causality because of assortative mating and contextual confounding. We offer a novel approach to studying social contagion in health in long-term partnerships by combining genetic data of both partners in married/cohabiting couples with longitudinal data on their health behaviors and outcomes. We examine the influence of the partner's genetic predisposition for three health outcomes and behaviors (BMI, smoking, and drinking) among married/cohabiting couples. We use longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing with data on health outcomes and genotypes for both partners. Results show that changes over time in BMI, smoking, and drinking depend on the partner's genetic predispositions to these traits. These findings underline the importance of people's social surroundings for their health and highlight the potential of targeting health interventions at couples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kasper Otten
- Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 14, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Jornt J Mandemakers
- Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 14, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Atlas Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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van der Put AC, Mandemakers JJ, de Wit JBF, van der Lippe T. Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Workplace Social Relations and Worksite Health Promotion Use. J Occup Environ Med 2021; 63:614-621. [PMID: 34184655 DOI: 10.1097/jom.0000000000002196] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To study whether workplace social relations explain use of worksite health promotion (WHP), by examining colleagues' and team managers' WHP encouragement of a healthy lifestyle, and colleague WHP uptake. METHODS Multilevel data came from the second wave of the European Sustainable Workforce Survey (4345 employees of 402 team in 9 countries). Linear probability models were used to test use of two types of WHP: healthy menus and sport facilities. RESULTS Employees are more likely to use healthy menus and sport facilities when more colleagues do so too and when colleagues encourage a healthy lifestyle. Surprisingly, encouragement by one's manager plays no role. CONCLUSIONS Social contact among colleagues can facilitate WHP use, and WHP initiatives should pay attention to the influential role of colleagues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne C van der Put
- Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (Ms van der Put, Dr Mandemakers, and Dr van der Lippe); Interdisciplinary Social Science: Public Health, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (Dr de Wit)
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van der Put AC, Mandemakers JJ, de Wit JBF, van der Lippe T. Worksite health promotion and social inequalities in health. SSM Popul Health 2020; 10:100543. [PMID: 32021901 PMCID: PMC6994707 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2020.100543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [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: 08/26/2019] [Revised: 01/10/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2020] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well-documented that higher educated employees have better health than the lower educated. The workplace has been put forward as a contributor to this inequality. We extend previous work on workplace characteristics that could influence employee health by asking to what extent workplace health promotion (WHP) can account for the relation between education and health. Two ways in which WHP may relate to health inequalities are addressed: higher educated employees may be more likely to use WHP than lower educated employees and the effect of WHP on health may be stronger for higher educated than for lower educated employees. Using data from the European Sustainable Workforce Survey which contains information on over 11000 employees in 259 organisations, we test whether three types of WHP mediate or moderate the relation between education and health: healthy menus, sports facilities and health checks. We find that higher educated employees are in better health and that use of WHP positively relates to health. Use of healthy menus and sports facilities in the workplace can contribute to increasing health inequalities, as lower educated employees are less likely to make use of these. Health checks could contribute to diminishing health inequalities, as lower educated employees are more likely to use them compared to higher educated employees. The effect of WHP is not contingent on education. We advise stimulating lower educated employees to make more use of WHP, which can contribute to decreasing health inequalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne C van der Put
- Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 14, 3584 CH, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Jornt J Mandemakers
- Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 14, 3584 CH, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - John B F de Wit
- Interdisciplinary Social Science: Public Health, Utrecht University, Padualaan 14, 3584 CH, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Tanja van der Lippe
- Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 14, 3584 CH, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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Kunto YS, Mandemakers JJ. The effects of prenatal exposure to Ramadan on stature during childhood and adolescence: Evidence from the Indonesian Family Life Survey. Econ Hum Biol 2019; 33:29-39. [PMID: 30658271 DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2018.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2018] [Revised: 11/22/2018] [Accepted: 12/06/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Many pregnant Muslim women fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. A number of studies have reported negative life outcomes in adulthood for children who were prenatally exposed to Ramadan. However, other studies document minimal to no impact on neonatal indicators. Using data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey consisting of 45,246 observations of 21,723 children born to 9771 mothers, we contribute to the current discussion on prenatal exposure to Ramadan by examining the effects on stature (height-for-age Z-scores, weight-for-age Z-scores, and body-mass-index-for-age Z-scores: HAZ, WAZ, and BAZ, respectively) from early childhood to late adolescence (0-19 years of age). We introduce an objective mother's religiosity indicator to improve the intention-to-treat estimations. Children were classified into three groups based on their mother's religion-religiosity: religious Muslims, less-religious Muslims, and non-Muslims. Using cluster-robust mother fixed-effects, we found negative effects on stature for children born to religious Muslim mothers. The effects were age-dependent and timing-sensitive. For example, children born to religious Muslim mothers were shorter in late adolescence (15-19 years of age) compared to their unexposed siblings if they were prenatally exposed in the first trimester of pregnancy (HAZ difference = -0.105 SD; p-val. <0.05). Interestingly, we found positive effects on stature for exposed less-religious Muslim children that peak in early adolescence (10-14 years of age) and negative effects on stature for exposed non-Muslim children that occur only in early childhood (0-4 years of age). We nuance our discussion of health and socioeconomic factors to explain these surprising results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yohanes Sondang Kunto
- Wageningen School of Social Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands; Faculty of Economics, Petra Christian University, Indonesia.
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Abstract
A large body of literature has demonstrated a positive relationship between education and age at first birth. However, this relationship may be partly spurious because of family background factors that cannot be controlled for in most research designs. We investigate the extent to which education is causally related to later age at first birth in a large sample of female twins from the United Kingdom (N = 2,752). We present novel estimates using within-identical twin and biometric models. Our findings show that one year of additional schooling is associated with about one-half year later age at first birth in ordinary least squares (OLS) models. This estimate reduced to only a 1.5-month later age at first birth for the within-identical twin model controlling for all shared family background factors (genetic and family environmental). Biometric analyses reveal that it is mainly influences of the family environment-not genetic factors-that cause spurious associations between education and age at first birth. Last, using data from the Office for National Statistics, we demonstrate that only 1.9 months of the 2.74 years of fertility postponement for birth cohorts 1944-1967 could be attributed to educational expansion based on these estimates. We conclude that the rise in educational attainment alone cannot explain differences in fertility timing between cohorts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix C Tropf
- Department of Sociology/Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Manor Road, Oxford, OX13UQ, UK.
- University of Groningen/ICS, Grote Rozenstraat 31a, 9712 TG, Groningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Jornt J Mandemakers
- Department of Social Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Nebenzahl-Guimaraes H, van Laarhoven A, Farhat MR, Koeken VACM, Mandemakers JJ, Zomer A, van Hijum SAFT, Netea MG, Murray M, van Crevel R, van Soolingen D. Transmissible Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strains Share Genetic Markers and Immune Phenotypes. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2017; 195:1519-1527. [PMID: 27997216 DOI: 10.1164/rccm.201605-1042oc] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
RATIONALE Successful transmission of tuberculosis depends on the interplay of human behavior, host immune responses, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence factors. Previous studies have been focused on identifying host risk factors associated with increased transmission, but the contribution of specific genetic variations in mycobacterial strains themselves are still unknown. OBJECTIVES To identify mycobacterial genetic markers associated with increased transmissibility and to examine whether these markers lead to altered in vitro immune responses. METHODS Using a comprehensive tuberculosis registry (n = 10,389) and strain collection in the Netherlands, we identified a set of 100 M. tuberculosis strains either least or most likely to be transmitted after controlling for host factors. We subjected these strains to whole-genome sequencing and evolutionary convergence analysis, and we repeated this analysis in an independent validation cohort. We then performed immunological experiments to measure in vitro cytokine production and neutrophil responses to a subset of the original strains with or without the identified mutations associated with increased transmissibility. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS We identified the loci espE, PE-PGRS56, Rv0197, Rv2813-2814c, and Rv2815-2816c as targets of convergent evolution among transmissible strains. We validated four of these regions in an independent set of strains, and we demonstrated that mutations in these targets affected in vitro monocyte and T-cell cytokine production, neutrophil reactive oxygen species release, and apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS In this study, we identified genetic markers in convergent evolution of M. tuberculosis toward enhanced transmissibility in vivo that are associated with altered immune responses in vitro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna Nebenzahl-Guimaraes
- 1 National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands.,2 Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.,3 ICVS/3B's Research Group, PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal
| | - Arjan van Laarhoven
- 4 Department of Internal Medicine and Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases
| | - Maha R Farhat
- 5 Pulmonary and Critical Care Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | | | | | - Aldert Zomer
- 7 Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, and.,8 Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Sacha A F T van Hijum
- 7 Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, and
| | - Mihai G Netea
- 4 Department of Internal Medicine and Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases
| | - Megan Murray
- 9 Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and.,10 Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Reinout van Crevel
- 4 Department of Internal Medicine and Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases
| | - Dick van Soolingen
- 1 National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands.,11 Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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Abstract
BACKGROUND LifeLines is a large prospective population-based three generation cohort study in the north of the Netherlands. Different recruitment strategies were adopted: recruitment of an index population via general practitioners, subsequent inclusion of their family members, and online self-registration. Our aim was to investigate the representativeness of the adult study population at baseline and to evaluate differences in the study population according to recruitment strategy. METHODS Demographic characteristics of the LifeLines study population, recruited between 2006-2013, were compared with the total adult population in the north of the Netherlands as registered in the Dutch population register. Socioeconomic characteristics, lifestyle, chronic diseases, and general health were further compared with participants of the Permanent Survey of Living Conditions within the region (2005-2011, N = 6,093). Differences according to recruitment strategy were assessed. RESULTS Compared with the population of the north of the Netherlands, LifeLines participants were more often female, middle aged, married, living in a semi-urban place and Dutch native. Adjusted for differences in demographic composition, in LifeLines a smaller proportion had a low educational attainment (5% versus 14%) or had ever smoked (54% versus 66%). Differences in the prevalence of various chronic diseases and low general health scores were mostly smaller than 3%. The age profiles of the three recruitment groups differed due to age related inclusion criteria of the recruitment groups. Other differences according to recruitment strategy were small. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that, adjusted for differences in demographic composition, the LifeLines adult study population is broadly representative for the adult population of the north of the Netherlands. The recruitment strategy had a minor effect on the level of representativeness. These findings indicate that the risk of selection bias is low and that risk estimates in LifeLines can be generalized to the general population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bart Klijs
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | | | - Jornt J. Mandemakers
- Sociology of Consumption and Households, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Harold Snieder
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Ronald P. Stolk
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
- LifeLines Cohort Study and Biobank, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Nynke Smidt
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
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Tropf FC, Barban N, Mills MC, Snieder H, Mandemakers JJ. Genetic influence on age at first birth of female twins born in the UK, 1919-68. Popul Stud (Camb) 2015; 69:129-45. [PMID: 26234944 DOI: 10.1080/00324728.2015.1056823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Using a sample of monozygotic (945, 42 per cent) and dizygotic (1,329, 58 per cent) twin pairs born 1919-68 in the UK, we applied innovative tobit models to investigate genetic and environmental influences on age at first birth (AFB). We found that a substantial part (40 per cent) of the variation in AFB is caused by latent family characteristics. Genetic dispositions (26 per cent) play a more important role than the shared environment of siblings (14 per cent), with the non-shared environment/measurement error having the strongest influence (60 per cent). Like previous studies, this study reveals marked changes in estimates over time, and supports the idea that environmental constraints (war or economic crisis) suppress and normative freedom (sexual revolution) promotes the activation of genetic predispositions that affect fertility. We show that the exclusion of censored information (i.e., on the childless) by previous studies biased their results.
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Mandemakers JJ, Kalmijn M. Do mother's and father's education condition the impact of parental divorce on child well-being? Soc Sci Res 2014; 44:187-199. [PMID: 24468443 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2013.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2011] [Revised: 12/02/2013] [Accepted: 12/07/2013] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
We use the British Cohort Study to investigate to what extent parental resources moderate the association between parental divorce in childhood and lowered child well-being as indicated by maternal reports of child psychological well-being and by academic test scores (reading and math tests). We argue that children of mothers with more years of education suffer less when their parents split up because better educated mothers may be better able to provide a safe and stable environment for their children after divorce. In addition, we argue that having a better educated father could either aggravate or reduce the effects of parental divorce. This is one of the first studies to simultaneously investigate the role of maternal, and paternal resources, and pre-divorce shared resources. Our analyses indicate that the effect of parental divorce on psychological well-being is reduced for better educated mothers and for families with more pre-divorce economic resources, but increased for better educated fathers. For academic test scores we find a protective effect of having a better educated father and higher pre-divorce social resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jornt J Mandemakers
- Department of Sociology, University of Groningen, Groningen, Grote Rozenstraat 31, 9712 TG Groningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Matthijs Kalmijn
- Department of Sociology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Mandemakers JJ, Monden CWS. Does education buffer the impact of disability on psychological distress? Soc Sci Med 2010; 71:288-297. [PMID: 20488601 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2009] [Revised: 03/24/2010] [Accepted: 04/02/2010] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
This paper investigates whether education buffers the impact of physical disability on psychological distress. It further investigates what makes education helpful, by examining whether cognitive ability and occupational class can explain the buffering effect of education. Two waves of the 1958 British National Child Development Study are used to test the hypothesis that the onset of a physical disability in early adulthood (age 23 to 33) has a smaller effect on psychological distress among higher educated people. In total 423 respondents (4.6%) experienced the onset of a physical disability between the ages of 23 and 33. We find that a higher educational level cushions the psychology impact of disability. Cognitive ability and occupational class protect against the effect of a disability too. The education buffer arises in part because individuals with a higher level of education have more cognitive abilities, but the better social position of those with higher levels of education appears to be of greater importance. Implications of these findings for the social gradient in health are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jornt J Mandemakers
- Department of Sociology, Tilburg University, Warandelaan 2, 5000 LE, Tilburg, the Netherlands.
| | - Christiaan W S Monden
- Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, Manor Road Building, Manor Road, Oxford, OX1 3UQ, United Kingdom
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