Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology
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Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol · Jun 2012
The effect of rural-to-urban migration on social capital and common mental disorders: PERU MIGRANT study.
This study aims to investigate whether there are differences in the prevalence of common mental disorders and social capital between migrant and non-migrant groups in Peru. ⋯ In the PERU MIGRANT study, we did not observe a difference in the prevalence of common mental disorders, cognitive and structural social capital between migrant and urban groups. This pattern of associations was also similar in rural and urban groups, except that a higher prevalence ratio of structural social capital was observed in the rural group.
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Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol · Jun 2012
Poor mental health influences risk and duration of unemployment: a prospective study.
The current paper aims to investigate the role of mental health in determining future employment status. Much of the previous longitudinal and prospective research has focused on how unemployment adversely influences mental health, while the reverse causal direction has received much less attention. ⋯ By following a group of respondents who were not unemployed over time, we showed that poor mental health predicted subsequent unemployment. On average, men and women who experienced symptoms of common mental disorders spent greater time over the next 4 years unemployed than those with better mental health but there were sex differences in the nature of this effect. These findings highlight the importance of mental health in the design and delivery of employment and welfare policy.
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Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol · Jun 2012
The association between serious psychological distress and emergency department utilization among young adults in the USA.
Psychological problems could lead to several adverse health outcomes and were strongly correlated with cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. In addition, patients treated in EDs were vulnerable to psychological problems. We therefore examined the population-level association between serious psychological distress (SPD) and emergency department (ED) use among young adults in the USA. We also studied the additive effects of SPD, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption on the ED presentation. ⋯ An association between SPD and ED use among US young adults is established in this study. Attempts to decrease excess ED use and the development of strategies to improve mental health among young adults are needed to improve patient health and reduce the health-care burden of high costs and deteriorating ED care quality.
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Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol · May 2012
Comparative StudyAssociations between DSM-IV diagnosis, psychiatric symptoms and morning cortisol levels in a community sample of adolescents.
Dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA-axis) is implicated in a variety of psychiatric and emotional disorders. In this study, we explore the association between HPA-axis functioning, as measured by morning cortisol, and common psychiatric disorders and symptoms among a community sample of adolescents. ⋯ Except in relation to conduct symptoms, dysregulation of morning cortisol levels seems unrelated to any psychiatric disorder or symptoms. However, the relationship between cortisol and conduct symptoms is moderated by both gender and mood symptoms. Findings are compatible with the recent work suggesting research should concentrate on the moderated associations between gender, internalising and externalising symptoms and cortisol, rather than any simple relationship.
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Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol · May 2012
Comparative StudyRisk and protective factors for psychological distress among adolescents: a family study in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study.
The study aimed to investigate potential adolescent and parental psychosocial risk and protective factors for psychological distress among adolescents and, in addition, to examine potential gender and age differences in the effects of risk factors on adolescent psychological distress. ⋯ Academic achievement and being bullied at school were the psychosocial factors most strongly associated with psychological distress among adolescents. Parental factors had an indirect effect on adolescent psychological distress, through adolescents' psychosocial factors.