The COVID-crisis as an opportunity for welfare recalibration? Panel-data evidence on the effect of the COVID-crisis on welfare preferences in Spain, Germany, and Sweden

The reform capacity of welfare states to adapt to the needs of post-industrial labour markets has been a key question of the welfare literature for the last two decades. In a context of austerity, such adaptations (retrenchment or recalibration) are notoriously difficult because of extremely high levels of support for existing policies, particularly old age pensions. We investigate how the recent economic shock caused by the COVID-pandemic has changed social policy preferences in three West European countries (Germany, Sweden, Spain). Relying on original panel data observing the relative support for social policies before and during the crisis, we show that support for old age pensions has dropped substantially relative to other social policies. This drop can be observed in all three countries and among all ideological and age groups. The drop is strongest among current and soon-to-be pensioners who in turn increased support for benefits to the working-age population. At the expense of pensions, the economic shock has especially boosted support for active labour market policies and (in Germany) childcare services. This shift of support from pensions to social investment policies might have opened up a window of opportunity for recalibrating welfare reforms

The COVID-crisis as an opportunity for welfare recalibration? Panel-data evidence on the effect of the COVID-crisis on welfare preferences in Spain, Germany, and Sweden

The reform capacity of welfare states to adapt to the needs of post-industrial labour markets has been a key question of the welfare literature for the last two decades. In a context of austerity, such adaptations (retrenchment or recalibration) are notoriously difficult because of extremely high levels of support for existing policies, particularly old age pensions. We investigate how the recent economic shock caused by the COVID-pandemic has changed social policy preferences in three West European countries (Germany, Sweden, Spain). Relying on original panel data observing the relative support for social policies before and during the crisis, we show that support for old age pensions has dropped substantially relative to other social policies. This drop can be observed in all three countries and among all ideological and age groups. The drop is strongest among current and soon-to-be pensioners who in turn increased support for benefits to the working-age population. At the expense of pensions, the economic shock has especially boosted support for active labour market policies and (in Germany) childcare services. This shift of support from pensions to social investment policies might have opened up a window of opportunity for recalibrating welfare reforms

High prevalence of mental disorders and comorbidity in the Geneva Gay Men's Health Study

Background: Several large surveys have suggested high prevalence of psychiatric disorders among gay men and other men who have sex with men. Methods: In 2002, a comprehensive health survey was conducted among 571 gay men in Geneva, Switzerland, using probability-based time-space sampling. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short-Form (CIDI-SF) was used to assess 12-month prevalence of major depression, specific phobia, social phobia, alcohol dependence, and drug dependence. Results: Nearly half (43.7%, 95% CI=39.0-48.4) of the sample fulfilled the criteria for at least one of the five DSM-IV disorders: 19.2% had major depression, 21.9% had specific and/or social phobia, and 16.7% had an alcohol and/or drug dependence disorder in the past 12months. Over one quarter of the cases were comorbid with another kind of disorder, and 35.7% of cases consulted a health care professional in the past 12months for mental health. Like cases, screen-positives for mood and/or anxiety disorders (24.7%) also reported significantly greater disability and lower quality of life. Conclusions: Nearly two-thirds of this community sample of gay men was affected by psychiatric morbidity with new evidence for comorbidity, subthreshold disorders, and low levels of awareness of psychiatric disorders and their treatment. This population needs to be a priority in psychiatric epidemiology and mental public healt

La sexualité des personnes vivant avec le VIH/sida

[Table des matières] I. Résumé. II. Zusammenfassung. III. Méthodes. 1. Entretiens avec des intervenants. 2. Entretiens avec les personnes vivant avec le VIH. IV. Analyse de la littérature. 1. Aspects généraux liés au VIH. 2. Aspects de la vie sexuelle influencés par le VIH. 3. Counselling. V. Intervenants. 1. Perception de soi. 2. Désir. 3. Recherche de partenaire(s). 4. Relations de couple. 5. Activité sexuelle. 6. Activité sexuelle dans les couples stables. 7. Activité sexuelle chez les personnes sans partenaire stable. 8. Responsabilité de la protection. 9. Désir d'enfant / procréation. VI. Personnes vivant avec le VIH. 1. Perception de soi. 2. Nouer une relation. 3. Maintenir une relation. 4. Adéquation de l'offre de prise en charge dans le domaine de la sexualité. VII. Discussion et conclusions. 1. Conséquences du VIH/sida sur la vie affective et sexuelle des personnes infectées. 2. Résultats de la "triangulation" de l'information. 3. Conséquences en termes de santé publique

The impact of a depression awareness campaign on mental health literacy and mental morbidity among gay men

BACKGROUND: High prevalences of depression and suicidality have been found among gay men. This paper assesses the possible impact of Blues-out, a depression awareness campaign based on the European Alliance Against Depression targeting the gay/lesbian community in Geneva, Switzerland. METHODS: In 2007 and 2011, pre- and post-intervention surveys were conducted among two distinct samples of gay men in Geneva, recruited by probability-based time-space sampling. Effect sizes and net percent changes are reported for mental health literacy and mental health outcomes in 2007 and 2011 as well as among men aware and unaware of Blues-out in 2011. RESULTS: 43% of the respondents correctly recognized depression in 2011 with no change vis-à-vis 2007. Despite small effect sizes, significant net decreases (from -18% to -28%) were seen in lifetime suicide plans, 12-month suicidal ideation, lifetime depression, and 4-week psychological distress between 2007 and 2011. These decreases were not accompanied by changes in any of the numerous items on attitudes/knowledge, found only when comparing men aware and unaware of Blues-out in 2011. More men aware of Blues-out found specialists and psychological therapies helpful than their counterparts and correctly identified depression and gay men's greater risk for depression. LIMITATIONS: Community-level assessment with no control. CONCLUSIONS: Although improvement in depression recognition and decrease in suicide attempts could not be replicated unequivocally in this adapted intervention among gay men, there are indications that this evidence-based depression awareness campaign may have lessened suicidality and mental morbidity and improved mental health literacy and help-seeking

The Swiss Kidney Stone Cohort (SKSC), a longitudinal, multi-centric, observational cohort to study course and causes of kidney stone disease in Switzerland

Kidney stone disease has a high prevalence worldwide of approximately 10 % of the population and is characterized by a high recurrence rate Kidney stone disease results from a combination of genetic, environmental, and life-style risk factors, and the dissection of these factors is complex. The Swiss Kidney Stone Cohort (SKSC) is an investigator-initiated prospective, multi-centric longitudinal, observational study in patients with kidney stones followed with regular visits over a period of 3 years after inclusion. Ongoing follow-ups by biannual telephone interviews will provide long-term outcome data up to 10 years. SKSC comprises 782 adult patients (age > 18 yrs) with either recurrent stones or a single stone event with at least one risk factor for recurrence. In addition, a control cohort of 207 individuals without kidney stone history and absence of kidney stones on a low-dose CT-scan at enrolment has also been recruited. SKSC includes extensive collections of clinical data, biochemical data in blood and 24 hr urine samples, and genetic data. Biosamples are stored at a dedicated biobank. Information on diet and dietary habits were collected through food frequency questionnaires and standardized recall interviews by trained dieticians with the Globodiet software. SKSC provides an unique opportunity and resource to further study cause and course of kidney disease in a large population with data and samples collected of a homogenous collective of patients throughout the whole Swiss population

Mass public attitudes on social policy priorities and reforms in Western Europe: WELFAREPRIORITIES dataset 2020

This paper presents the WELFAREPRIORITIES dataset 2020, which contains new and detailed data on citizens’ attitudes regarding social policies, the relative importance citizens attribute to different social policy fields (old age pensions, childcare services, higher education, active labor market policy, unemployment benefits, social assistance), their social policy experiences, their perceptions of party positions regarding social policy, voters’ electoral preferences, as well as respondents’ social status, status mobility and socio-demographics. The representative sample consists of 12’000 respondents in 8 West European countries (Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark). Through detailed information on voters’ social policy priorities (measured through conjoint experiments, point distribution question and trade-off questions), the data allows to study new research questions in the field of the mass politics of welfare state development and reform. The dataset also contains extensive information regarding voter preferences, and thus allows to link the study of electoral politics, partisan competition and welfare politics in new ways. This paper presents the motivation and implementation of the data collection, the data itself (including the codebook) and its validation

The limits of solidarity: changing welfare coalitions in a transforming European party system

The configuration of political party competition has been in upheaval in Europe for several decades now. Much has been written on how the competition between the New Left and the New Right has transformed voter coalition potentials on socio-cultural issues. By contrast, the reconfiguration of mass political competition over the welfare state has received much less attention: most studies assume either convergence or the persistence of a traditional conflict between the Left and the Right. However, this assessment of stable and/or pacified political conflict on welfare issues is erroneous, as it neglects massive differences in the relative importance voters attribute to different social policies, in particular to social investment and social consumption policies. Integrating these differences reveals conflict and changing coalition-structures both at the societal and partisan levels. Using newly collected survey data from 8 West European countries (the welfarepriorities data), we are able to combine attitudes on policy support with policy priority, computing an individual-level indicator of weighted social policy positions. Our findings reveal that the conflict structure regarding social policy actually differs starkly from the traditional left-right conflict. We find a distinctive, uni-dimensional alignment of social classes and political parties, with at the poles green and far right party voters. While the social-liberal voters support social investment as opposed to consumption, the reverse is true for the far right voters. This preference configuration reveals coalition potentials between green and moderate right parties for social investment, and between far left and far right parties for social consumption, with the social democrats “lost” in the middle

Understanding suicide attempts among gay men from their self-perceived causes

Gay men are at higher risk of suicidality. This paper describes the causes of suicide attempts as perceived by the men themselves and analyzes their impact on severity and recidivism. Mental health surveys conducted among gay men in Geneva, Switzerland, from two probability-based time-space samples in 2007 and 2011, were merged to yield a combined sample N = 762. Suicide ideation, plans, and attempts were assessed, and respondents who had ever attempted suicide answered open questions about perceived causes which were coded and categorized for analysis within the framework of cultural epidemiology. In all, 16.7% of the respondents reported a suicide attempt in their lifetime (59.5% of them with multiple attempts). At their latest attempt, over two thirds asserted intent to die, and half required medical assistance. There was a wide variety of perceived causes, with most individuals reporting multiple causes and many of the most common causes cited at both the first and most recent subsequent attempts. Social/inter-personal problems constitute the most prominent category. Problems with love/relationship and accepting one's homosexuality figure consistently among the top three causes. Whereas the former tend to be associated with weaker intent to die, the latter are associated with the strongest intent to die and reported at multiple attempts. Problems with family are among the most common perceived causes at first attempt but not at the most recent subsequent attempt. Nevertheless, they tend to be related to the strongest intent to die and the greatest medical severity of all the perceived causes. Ten percent of men attempting suicide cited depression as a cause. Although it tended to be associated with weaker intent to die, depression was most likely to be reported at multiple attempts. Respondent-driven assessment yielded both common and idiosyncratic causes of suicide and their distinct effects. Some of these perceived causes are not prominent in the curren literature, yet they have important implications for understanding risk and preventing suicide among gay men

Mental health literacy and the experience of depression in a community sample of gay men

Gay men are at higher risk of suffering from a variety of psychiatric disorders, yet the mental health literacy of this population has remained largely unknown.; In 2007 and 2011, surveys were conducted among gay men in Geneva, Switzerland, recruited by probability-based time-space sampling. Based on a case vignette of a man with major depression, respondents were asked a series of questions about labelling, perceived risk, and help-seeking beliefs. Men meeting caseness for major depression were asked open questions about perceived causes and additional help-seeking/self-help.; Among the 762 respondents, 14.7% met diagnostic criteria for major depression (MDD) in the past 12 months. The vignette was labelled depression by 44.1% of the entire sample, and 61.9% of the men with MDD. Discrimination (33.2%), acceptance or rejection by others (21.4%), and loneliness (24.9%) were the most common reasons given for greater susceptibility among gay men, yet men with MDD reported problems with love/relationship (32.5%) and work (28.9%) as the most common perceived causes of recent depression, and problems with love/relationship (21.9%), accepting one's homosexuality (21.1%), and family (20.2%) at initial outset. The highest proportions of gay men rated non-medical options such as a close friend (91.6%), relaxation exercises or meditation (84.4%), and physical activity (83.5%) as being helpful for the depression vignette.; No probes used for open questions, and findings generalizable only to gay men in the sampling scheme.; There are many commonalities in labelling, perceived causes, and help-seeking with general populations, but also numerous specificities in mental health literacy and experience among gay men