Exploring Australian night shift workers’ food experiences within and outside of the workplace: A qualitative photovoice study

Abstract Objective: Night shift workers are at a 20 to 40% increased risk of metabolic diseases, which may be associated with their disrupted eating patterns. This qualitative study explores factors that influence night shift workers’ eating habits, within and outside of the workplace, to identify target areas for health promotion strategies. Participants & Setting: Eligible participants resided in Australia, working at least 3 overnight shifts per month. Design: The photovoice method was used, whereby participants were asked to take photos that represent their typical eating habits. These photos were incorporated as prompts in a semi-structured interview, which explored factors influencing eating habits on night shifts and days-off and perceptions and enablers to healthy eating. Results: Ten participants completed the study. Thematic analysis generated four main themes, which were mapped onto the Social Ecological Model (SEM). Aligned with the SEM, our results show night shift workers’ eating habits are influenced by intrapersonal, interpersonal and (work) organisational levels. Participants reported that at work, appropriate food preparation facilities are required to enable healthy food choices. Poor shift work rostering leads to prolonged fatigue on days-off, limiting their ability and motivation to engage in healthy eating. Consequently, night shift workers seem to require additional supports from their social networks and enhanced food literacy skills, in order to adopt/ maintain healthy eating behaviours. Conclusions: Night shift work creates individual and environmental barriers to healthy eating, which are present during and outside of work. Health promotion strategies for this population should include multiple approaches, targeting these barriers

Acute posterior cingulum integrity post-trauma prospectively predicts depression but not PTSD symptoms

Background: Little is known about what distinguishes those who are resilient after trauma from those at risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous work indicates white matter integrity may be a useful biomarker in predicting PTSD. Research has shown changes in the integrity of three white matter tracts—the cingulum bundle, corpus callosum (CC), and uncinate fasciculus (UNC)—in the aftermath of trauma relate to PTSD symptoms. However, few have examined the predictive utility of white matter integrity in the acute aftermath of trauma to predict prospective PTSD symptom severity in a mixed traumatic injury sample. Method: Thus, the current study investigated acute brain structural integrity in 148 individuals being treated for traumatic injuries in the Emergency Department of a Level 1 trauma center. Participants underwent diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging 2 weeks post-trauma and completed several self-report measures at 2-weeks (T1) and 6 months (T2), including the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-V (CAPS-5), post-injury. Results: Consistent with previous work, T1 lesser anterior cingulum fractional anisotropy (FA) was marginally related to greater T2 total PTSD symptoms. No other white matter tracts were related to PTSD symptoms. Conclusions: Results demonstrate that in a traumatically injured sample with predominantly subclinical PTSD symptoms at T2, acute white matter integrity after trauma is not robustly related to the development of chronic PTSD symptoms. These findings suggest the timing of evaluating white matter integrity and PTSD is important as white matter differences may not be apparent in the acute period after injury

Acute White Matter Integrity Post-trauma and Prospective Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

Background: Little is known about what distinguishes those who are resilient after trauma from those at risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous work indicates white matter integrity may be a useful biomarker in predicting PTSD. Research has shown changes in the integrity of three white matter tracts—the cingulum bundle, corpus callosum (CC), and uncinate fasciculus (UNC)—in the aftermath of trauma relate to PTSD symptoms. However, few have examined the predictive utility of white matter integrity in the acute aftermath of trauma to predict prospective PTSD symptom severity in a mixed traumatic injury sample. Method: Thus, the current study investigated acute brain structural integrity in 148 individuals being treated for traumatic injuries in the Emergency Department of a Level 1 trauma center. Participants underwent diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging 2 weeks post-trauma and completed several self-report measures at 2-weeks (T1) and 6 months (T2), including the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-V (CAPS-5), post-injury. Results: Consistent with previous work, T1 lesser anterior cingulum fractional anisotropy (FA) was marginally related to greater T2 total PTSD symptoms. No other white matter tracts were related to PTSD symptoms. Conclusions: Results demonstrate that in a traumatically injured sample with predominantly subclinical PTSD symptoms at T2, acute white matter integrity after trauma is not robustly related to the development of chronic PTSD symptoms. These findings suggest the timing of evaluating white matter integrity and PTSD is important as white matter differences may not be apparent in the acute period after injury

Neural Impact of Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage in Traumatically Injured Adults

Nearly 14 percent of Americans live in a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhood. Lower individual socioeconomic position (iSEP) has been linked to increased exposure to trauma and stress, as well as to alterations in brain structure and function; however, the neural effects of neighborhood SEP (nSEP) factors, such as neighborhood disadvantage, are unclear. Using a multi-modal approach with participants who recently experienced a traumatic injury (N = 185), we investigated the impact of neighborhood disadvantage, acute post-traumatic stress symptoms, and iSEP on brain structure and functional connectivity at rest. After controlling for iSEP, demographic variables, and acute PTSD symptoms, nSEP was associated with decreased volume and alterations of resting-state functional connectivity in structures implicated in affective processing, including the insula, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. Even in individuals who have recently experienced a traumatic injury, and after accounting for iSEP, the impact of living in a disadvantaged neighborhood is apparent, particularly in brain regions critical for experiencing and regulating emotion. These results should inform future research investigating how various levels of socioeconomic circumstances may impact recovery after a traumatic injury as well as policies and community-developed interventions aimed at reducing the impact of socioeconomic stressors

Racial Discrimination and Resting-State Functional Connectivity of Salience Network Nodes in Trauma-Exposed Black Adults in the United States

Importance For Black US residents, experiences of racial discrimination are still pervasive and frequent. Recent empirical work has amplified the lived experiences and narratives of Black people and further documented the detrimental effects of racial discrimination on both mental and physical health; however, there is still a need for further research to uncover the mechanisms connecting experiences of racial discrimination with adverse health outcomes. Objective To examine neurobiological mechanisms that may offer novel insight into the association of racial discrimination with adverse health outcomes. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study included 102 Black adults who had recently experienced a traumatic injury. In the acute aftermath of the trauma, participants underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Individuals were recruited from the emergency department at a Midwestern level 1 trauma center in the United States between March 2016 and July 2020. Data were analyzed from February to May 2021. Exposures Self-reported lifetime exposure to racial discrimination, lifetime trauma exposure, annual household income, and current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were evaluated. Main Outcomes and Measures Seed-to-voxel analyses were conducted to examine the association of racial discrimination with connectivity of salience network nodes (ie, amygdala and anterior insula). Results A total of 102 individuals were included, with a mean (SD) age of 33 (10) years and 58 (57%) women. After adjusting for acute PTSD symptoms, annual household income, and lifetime trauma exposure, greater connectivity between the amygdala and thalamus was associated with greater exposure to discrimination (t(97) = 6.05; false discovery rate (FDR)–corrected P = .03). Similarly, racial discrimination was associated with greater connectivity between the insula and precuneus (t(97) = 4.32; FDR-corrected P = .02). Conclusions and Relevance These results add to the mounting literature that racial discrimination is associated with neural correlates of vigilance and hyperarousal. The study findings extend this theory by showing that this association is apparent even when accounting for socioeconomic position, lifetime trauma, and symptoms of psychological distress related to an acute trauma

Letting the Right Ones In: Whitelists, Jurisdictional Reputation, and the Racial Dynamics of Online Gambling Regulation.

Using a case study of a recent UK whitelist intended to regulate online gambling, I examine the affective politics of listing. I pay particular attention to the racial dynamics of black and white listing. By charting how the gambling whitelist worked and failed to work as a tool in the designation of jurisdictional reputation, I argue that the use and subsequent abandonment of the whitelist shows the centrality of racial dynamics to listing practices, particularly in relation to how the list was deployed in debates about the trustworthiness of the Kahnawá:ke territory and Antigua and Barbuda. In section 5 I examine what happened after the demise of the online gambling whitelist. Although non-listing techniques of governance look to be expanding, in the form of increased surveillance of individual gamblers, lists continue to play a key role in the UK government’s new model of gambling regulation. I suggest that this confirms the co-constitutive and mutually reinforcing nature of black and white lists as techniques of governance, and the value of exploring them and their racialized implications together

Women In the weighing room: gender discrimination on the thoroughbred racetrack

Women jockeys are a small minority on the thoroughbred racetrack and securesignificantly fewer racing mounts than their male counterparts. This suggests female jockeys are facing discriminatory barriers, in one of the only major professional sportswhere men and women compete against each other on equal terms. This exploratorystudy considers discriminatory barriers that exist and the effects they have on women’scomparative profile and participation in the flat racing industry. Six participants wererecruited for the study from different areas within the industry, and with at least threeyears experience. Information was derived from semi structured individual interviews. The data was analysed using discourse analysis techniques. Five main themes wereevident: a culture of sexism, including the sense that women are more nurturing;opportunities, including for women to become trainers; body shape and strength; riskand danger; industry fashion and trends. The results from this study suggest women face discrimination in horseracing onaccount of a number of factors, the three main perceived reasons are due to theirphysical strength, body shape and the tradition and history embedded within theindustry. Whilst there is a shift starting to occur where more women are coming throughin flat racing, this is slow. Participants consider that women may find these barriers andperceptions held by others difficult to overcome, which may result in their inability toachieve equality in this sport. Given the exploratory character of the study, conclusionsare tentative and we propose a number of areas for further research

Psychological distress, depression, anxiety and life satisfaction following COVID-19 infection: Evidence from 11 UK longitudinal population studies

Background: Evidence on associations between COVID-19 illness and mental health is mixed. We aimed to examine whether COVID-19 is associated with deterioration in mental health while considering pre-pandemic mental health, time since infection, subgroup differences, and confirmation of infection via self-reported test and serology data. Methods: We obtained data from 11 UK longitudinal studies with repeated measures of mental health (psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction; mental health scales were standardised within each study across time) and COVID-19 status between April, 2020, and April, 2021. We included participants with information available on at least one mental health outcome measure and self-reported COVID-19 status (suspected or test-confirmed) during the pandemic, and a subset with serology-confirmed COVID-19. Furthermore, only participants who had available data on a minimum set of covariates, including age, sex, and pre-pandemic mental health were included. We investigated associations between having ever had COVID-19 and mental health outcomes using generalised estimating equations. We examined whether associations varied by age, sex, ethnicity, education, and pre-pandemic mental health, whether the strength of the association varied according to time since infection, and whether associations differed between self-reported versus confirmed (by test or serology) infection. Findings: Between 21 Dec, 2021, and July 11, 2022, we analysed data from 54 442 participants (ranging from a minimum age of 16 years in one study to a maximum category of 90 years and older in another; including 33 200 [61·0%] women and 21 242 [39·0%] men) from 11 longitudinal UK studies. Of 40 819 participants with available ethnicity data, 36 802 (90·2%) were White. Pooled estimates of standardised differences in outcomes suggested associations between COVID-19 and subsequent psychological distress (0·10 [95% CI 0·06 to 0·13], I2=42·8%), depression (0·08 [0·05 to 0·10], I2=20·8%), anxiety (0·08 [0·05 to 0·10], I2=0·0%), and lower life satisfaction (–0·06 [–0·08 to –0·04], I2=29·2%). We found no evidence of interactions between COVID-19 and sex, education, ethnicity, or pre-pandemic mental health. Associations did not vary substantially between time since infection of less than 4 weeks, 4–12 weeks, and more than 12 weeks, and were present in all age groups, with some evidence of stronger effects in those aged 50 years and older. Participants who self-reported COVID-19 but had negative serology had worse mental health outcomes for all measures than those without COVID-19 based on serology and self-report. Participants who had positive serology but did not self-report COVID-19 did not show association with mental health outcomes. Interpretation: Self-reporting COVID-19 was longitudinally associated with deterioration in mental health and life satisfaction. Our findings emphasise the need for greater post-infection mental health service provision, given the substantial prevalence of COVID-19 in the UK and worldwide. Funding: UK Medical Research Council and UK National Institute for Health and Care Research