Pathways into single motherhood, re-partnering, and trajectories of antidepressant medication purchases

Single motherhood is known to be distressing, and to be associated with poor mental health. However, less is known about the pathways into and out of single motherhood, or about the mental health trajectories of single mothers. We used total population registry data on Finnish women who experienced the life events of separation (616,762), widowhood (43,355), or child birth (515,756) during the 1995–2018 period while between the ages of 15–64. Single mothers were compared with women who experienced the same life event, but without becoming a single mother. The results for women who separated showed that among single mothers, there was a substantial increase in antidepressant use at the time of separation, and only a moderate decline after separation. Among women who experienced widowhood, those who had underage children initially had lower antidepressant use than women without children, but this gap narrowed in the post-widowhood period. In addition, single women experienced more unfavorable mental health trajectories than partnered women around the time they gave birth. Re-partnering was associated with more favorable mental health among all groups of single mothers. Given the growing prevalence of single-parent households, our results underscore the need for context-specific interventions to support single mothers’ mental health.Single motherhood is known to be distressing, and to be associated with poor mental health. However, less is known about the pathways into and out of single motherhood, or about the mental health trajectories of single mothers. We used total population registry data on Finnish women who experienced the life events of separation (616,762), widowhood (43,355), or child birth (515,756) during the 1995–2018 period while between the ages of 15–64. Single mothers were compared with women who experienced the same life event, but without becoming a single mother. The results for women who separated showed that among single mothers, there was a substantial increase in antidepressant use at the time of separation, and only a moderate decline after separation. Among women who experienced widowhood, those who had underage children initially had lower antidepressant use than women without children, but this gap narrowed in the post-widowhood period. In addition, single women experienced more unfavorable mental health trajectories than partnered women around the time they gave birth. Re-partnering was associated with more favorable mental health among all groups of single mothers. Given the growing prevalence of single-parent households, our results underscore the need for context-specific interventions to support single mothers’ mental health.Peer reviewe

The effects of unemployment among single mothers on adolescent children’s mental health

The effects of parental unemployment on the health and well-being of children have been receiving increased attention in recent years. However, the previous research on this topic focused on children living in two-parent families. This paper studies the effects of maternal unemployment in single- mother families – a particularly vulnerable family setting for coping with the effects of unemployment – on the mental health of adolescent children. We use data from a large, register-based panel of Finnish adolescents aged 15-21 years in 1995-2018 (n=150,073) that includes information on maternal unemployment and adolescent psychotropic medication purchases in six-month periods. We employ panel data models with individual fixed effects to explore how maternal unemployment was associated with adolescents’ psychotropic medication use, net of measured time-varying confounders and all stable unobserved confounders. We estimate separate models for adolescent boys and girls, and also examine whether the effects were mediated through maternal income, or were compensated for by the absent father’s income or the mother’s re-partnering. Our findings show that exposure to maternal unemployment was associated with a moderate increase in psychotropic medication use among boys and girls, although the effect was statistically significant only for boys. This effect was not mediated by the mother’s income, and it did not differ depending on the biological father’s income or the mother’s re-partnering. Our results suggest that boys are more vulnerable to the stressful event of maternal unemployment than girls, and do not support the assumption that the financial consequences and income losses associated with unemployment mediate these effects. Further research is needed to investigate the vulnerability of adolescent boys, and the factors that contribute to the potentially greater resilience of adolescent girls to the effects of maternal unemployment

Trends in gender differences in health at working ages among West and East Germans

Before 1990, Germany was divided for more than 40 years. While divided, significant mortality disparities between the populations of East and West Germany emerged. In the years following reunification, East German mortality improved considerably, eventually converging with West German levels. In this study, we explore changes in the gender differences in health at ages 20–59 across the eastern and western regions of Germany using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the 1990–2013 period. We apply random-effects linear regressions to the SOEP data to identify trends in health, measured as self-assessed health satisfaction, after German reunification. The findings indicate that women were substantially less satisfied with their health than men in both West and East Germany, but that the gender gap was larger in East Germany than in West Germany. Furthermore, the results show that respondents’ satisfaction with their health decreased over time, and that the decline was steeper among men – and particularly among East German men – than among women. Thus, the initial male advantage in health in East and West Germany in the years immediately after reunification diminished over time, and even reversed to become a female advantage in East Germany. One interpretation of this finding is that stress-inducing post-reunification changes in the political and social landscape of East Germany had lasting damaging consequences for men’s health. Ongoing risky health behaviors and high levels of economic insecurity due to unemployment could have had long-lasting effects on the health of the working-aged population. A partial explanation for our finding that health declined more sharply among East German men than among their female counterparts could be that women have better compensatory mechanisms than men for dealing with psychosocial stress

Plastic ingestion by juvenile polar cod (Boreogadus saida) in the Arctic Ocean

One of the recently recognised stressors in Arctic ecosystems concerns plastic litter. In this study, juvenile polar cod (Boreogadus saida) were investigated for the presence of plastics in their stomachs. Polar cod is considered a key species in the Arctic ecosystem. The fish were collected both directly from underneath the sea ice in the Eurasian Basin and in open waters around Svalbard. We analysed the stomachs of 72 individuals under a stereo microscope. Two stomachs contained non-fibrous microplastic particles. According to µFTIR analysis, the particles consisted of epoxy resin and a mix of Kaolin with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). Fibrous objects were excluded from this analysis to avoid bias due to contamination with airborne micro-fibres. A systematic investigation of the risk for secondary micro-fibre contamination during analytical procedures showed that precautionary measures in all procedural steps are critical. Based on the two non-fibrous objects found in polar cod stomachs, our results show that ingestion of microplastic particles by this ecologically important fish species is possible. With increasing human activity, plastic ingestion may act as an increasing stressor on polar cod in combination with ocean warming and sea-ice decline in peripheral regions of the Arctic Ocean. To fully assess the significance of this stressor and its spatial and temporal variability, future studies must apply a rigorous approach to avoid secondary pollution

Maternal health, well-being, and employment transitions:A longitudinal comparison of partnered and single mothers in Germany

Balancing parenthood and employment can be challenging and distressing, particularly for single mothers. At the same time, transitioning to employment can improve the financial situations of single mothers and provide them with access to social networks, which can have beneficial effects on their health and well-being. Currently, however, it is not well understood whether the overall impact of employment on single mothers is positive or negative, and to what extent it differs from the impact of employment on partnered mothers. Building on the literature on work-family conflict, we investigate the differential effects of employment transitions on the health and well-being of single mothers and partnered mothers. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1992–2016), we apply panel regression techniques that address the potential endogeneity of maternal employment, as well as the dynamic nature of the relationship between employment transitions and maternal health and well-being. We find that employment has a positive impact on single mothers, and that single mothers benefit from employment significantly more than partnered mothers. Surprisingly, income does not appear to be an important driver of these results. Overall, our findings suggest that employment plays a key role in the well-being of single mothers

Trends in gender differences in health at working ages among West and East Germans

Kühn M, Dudel C, Vogt T, Oksuzyan A. Trends in gender differences in health at working ages among West and East Germans. SSM - Population Health. 2019;7: 100326

Stillbirths in Germany: On the rise, but no additional increases during the first COVID-19 lockdown

Abstract Background A growing body of studies on the indirect effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on stillbirths shows mixed and context-dependent evidence, even within high-income countries. We examined possible changes in the stillbirth rate in Germany during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Methods We used population-level data on live and stillbirths occurring between January 1995 and July 2020 and applied negative binomial regression to estimate the yearly and monthly stillbirth rate in this period. We compared the actual stillbirth rate to the expected figure for the first seven months of 2020, based on prediction intervals derived from the detected time trend. Findings We detected a steady increase in stillbirths in Germany since 2013, which was preceded by a declining (1995-2004), and then plateauing (2005-2012) stillbirth rate. The stillbirth rate for January 2020 through July 2020 (4·148) was slightly lower than the stillbirth rate in the same period in 2019 (4·242). Furthermore, all monthly stillbirth rates during the first half of 2020 lie inside the 95% prediction interval of expected stillbirth rates for this period. Thus, stillbirths in Germany have neither increased nor decreased during the country’s first COVID-19 lockdown period. Interpretation In contrast to other European countries, stillbirth rates have been on the rise in Germany in the last decade. However, stillbirth rates during the first seven months of 2020 were not higher than expected. Our results suggest that stillbirth rates have neither increased nor decreased during the first-wave COVID-19 lockdown in this high-income setting. Further studies on the causes of the increasing stillbirth trend in Germany are needed, however. Funding statement No external funding was received for this research

Gender differences in health in Havana versus in Mexico City and in the US Hispanic population

Kühn M, Díaz-Venegas C, Jasilionis D, Oksuzyan A. Gender differences in health in Havana versus in Mexico City and in the US Hispanic population. European Journal of Ageing. 2021;18(2):217-226.Health progress in the 1960s and 1970s placed Cuba at the vanguard of longevity in Latin America and the Caribbean. This success has often been attributed to equity of access to the health care system and its cost-effectiveness in the country. Cuba also has a small gender gap in life expectancy. In this study, we examined how this pattern is reflected in the gender differences in health among the population aged 60+ in Havana. We compared gender differences in health in samples drawn from Havana, Mexico City, and the US Hispanic population: three geographic settings with very different political, health care, and social systems. The data come from the Survey on Health, Well-Being, and Aging in Latin America and the Caribbean and the 2000 Health and Retirement Study. Age-adjusted prevalence and logistic regressions were estimated for poor self-rated health, limitations on activities of daily living, depression, and mobility limitations. While an absolute female disadvantage in health was apparent in all three populations, the relative gender differences were inconsistent across all four health domains. Gender differences were most pronounced in Havana, even after adjusting for age, socio-economic status, family characteristics, and smoking behaviour. Despite having higher overall life expectancy and more equitable and universal access to primary care and preventive medicine, women in Havana appear to have a larger burden of ill health than women in less equitable societies. The study provides indirect evidence that Cuba faces challenges in combating the health threats posed by chronic diseases and other diseases and conditions common among the population aged 60+