The public's attitudes towards tobacco sales prohibitions: Evidence from a nationally representative survey in the former Soviet state of Georgia

BACKGROUND: In the Caucasus region country of Georgia, no data on public opinion regarding tobacco sales restrictions have been available until now. The aim of the study is to provide data from a nationally representative sample including non-smokers, ex-smokers and current smokers, on their level of support for restricting tobacco sales. METHODS: 1,588 people aged 13-70 were interviewed at home about their level of agreement with eight possible tobacco sales restrictions, which were combined to create a dichotomous scale indicating low agreement (agree with none to three of eight restrictions) or high agreement (agree with four or more of eight restrictions). Levels of agreement were analyzed by demographic segments defined by age, gender, education and income and by tobacco use status. RESULTS: Across all eight forms of tobacco sales restrictions, the average support for tobacco sales restrictions was 85.2% which is a high level of support. Among smokers, 71% of women and 87% of men indicated a high level of agreement for restricted tobacco sales; among occasional smokers 54% and 55% respectively. Above 95% of female and male ex-smokers and never smokers expressed high level of agreement with sales restrictions. After adjustment for other predictors, agreement was significantly associated with age (more agreement with higher age) and smoking status (more agreement among never-smokers, less in current smokers), while there were no significant differences in agreement by gender, education, and income. DISCUSSION: It is of high importance for Georgia to fully implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, including strong sales restrictions, and there is good evidence of public support for doing so. CONCLUSION: The present findings indicate to Georgian public health authorities that the support for tightened tobacco sales restrictions is high.publishedVersio

Revisiting the continuum of resistance model in the digital age: a comparison of early and delayed respondents to the Norwegian counties public health survey

Background The continuum of resistance model’s premise is that delayed respondents to a survey are more similar to non-respondents than early respondents are. For decades, survey researchers have applied this model in attempts to evaluate and adjust for non-response bias. Despite a recent resurgence in the model’s popularity, its value has only been assessed in one large online population health survey. Methods Respondents to the Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey in Hordaland, Norway, were divided into three groups: those who responded within 7 days of the initial email/SMS invitation (wave 1, n = 6950); those who responded after 8 to 14 days and 1 reminder (wave 2, n = 4950); and those who responded after 15 or more days and 2 reminders (wave 3, n = 4045). Logistic regression analyses were used to compare respondents’ age, sex and educational level between waves, as well as the prevalence of poor general health, life dissatisfaction, mental distress, chronic health problems, weekly alcohol consumption, monthly binge drinking, daily smoking, physical activity, low social support and receipt of a disability pension. Results The overall response to the survey was 41.5%. Respondents in wave 1 were more likely to be older, female and more highly educated than those in waves 2 and 3. However, there were no substantial differences between waves for any health outcomes, with a maximal prevalence difference of 2.6% for weekly alcohol consumption (wave 1: 21.3%, wave 3: 18.7%). Conclusions There appeared to be a mild continuum of resistance for demographic variables. However, this was not reflected in health and related outcomes, which were uniformly similar across waves. The continuum of resistance model is unlikely to be useful to adjust for nonresponse bias in large online surveys of population health.publishedVersio

Employment status and perceived health in the Hordaland Health Study (HUSK)

BACKGROUND: Most western countries have disability benefit schemes ostensibly based upon requiring (1) a work inhibiting functional limitation that (2) can be attributed to a diagnosable condition, injury or disease. The present paper examines to what extent current practice matches the core premises of this model by examining how much poorer the perceived health of disability benefit recipients is, compared to the employed and the unemployed, and further to examine to what extent any poorer perceived health among benefit recipients can be attributed to mental or somatic illness and symptoms. METHODS: Information on disability benefit recipiency was obtained from Norwegian registry data, and merged with health information from the Hordaland Health Study (HUSK) in Western Norway, 1997–99. Participants (N = 14 946) aged 40–47 were assessed for perceived physical and mental health (Short Form-12), somatic symptoms, mental health, and self reported somatic conditions and diseases treated with medication. Differences associated with employment status were tested in chi-square and t-tests, as well as multivariate and univariate regression models to adjust for potential confounders. RESULTS: Recipients of disability benefits (n = 1 351) had poorer perceived physical and mental health than employees (n = 13 156); group differences were 1.86 and 0.74 pooled standard deviations respectively. Self reported somatic diagnoses, mental health and symptoms accounted for very little of this difference in perceived health. The unemployed (n = 439) were comparable to the employed rather than the recipients of disability benefits. CONCLUSION: Recipients of disability benefits have poor perceived health compared to both the employed and the unemployed. Surprisingly little of this difference can be ascribed to respondents' descriptions of their illnesses and symptoms. Even allowing for potential underascertainment of condition severity, this finding supports the increasing focus on non-disease oriented contributing factors. Rehabilitation efforts aiming at return to work should have a strong focus on the patients' perceptions of their health in addition to symptom relief and social factors

The distribution and role of causal beliefs ...

-The purpose of this study was to explore the distribution and role of causal beliefs, inferences of responsibility, and moral emotions on deservingness of help to addicts among Norwegian adults using the social motivational model of Weiner. The data derives from a web panel survey of Norwegian adults aged 20 to 69 years (N = 1062, response rate 67%) in 2011. They responded to a questionnaire tapping into the above measures for nine different addictions in terms of a hypothetical person: "Think of a person addicted to-." The respondents mainly located the cause of the addictions inside the person and attributed the responsibility for the problem to the individual. In general, addicted persons did not receive a high mean level of sympathy, whereas a high mean level of willingness to provide help and assistance was reported. However, there were substantial variations among the nine addictions as to mean rating levels, with snus and sedatives as the two extreme counterparts. Separate SEM analyses for the nine addictions showed support for Weiner's mediation model with inferences of responsibility and sympathy (moral emotion) as effective mediators for deservingness of help. This pattern was stable across the nine addictions. Implications for interventions and possible limitations are discussed.Studien undersøker hva nordmenn mener om ni former for avhengighet: kokain, heroin, amfetamin, hasj, beroligende legemidler, snus, røyking, pengespill og alkohol. 1000 voksne nordmenn fikk spørsmål om: Hva de mente var årsaken til avhengigheten Om den avhengige burde holdes ansvarlig for sin avhengighet Om de følte sympati eller sinne mot den som var avhengig Om den avhengige fortjente hjelp Resultatene viste at de spurte i hovedsak plasserte årsak og ansvar for avhengigheten hos den avhengige selv.Avhengige individer utløste heller ikke mye sympati, men et relativt høyt nivå når det gjaldt å fortjene hjelp. Det var imidlertid relativt store variasjoner mellom de ulike formene for avhengighet. Av de ni avhengighetene mente folk at snusbrukere fortjente minst hjelp, mens folk som var avhengige av beroligende legemidler fortjente mest hjelp. Om metoden Et utvalg (såkalt nettpanel) bestående av 1062 voksne nordmenn i alderen 20-69 deltok i 2011 i en spørreundersøkelse. Deltagerne ble bedt om å tenke på en person (hypotetisk) som var avhengig av ni former for avhengighet. Deretter svarte de på et spørreskjema som baserte seg på en teoretisk modell (Weiner’s modell for ansvarstilskriving) for hjelpeatferd. Weiner foreslår at en legperson først vurderer om årsaken til at denne personen er blitt avhengig befinner seg hos personen selv (indre årsak) eller utenfor (ytre årsak). Deretter om personen skal holdes ansvarlig for sin avhengighet, for så å vurdere hvor mye sympati og sinne (moralske emosjoner) den avhengige utløser, før en bestemmer seg for hvor mye hjelp han eller hun fortjener. Analysene viste at modellen passet for alle formene for avhengighet, og ga støtte til Weiner’s modell der ansvar og moralske emosjoner fungerte som formidlere av virkningen på mengden av fortjent hjelp

Associations between delayed completion of high school and educational attainment and symptom levels of anxiety and depression in adulthood

Publisher's version, source: http://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0765-1

Built Environment Accessibility and Disability as Predictors of Well-Being among Older Adults: A Norwegian Cross-Sectional Study

Knowledge about the influence environmental factors have on well-being is important to deliver policies supporting healthy ageing and sustainable health equity. An under-researched question is whether and how the built environment plays a role on well-being among older adults with disabilities. This study explores the relationship between built environment accessibility and disability on psychosocial well-being among older adults. Data were used from the Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey collected during February 2021 in Møre and Romsdal county (N = 8274; age = 60–97, mean = 68.6). General linear modelling was performed to examine the relationship and interaction between built environment accessibility (services, transportation, and nature) and disability on psychosocial well-being (quality of life, thriving, loneliness, and psychological distress). Higher levels of disability and poorer accessibility were each significantly related to lower psychosocial well-being across all variables (p < 0.001). Significant interaction effects were observed between disability and built environment accessibility on thriving (F(8, 5936) = 4.97, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.006) and psychological distress (F(8, 5957) = 3.09, p = 0.002, η2 = 0.004). No significant interaction effects were found for quality of life and loneliness. These findings indicate good built environment accessibility is associated with thriving and reduces psychological distress among older adults with disabilities. This study supports and extends previous findings on the importance of accessible and equipped environments for well-being and may aid policy makers when planning built environments to foster healthy ageing among this population group.publishedVersio

Opplevd tiltaksbyrde under koronapandemien: Resultater fra fire fylker desember 2021.

Til tross for at smitteverntiltakene er nødvendige for å redusere spredningen av smitten i samfunnet, kan de også være belastende for den enkelte og for hele eller deler av befolkningen. Hensikten med denne rapporten er å undersøke befolkningens oppfatning av hvilken belastning ulike smitteverntiltak ville innebære for dem hvis de ble innført i dag og ville vare i 4-uker. I denne rapporten tar vi sikte på å belyse tre problemstillinger: Tiltaksbelastning som følge av nedstengning av samfunnet: Hvilke tiltak vil oppleves som mest belastende? Hvor belastende vil tiltak rettet mot begrensinger i 1) service-, fritids- og reisetilbud, 2) sosial kontakt og 3) påbud om smitteverntiltak oppleves? Er det geografiske variasjoner etter fylke og sentralitet (by-distrikt) i opplevelsen av belastninger eller variasjoner på tvers av utdanningsnivå, kjønn og alder? Tiltaksbelastning for forelderen/den foresatte og barn som følge av tiltak rettet mot barn i skolealder: Hvordan vil foreldre/foresatte og barn (rapportert av foreldre/foresatte) oppleve belastningene av tiltak rettet mot barn. Hvor belastende vil tiltak knyttet til 1) skole, 2) testing og 3) fritid oppleves? Er det geografiske variasjoner etter fylke og sentralitet (by-distrikt)1 i opplevelsen av belastninger og variasjoner på tvers av foreldres utdanningsnivå, kjønn og alder og barnas klassetrinn? Økt omsorgsbelastning som følge av økte omsorgsoppgaver høsten 2020: Har pårørende med omsorgsoppgaver til hjelpetrengende opplevd økt belastning på grunn av nedstengningen høsten 2020? Er det geografiske variasjoner etter fylke og sentralitet (by-distrikt)1 i opplevd økt belastning på grunn av nedstengingen 2020, eller variasjoner etter kjønn, utdanningsnivå og alder?publishedVersio

Sociocognitive Predictors of Condom Use and Intentions Among Adolescents in Three Sub-Saharan Sites

Many HIV intervention programs in sub-Saharan Africa have applied social cognitive theories such as the theory of planned behavior. However, a recent sub-Saharan African review was unable to show increased effectiveness for theory-based interventions. This study assessed whether the predictive value of attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and intention was similar to studies in Europe and the U.S., and whether there were differences between three sub-Saharan sites. Longitudinal multigroup structural equation modeling was used to assess whether attitudes, subjective norms, and self-efficacy predicted condom use intentions and condom use (after 6 months) among adolescents in three sites, namely Cape Town (South Africa; N = 625), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania; N = 271), and Mankweng (South Africa; N = 404). Condom use intentions were predicted by subjective norms and self-efficacy in all three sites. Attitudes were not related to intentions in Dar es Salaam and were moderately related to intentions in Cape Town and Mankweng. The proportions of explained variance in intentions and behavior were decent (37–52 and 9–19 %, respectively). Although significant differences in predictive value were found between sites and in comparison to European and U.S. studies, intentions could adequately be explained by attitudes, subjective norms, and self-efficacy. However, the limited proportions of variance in behavior explained by intentions could signify the importance of contextual and environmental factors. Future studies are recommended to use an integrative approach that takes into account both individual and contextual factors, as well as social and environmental differences

Behavioural precautions to avoid transmission of the COVID-19 virus – low educated groups are not always lagging behind

When COVID-19 started spreading in Norway in early 2020, the government, with strong support from the Directorate of Health and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, launched the most comprehensive health education effort ever seen in Norway. Information about spread of the virus and precautions that needed to be taken were communicated continuously, in all possible media channels and with heavy appeal over several months. There were no obvious and visible disagreements among the central level communicators. From a health education research perspective it is interesting to examine the compliance with the recommendations advocated and its relationship with demographic factors. Knowledge about differences in compliance across population segments and insights into processes determining compliance are important for our ability to cope with future pandemics and health crises.publishedVersio