Life and Death in the Mental-Health Blogosphere: An Analysis of Blog Content and Survival

The purpose of this study was to describe a sample of mental-health blogs, to determine the proportion of sampled blogs still posting several years after identification, and to identify the correlates of survival. One hundred eighty-eight mental-health blogs were identified in 2007–08 and revisited in 2014. Eligible blogs were U.S.-based, in English, and active. Baseline characteristics and survival status were described and variation based on blog focus and survival examined. Mental health bloggers tended to be females blogging as patients and caregivers focusing on specific mental illnesses/conditions. The proportion of blogs still active at follow-up ranged from 25.5 percent to 30.3 percent depending on the definition of survival employed. Factors associated with survival included sponsorship/advertising and assumption of a professional/caregiving rather than patient/consumer perspective. Because professional- ly authored blogs with sponsorship/advertising tend to be longer lived, they may have disproportionate impact on the help-seeking behavior of individuals referred to them by search engine results. This suggests the need to promulgate and adhere to rules governing disclosure of real or perceived conflicts of interest, particularly given the growing use of industry paid/driven content

Uplifting: Improvements in Boston Area Client Well-Being

LIFT-Boston, a local non-profit organization, entered into a collaborative partnership in September 2012 with McCormack Graduate School Public Policy Ph.D. students and faculty to develop and execute a research project. The goals of this endeavor were to assist LIFT-Boston in understanding the outcomes associated with its services and enable the organization to further pursue service goals. The primary research questions respond to the organization’s most fundamental questions. These include how the organization’s unique service model impacts clients across several objective and subjective dimensions of well-being. Secondary questions focus on how these impacts may translate into increases or decreases in student achievement within a family. To answer these lines of inquiry, the MPT employed a multi-method design, analyzing administrative, survey, observational, interview, spatial, and focus group data. Findings show that LIFT clients tend to be adults, aged 45 years or older and more than 50% of LIFT-Boston clients live alone. Nearly half of LIFT-Boston client are unemployed with nearly 67% receiving food stamp benefits. Besides employment, LIFT-Boston clients report problems with housing and housing expenses. Regression results show that LIFT-Boston may increase objective client well-being in housing and food stamp assistance, showing increase of 17.5% in food stamp receipt for LIFT-Boston clients and an 18.6% decrease in housing issues. Overall, findings suggest that LIFT-Boston offers a unique set of services to adult clients in the Boston area. Clients experience caring and respectful relationships when collaborating with LIFT advocates. While limited changes in objective well-being were observed, interviews suggest that clients’ self-confidence is greatly increased when small steps are made toward larger life goals. Limited evidence suggests adult well-being may translate to students, although much deeper analysis is needed. While a low survey response rate must be considered when interpreting findings, this report contributes to the scholarly knowledge based in areas including strength based case management, subjective/objective well-being measures, and student achievement. Steps for further scholarly research, as well as potential organizational changes for LIFT-Boston, are suggested

Sociodemographic Patterns of Exclusive and Dual Combustible Tobacco and E-Cigarette Use among US Adolescents—A Nationally Representative Study (2017–2020)

This study assessed the sociodemographic predictors of exclusive and dual use of the most frequently used nicotine/tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and combustible tobacco among adolescents. Cross-sectional data was from the 2017–2020 Monitoring the Future nationally representative study of eighth, tenth, and twelfth-grade students. We coded past 30 day nicotine/tobacco use into four mutually exclusive categories: no use, e-cigarette use only, combustible use (cigarette or cigar) only, and dual use (e-cigarette and combustible). We pooled the 2017–2020 data to examine the relationship between sex, race/ethnicity, parental education, and each product-use category using multinomial logistic regression, stratified by grade level. Among eighth (N = 11,189), tenth (N = 12,882), and twelfth graders (N = 11,385), exclusive e-cigarette use was the most prevalent pattern (6.4%, 13.2%, 13.8%, respectively), followed by dual use (2.7%, 4.5%, 8.9%), and exclusive combustible use (1.5%, 2.5%, 5.3%). eighth and tenth-grade adolescents whose highest parental education was a 4-year college degree or more had lower odds of exclusive combustible and dual use when compared to adolescents whose highest parental education was less than a high school degree. Research should continue to monitor the differential use of combustible tobacco products and e-cigarettes among adolescents from low socioeconomic status backgrounds or racial/ethnic minority households to inform ongoing and future interventions or policies

Smoke-Free Workplaces Are Associated with Protection from Second-Hand Smoke at Homes in Nigeria: Evidence for Population-Level Decisions

1,856 persons who worked indoors. The percentage of Nigerians employed in SFWP that reported living in a SFH was higher compared to those employed in a workplace where smoking occurred (95% versus 73%). Working in a SFWP was associated with a significantly higher likelihood of living in a SFH (OR = 5.3; < 0.001). Urban inhabitants indicated more frequently that they lived in SFH compared to rural residents (OR = 2.0; = 0.006). The odds of living in a SFH were significantly higher among nonsmokers and nonsmokeless tobacco users compared to smokers and smokeless tobacco users (OR = 28.8; < 0.001; OR = 7.0; < 0.001). These findings support the need for implementation of comprehensive smoke-free policies in Nigeria that result in substantial health benefits

Smoke-Free Workplaces Are Associated with Protection from Second-Hand Smoke at Homes in Nigeria: Evidence for Population-Level Decisions

The evidence suggests that smoke-free workplace policies may change social norms towards exposing others to second-hand smoke at home. The aim of the study was to assess whether being employed in a smoke-free workplace (SFWP) is associated with living in a smoke-free home (SFH). We used the data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey conducted in Nigeria in 2012, in which 9,765 individuals were interviewed including 1,856 persons who worked indoors. The percentage of Nigerians employed in SFWP that reported living in a SFH was higher compared to those employed in a workplace where smoking occurred (95% versus 73%). Working in a SFWP was associated with a significantly higher likelihood of living in a SFH (OR = 5.3; p<0.001). Urban inhabitants indicated more frequently that they lived in SFH compared to rural residents (OR = 2.0; p=0.006). The odds of living in a SFH were significantly higher among nonsmokers and nonsmokeless tobacco users compared to smokers and smokeless tobacco users (OR = 28.8; p<0.001; OR = 7.0; p<0.001). These findings support the need for implementation of comprehensive smoke-free policies in Nigeria that result in substantial health benefits

Correlates of Cessation Success among Romanian Adults

Background. Tobacco smoking and its consequences are a serious public health problem in Romania. Evidence-based data on factors associated with successful smoking cessation are crucial to optimize tobacco control. The aim of the study was to determine the sociodemographic and other factors associated with smoking cessation success among adults. Materials and Methods. Data was from a sample of 4,517 individuals derived from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS). GATS is a cross-sectional, nationally representative household survey implemented in Romania in 2011. Data was analyzed with logistic regression. Results. Among females, the quit rate was 26.3% compared with 33.1% in males (P<0.02). We found disparities in cessation success among the analyzed groups of respondents. Being economically active, being aged 40 and above, and having an awareness of smoking health consequences were associated with long-term quitting smoking among men, while initiating smoking at a later age increased the odds of quitting smoking among women. However, cohabitation with nonsmokers was the strongest predictor of successful cessation among both genders. Conclusion. Programs increasing quit rates and encourage cessation among groups less likely to quit, adopting voluntary smoke-free homes, and increasing the awareness of smoking and tobacco pollution risks are needed