{"title":"Loneliness and social isolation amongst refugees resettled in high-income countries: A systematic review","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117340","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117340","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Refugees encounter multiple psychosocial stressors post-resettlement which increases their risk of developing a mental illness. Loneliness and social isolation are commonly reported in the refugee population and have been demonstrated to be associated with multiple physical and mental health comorbidities in the general population. However, no study to date has systematically reviewed how loneliness and social isolation may affect refugees who have resettled in high-income countries. This systematic review aims to study the prevalence, risk factors, consequences, and interventions for loneliness and social isolation among refugees who have resettled in high-income countries. Systematic searches on five electronic databases yielded 2950 papers, of which 69 were deemed eligible following a double-blinded review by title and abstract then later by full text. From the included studies, it was found that the reported range of prevalence rates of loneliness (15.9–47.7%) and social isolation (9.8–61.2%) were higher than population norms. Risk factors associated with loneliness and social isolation included family separation, acculturative stress, being female or a parent and a current diagnosis of a mental illness. Loneliness and social isolation were found to be associated with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychological distress as well as physical health problems. Only three interventions addressing loneliness and social isolation were identified which demonstrates the importance of integrating social support in refugee psycho-social support programs. In summary, loneliness and social isolation were reported by a large proportion of refugees who have resettled in high-income countries. Whilst certain risk factors were pre-migratory and static, most were post-migratory in nature and were found to adversely affect mental and physical health. Thus, interventions focused on reducing loneliness and social isolation that are guided by the needs of refugee communities are urgently required.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624007949/pdfft?md5=dc292dbd3b22c99a94c554dd0049cb37&pid=1-s2.0-S0277953624007949-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142243650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Coping, surviving, or thriving: A scoping review examining social support for migrant care workers through four theoretical lenses","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117335","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117335","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Rationale</h3><p>Migrant care workers (MCWs) play a crucial role in addressing healthcare workforce shortages in many developed countries. Existing reviews document the significant challenges MCWs face—such as language barriers, interpersonal discrimination, and sexual harassment—and describe the social support that MCWs receive, but ambiguous application and heterogeneous measurement of theoretical constructs have thus far precluded researchers from deriving generalizable insights about how various types of social support positively and negatively impact MCWs’ well-being. Therefore, we conducted a scoping review on this topic and organized the literature using four theoretical perspectives on social support.</p></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><p>To synthesize interdisciplinary research on social support for MCWs and extend existing reviews, we conducted a scoping review of 56 empirical studies to understand how these studies conceptualize and operationalize social support for MCWs and the theoretical and methodological approaches they adopt.</p></div><div><h3>Findings</h3><p>Our findings suggest that scholars have implicitly and explicitly adopted a wide array of theoretical perspectives (e.g., stress and coping, social constructivism), with few studies engaging theories in substantive ways. The reviewed studies have demonstrated both positive and negative implications of social support for MCWs' well-being. However, these studies heavily focus on the social support MCWs receive<em>,</em> whereas the negative impacts of MCWs' unmet support needs remain under-investigated. Although empirical studies use diverse methodologies to study this topic, most quantitative studies approach social support from a stress and coping perspective. We advocate for researchers conducting quantitative studies to adopt a critical consciousness and work toward statistically modeling how the intersectionality of MCWs' identities and the multi-level nature of MCWs’ power positions within their social networks may impact whether MCWs successfully obtain the support they need to thrive.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142271502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social mechanisms behind the poor health of marginalized Roma: Novel insights and implications from four ethnographic studies in Slovakia","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117322","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117322","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Roma represent one of the largest ethnic groups facing marginalization worldwide. However, significant knowledge gaps persist regarding: A) the social mechanisms supporting health-endangering practices among Roma; B) the social mechanisms adversely affecting their use of health services; and C) the social determinants underlying both above pathways. To fill these gaps, we conducted a series of four explorative ethnographic studies spanning over ten years. Beginning in 2004, the series involved 260 participants, including segregated Roma and health services staff in Slovakia. Of the four studies, two addressed gap A, two addressed gap B, and all addressed gap C. Regarding pathway A, we found that Roma in segregated Roma enclaves can be socialized into ethnically framed racialized ideologies that oppose the cultural standards of local non-Roma life, including certain healthy practices. This adherence to counter-cultural ideals of Roma identity increases specific health and care challenges. Regarding pathway B, we discovered that health service frontliners frequently lack any organizational support to better understand and accommodate the current living conditions and practices of segregated Roma, as well as their own and others’ racism and professional expectations regarding equity. This lack of support leads many frontliners to become cynical about segregated Roma over their careers, resulting in health services being less effective and exacerbating health problems for both Roma and the frontliners themselves. Concerning pathway C, we found that the societal omnipresence of antigypsyism – racist and racialized anti-Roma ideas and sentiments – serves as a prominent driver of both the above pathways. We conclude that much of the unfavorable health status of Roma can be understood via a systems perspective that embraces structural racism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142367141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Healthcare compassion interventions co-design and feasibility inquiry with clinicians and healthcare leaders in Aotearoa/New Zealand","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117327","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117327","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Compassion in healthcare is valued by patients, healthcare professionals (HCPs), and leads to improved outcomes. Notwithstanding reports of systemic failings in the provision of compassionate care, research regarding ways to intervene remains limited. The aim of this study is to clarify compassion intervention needs in a diverse HCP workforce in public secondary healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) by utilising a co-design process. The co-design process involved a series of workshops with clinicians followed by in-depth interviews with healthcare leaders to derive input regarding feasibility and implementation. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. There was a great deal of interest in compassion interventions from healthcare professionals and leaders. However, for compassion interventions to be acceptable, feasible, and effective, compassion interventions design should be reimagined and reflected at each step of interventional design and implementation and span across organizational levels. Namely, the results of the study showed the preference for non-individual focused multi-level interventions to build bridges and connections. The desired compassion intervention components included practising connecting with others' humanity, improving compassion knowledge and relational and reflective skills, and cultural safety and anti-racism training. Experiential training embedded in models of cultural dialogue was the preferred interventional modality. Prioritising leadership as an intervention site was suggested to improve leadership's buy-in of compassion interventions and possibly serve as a starting point for transforming the broader culture, reviving interconnectedness in a healthcare system described as fragmented, disconnected, and alienating with compassion also acting as an equalizer of power.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624007810/pdfft?md5=ba8e2d36e979047b188ed4b70b573ee7&pid=1-s2.0-S0277953624007810-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142244038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Biopsychosocial pathways model of early childhood appetite self-regulation: Temperament as a key to modulation of interactions among systems","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117338","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117338","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The widespread discrimination against individuals with obesity often stems from a simplistic perception of obesity as a mere consequence of personal choices of overeating and insufficient physical activity. This reductionist perception fails to acknowledge the complexity of the epidemic of obesity, which extends beyond diet and exercise decisions. The concept of appetite self-regulation (ASR) has been explored as a crucial element in identifying obesogenic behavioral approaches to food. Although an extensive understanding of ASR in children is essential as an early precursor and modifiable factor influencing obesity, the prevailing view of self-regulation of eating solely as a matter of cognitive and behavioral processing tends to overlook interacting systems of influences. This narrow approach attributes obesity to the lack of voluntary self-control in food consumption while neglecting to account for the biological, psychological, and social influences implicated in the developmental processes of ASR, which may further contribute to the stigmatization of obesity. The current critical analysis provides a comprehensive developmental framework that could guide future studies with testable hypotheses, outlining pathways of interactions among biopsychosocial systems, all of which contribute to the development of ASR in early childhood. Adopting developmental perspectives allows a holistic approach to investigating ASR, which accounts for intricate interactions between biological (B), psychological (P), and social (S) factors influential in the early manifestation of ASR.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624007925/pdfft?md5=85fd4bb1fd2192ac888b3d7d6f82ba1d&pid=1-s2.0-S0277953624007925-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142244043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Towards a better understanding of inequity and the psychological processes underlying the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117330","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117330","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>As poverty in the U.S. is increasing and the income gap continues to rise, addressing disparities in socioeconomic status (SES) has become a national priority. This study employs the Interactionist Model, a well-established theoretical framework for examining the intergenerational transmission of SES. Specifically, using longitudinal data from a sample of 998 adolescents, 47.2% of whom are females, from diverse ethnic backgrounds, we investigated how parents' SES influences both their material and immaterial resources, and subsequently affects their offspring's SES through inhibitory control during adolescence. Our findings support an indirect effect wherein parental <span>SES</span> influences the <span>SES</span> of the next generation via parental material and immaterial investments. Additionally, we demonstrate that immaterial investments influence the next generation's SES, mediated by inhibitory control. The implications of these findings are further discussed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624007846/pdfft?md5=1a07ae6602f2d7706854c66019c2fbb1&pid=1-s2.0-S0277953624007846-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142271504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social determinants of health analysis makes causal inference and requires analytic epidemiology methods","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117344","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117344","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The growing emphasis on reducing health disparities and addressing social determinants of health (SDH) has prompted many national and local health agencies to report population health data by SDH measures. However, many agencies rely on descriptive epidemiology methods for such reports and are susceptible to biased findings due to inadequate confounding control. In this brief analytic essay, using the data presented in an HIV Surveillance Report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we demonstrated an example of how reporting health outcomes by SDH with descriptive methods could bias the results and conclusions. SDH are causes of health disparities and SDH analysis requires analytic epidemiology methods to ensure valid research results and effective interventions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142232083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The transmission of social inequalities through economic difficulties and lifestyle factors on body mass index: An intersectional mediation analysis in the Swedish population","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117314","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117314","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Body mass index (BMI) has increased in Sweden, disproportionally for socially disadvantaged groups, including women, low-educated, and immigrants, who may also face economic constraints, physical inactivity, and poor-quality diets. Intersectional public health research aims to unravel such complex social inequalities, but the intersectional transmission of inequalities to BMI remains unexplored. We aimed to examine intersectional inequalities in BMI mediated by economic strain and health-related lifestyle in the Swedish population. By using the Health on Equal Terms cross-sectional surveys in 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2021 (<em>n</em> = 44,177 inhabitants aged 25 and over), we performed an intersectional mediation analysis to analyze how inequalities across social intersectional strata (by gender, education, and migration status) may be transmitted through economic strain and unhealthy lifestyle (physical inactivity or inadequate fruit/vegetables consumption) to BMI. Our findings showed a sequential transmission that indicates the fact that socially disadvantaged strata (compared with high-educated native men) experienced more economic strain, which in turn led to poorer health-related lifestyles and ultimately to a higher BMI. We also found that certain intersectional strata, such as high-educated women, were more vulnerable to economic strain, despite having lower BMI than high-educated native men. Additionally, the highest BMI and unhealthy lifestyle risk was observed among low- and middle-educated men. In conclusion, not only inequalities in BMI, but also the economic and behavioral pathways underpinning the inequalities, act by intersectional patterns. Public health interventions should provide economic security, particularly for women and migrant population as well as promoting a healthy lifestyle in lower-educated strata, especially among men, to achieve healthy BMI levels.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624007688/pdfft?md5=a4026b0c862c85705602b0d7e1473c4a&pid=1-s2.0-S0277953624007688-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142233914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bridging social capital among Facebook users and COVID-19 cases growth in Arizona","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117313","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117313","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Social capital is an important social determinant of health, more specifically bridging social capital, which connects individuals and communities across societal divides. This article reports on the findings of a study about the relationship between bridging social capital and COVID-19 infection trends within the state of Arizona from October 2020 to November 2021. Economic connectedness (EC), derived from Facebook friendship connections, served as a measure of aggregated bridging social capital among residents in each ZCTA (ZIP code tabulation area). Analysis of 192 ZCTAs in Arizona revealed that below-median SES individuals had fewer above-median SES friends (mean EC = 0.86). Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the correlation between EC and biweekly COVID-19 case growth, adjusting for other social determinants of health. Results showed that higher EC was associated with slower biweekly COVID-19 case growth (p < 0.001). This suggests that bridging social capital plausibly facilitated members of underserved and vulnerable groups to better access health-related information during the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby reducing the risks of infection during the pandemic. These findings suggest that promoting bridging social capital, particularly through social network sites, could be leveraged during early phase of public health crisis. The article concludes by recommending to strengthening bridging social capital for individuals with limited access to public health information and medical care.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142172738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pandemic communication in times of populism: Politicization and the COVID communication process in Brazil, Poland, Serbia and the United States","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117304","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117304","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper explores patterns of communication during the COVID-19 pandemic in four countries with right-wing populist governments during that period, Brazil, Poland, Serbia and the United States, based on interviews with key actors involved in that process. We look at a number of characteristics normally associated with populist rule and political culture likely to affect pandemic communication, including polarization, cultural populism hostile to expertise, personalized rule and machismo, the performance of crisis, and illiberalism. We find that many of these characteristics can be seen in patterns of pandemic communication across the four countries, but also find significant differences in the response of populist leaders between the U.S. and Brazil, on one hand, and Poland and Serbia on the other. Differences can be linked to different varieties of populism in the four countries and specifically their commitment to libertarian or more statist approaches, which also inform disparate public health policies, as well as to different levels of entrenchment of populists in positions of power. We conclude by discussing the politicization of public health and the lessons of the COVID pandemic for emergency risk communication in the era of populism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142378455","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}