A cohort longitudinal study of individual level social capital and depressive symptoms in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

Elder abuse victimization, mental health, and protective factors

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated the association between elder abuse and depressive symptoms, as well as protective factors against adverse mental health outcomes from elder abuse.

METHODS

Participants were drawn from the 5928 graduates of the WLS, Wave 3 study (age range 70-73) who completed both in-person and telephone interviews. From this large group, 975 (16.4%) participants reported having experienced elder abuse and were included in the sample. Path analysis using Mplus was employed.

RESULTS

Elder abuse victimization was significantly associated with depressive symptoms, and those who had suffered multiple types of elder abuse experienced more severe mental health outcomes. However, both light physical activity conducted alone and having a friend as a confidant were negatively associated with depressive symptoms among older adults who had experienced elder abuse.

CONCLUSION

Given the significant association between elder abuse and negative mental health outcomes among older survivors, screening and prevention programs are recommended. Older adults who have experienced elder abuse may benefit from programs designed to increase physical activity and help older adults build and maintain close relationships with friends and confidants.

Suicidal ideation, burnout, and their correlation among health care workers at the end of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Alborz Province, Iran

Background

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Care Workers (HCWs) were more vulnerable than ever to Burnout and Suicidal thoughts due to stressful work conditions. This study, investigated the level of Burnout and Suicidal thoughts among HCWs during the fourth wave of the pandemic in Alborz Province in Iran and compared it with the conditions at the beginning of the pandemic.

Methods

A total of 305 HCWs from 3 referral hospitals for COVID-19, including 155 men and 150 women, participated in the study. A cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of HCWs dealing with COVID-19 patients using the available sampling method. The results of this online survey, which was conducted from June 7 to July 5, 2021 (at the end of the Fourth Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Iran), have been compared with the conditions of the First Wave of the Pandemic (from February 24 to April 27, 2020). The participants were evaluated by the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideations (BSSI) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI).

Results

The mean age of the participants was 36.34 ± 7.37. The means of Suicide Index (SI), Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and Personal Accomplishment (PA) scores were 0.76 ± 1.74, 19.94 ± 4.69, 4.92 ± 1.51, and 31.30 ± 5.88, respectively. SI and PA were significantly higher in workers other than nurses and physicians and EE was higher among workers with night shifts (p value<0.05 in all indices). Age had a significant and negative correlation with EE (p value<0.01) and DP (p value<0.05) and a significant and positive correlation with PA (p value<0.01).

Conclusion

This study showed a high level of SI and Burnout indices among HCWs in the fourth wave of the pandemic in Iran. Paying attention to the factors affecting the development of social capital and creating health policy changes may be effective in reducing Burnout indices and high Suicide index among HCWs.

Mediating role of social capital on the association between negative life events and quality of life among adults in China: A population-based study

Objective

To evaluate whether social capital played a mediating role in the relationship between negative life events (NLE) and quality of life (QoL) among adults in China after proposed a conceptual model based on stress buffering theory.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted based on baseline survey from the Chinese Multi-ethnic Cohort (CMEC) in Yunnan province. A total of 22,866 adults were recruited by multistage stratified cluster sampling. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the general demographic characteristics and the occurrence of NLE. A self-developed brief social capital scale was utilized to assess the social capital and the EQ-5D-5L scale was used to measure the QoL. The relationships among NLE, social capital and QoL were analyzed using multiple linear regression analyses. Structural equation models were used to evaluate whether social capital had a mediating effect on the relationship between NLE and QoL. The standardize coefficient (β) and it's 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated in this process.

Results

The mean age of participants was 52.70 years old. The mean of EQ-5D index value was 0.92 (SD = 0.12) and the mean of EQ-VAS score was 71.77 (SD = 13.80). NLE not only directly affected EQ-5D index value [β = -0.127, 95% CI (-0.144, -0.110)] but also indirectly negatively affected EQ-5D index value through social capital [β = -0.019, 95% CI (-0.023, -0.015)]. Social capital had a direct positive effect on EQ-5D index value [β = 0.114, 95% CI (0.097, 0.133)]. A similar pattern was identified for the association between NLE and EQ-VAS score. The direct effect of NLE on EQ-VAS score was negatively significant [β = -0.132, 95% CI (-0.146, -0.118)]. Moreover, the indirect effect through social capital was also negatively significant [β = -0.022, 95% CI (-0.026, -0.019)]. There was a positive direct effect of social capital on EQ-VAS score [β = 0.135, 95% CI (0.117, 0.151)].

Conclusion

Social capital played an important mediating role in the relationship between NLE and QoL, and it alleviated the negative effects of NLE on the QoL of the community residents in China. Providing reliable social capital for community residents experiencing NLE could effectively improve their quality of life.