| 1. |
- Bohlin, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Perceived gender inequality in the couple relationship and musculoskeletal pain in middle-aged women and men
- 2013
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : Sage Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 41:8, s. 825-831
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: Musculoskeletal pain is a major health problem, especially in women, and is partially determined by psychosocial factors. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether gender inequality in the couple relationship was related to musculoskeletal pain. Methods: Participants (n=721; 364 women and 357 men) were all individuals living in a couple relationship in the Northern Swedish Cohort, a 26-year Swedish cohort study. Self-administered questionnaire data at age 42 years comprised perceived gender inequality in the couple relationship and musculoskeletal pain (in three locations, summarised into one score and median-split), concurrent demographic factors, psychological distress, and previous musculoskeletal pain at age 30 years. Associations were examined using logistic regression. Results: Gender inequality was positively associated with symptoms of musculoskeletal pain in the total sample, remaining significant after addition of possible confounders and of previous musculoskeletal pain. Separate adjustment for concurrent psychological distress attenuated the association but not below significance. The association was present and of comparable strength in both women and men. Conclusions: Gender inequality in the couple relationship might contribute to the experience of musculoskeletal pain in both women and men. The results highlight the potential adverse bodily consequences of living in unequal relationships.
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| 2. |
- Brännlund, Annica, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Education and health-lifestyle among men and women in Sweden : a 27-year prospective cohort study
- 2013
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : Sage Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 41:3, s. 284-292
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Previous research has found a positive association between health-behaviour and health. Only a few longitudinalstudies have been performed, and as far as we found, none have followed a cohort for 27 years. Methods: This study used acohort study, the “Northern Swedish Cohort”, which consisted of all graduates, n = 1080, from a compulsory school in aSwedish town. Data were collected with a comprehensive questionnaire; response rate 96.4%. Health-behaviour was analysedwith binary logistic regression, with health-behaviour at age 21, 30 and 43 years as dependent variable. Besides baselinehealth-behaviour, gender, somatic and psychological health and socioeconomic background, the analyses were adjustedfor work situation and social network. Results: The main findings were that education reduces the probability of unhealthybehaviour over the life course, which held after controlling for early life health-behaviour and possible confounders. Thegeneral education effect on health-behaviour was stronger among men than among women. Conclusions: Higher educationreduces the probability of unhealthy behavior. Thus, investments in higher education should be an important public goal.
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| 3. |
- Brännlund, Annica, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Higher education and psychological distress : a 27-year prospective cohort study in Sweden
- 2014
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : Sage Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 42:2, s. 155-162
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: Research identifies a positive link between education and a reduction of psychological distress, but few studies have analysed the long-term impact of education on psychological distress. This study followed the same cohort for 27 years, investigating the association between education and adult psychological distress. Further, it discuss whether the link can be understood through the mediating mechanisms of social and labour-market resources, furthermore, if the mechanisms operate differently for men and women. Method: A 27-year prospective cohort study was performed at ages 16, 18, 21, 30 and 43. The cohort consisted of all students (n = 1083, of which 1001 are included in this study) in their final year of compulsory school in Sweden. Data were collected through comprehensive questionnaires (response rate 96.4%), and analysed with OLS regression, with psychological distress at age 21, 30 and 43 as dependent variable. Baseline psychological distress, measures of social and labour-market resources, and possible educational selection factors were used as independent variables. To compare the overall magnitude of educational differences, a kappa index was calculated. Results: A positive relation between higher education and less psychological distress was found. When becoming older this relation weakens and a link between social and labour-market resources and psychological distress is observed, indicating that education in a long-term perspective operates through the suggested mechanisms. Additionally, the mechanisms work somewhat differently for men than for women: labour-market resources were significant for men and social resources were important for women. Conclusions: Main findings: higher education is positively linked to less psychological distress, and the link can somewhat be understood through the mechanisms of social and labour-market resources.
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| 4. |
- Byhamre, Marja Lisa, et al.
(författare)
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Snus use during the life-course and risk of the metabolic syndrome and its components
- 2017
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : Sage Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 45:8, s. 733-740
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: We aimed to investigate the association between life-course exposure to snus and prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components in adulthood.Design and method: Tobacco habits at baseline (age 16) and three follow-ups (ages 21, 30 and 43) were assessed among 880 participants in a population-based cohort in Northern Sweden. Presence of the metabolic syndrome at age 43 was ascertained using the International Diabetes Federation criteria. Odds ratios and CIs for risk of the metabolic syndrome and its components by snus use at 16, 21, 30 and 43 years were calculated using logistic regression. Cumulative snus use was defined as number of life periods (1-4) with current snus use.Results: At age 43, 164 participants (18.6%) were current snus users. We found no association between exclusive snus use at the ages of 16, 21, 30 and 43 years and the metabolic syndrome at age 43 years. Snus use (among non-smokers) was associated with raised triglycerides and high blood pressure in crude analysis, but not in multivariable models. There was no association between cumulative snus use and risk of the metabolic syndrome. Cumulative snus use was associated with central obesity, raised triglycerides and impaired fasting glucose/diabetes mellitus type 2 in crude analyses, but not after adjustments.Conclusion: The health consequences of snus exposure from adolescence to mid-adulthood do not seem to include increased risk of the metabolic syndrome or its components. The cardio-metabolic risk of dual exposure to snus and cigarettes may warrant further attention.
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| 5. |
- Elwér, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Life course models of economic stress and poor mental health in mid-adulthood : Results from the prospective Northern Swedish Cohort
- 2015
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : SAGE Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 43:8, s. 833-840
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: The aim was to analyse the association between economic stress during youth and adulthood, and poor mental health through life course models of (1) accumulation of risk and (2) sensitive period. Methods: The study was based on the Northern Sweden Cohort, a 26-year prospective cohort (N = 1010 in 2007; 94% of those participating in 1981 still alive) ranging from adolescence to middle age. Economic stress was measured at age 16, 21, 30 and 42 years. Two life course models of accumulation of risk and sensitive period were analysed using ordinal regression with internalized symptoms of mental health as outcome. Results: Exposure of economic stress at several life course periods was associated with higher odds of internalized mental health symptoms for both women and men, which supports the accumulated risk model. No support for a sensitive period was found for the whole sample. For men, however, adolescence appears to be a sensitive period during which the exposure to economic stress has negative mental health consequences later in life independently of economic stress at other ages. Conclusion: This study confirms that the duration of economic stress between adolescence and middle age is important for mental health. In addition, the results give some indication of a sensitive period of exposure to economic stress during adolescence for men, although more research is needed to confirm possible gender differences.
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| 6. |
- Gillander Gådin, Katja, et al.
(författare)
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Do changes in the psychosocial school environment influence pupils' health development? Results from a three-year follow-up study
- 2003
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : SAGE Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 31:3, s. 169-177
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: This study analysed the effects of psychosocial factors at school on pupils' health and self-worth from a longitudinal perspective. Methods: A three-year prospective study was started in 1994, including 533 pupils (261 girls, 272 boys) from 25 different classes in grades 3 and 6. With age-adjusted questionnaires the changes in self-perceived health were compared with changes in psychosocial school environmental factors. Results: The girls in the older cohort reported a negative health development with decreased self-worth and increased somatic and psychological symptoms. Significant gender differences in ill health, but not in self-worth, developed, especially in the older cohort. A multiple regression analysis showed that a negative development of psychosocial factors at school, measured as control, demand, and classmate problems, was associated with poorer health and self-worth among the pupils. A trichotomization of the psychosocial variables at school indicated a possible causal relationship between psychosocial factors and ill health and self-worth. Conclusions: The negative development in pupils' health and self-worth could partly be explained by the more unfavourable psychosocial environment that prevails at school at the senior level. The public health implications of our study can be summarized as the need for schools to improve pupils' social situation at school in relation to their work situation as well as to pay special attention to the school situation of girls at senior level.
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| 7. |
- Hammarström, Anne, et al.
(författare)
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Gender inequity needs to be regarded as a social determinant of depressive symptoms : Results from the Northern Swedish cohort
- 2012
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : SAGE Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 40:8, s. 746-752
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The importance of social and avoidable determinants of depressive symptoms has been increasingly recognized in public health research. However, when it comes to determinant of gender differences in depressive symptoms the focus is predominantly on biological unavoidable determinants. Thus, there is a need for more focus on gendered social determinants of health. The aim of this study was to analyse the importance of gender relations for depressive symptoms after taking socioeconomic factors and earlier depressive symptoms into account in the Northern Swedish cohort. Methods: A 26-year follow-up study of a cohort of all school leavers in a middle-sized industrial town in Northern Sweden was performed from age 16 until age 42. Of those still alive of the original cohort, 94% participated during the whole period and answered extensive questionnaires. Exposure was measured as socioeconomic status, financial strain, perceived gender inequity in the couple relationship and division of responsibility for domestic work. The outcome was depressive symptoms at age 42, while depressive symptoms were controlled at age 30. Results: In multivariate logistic regression analyses significant relations between financial strain and, among women only, also perceived gender equity in the couple relationship and depressive symptoms after adjustment for earlier health status, as well as for all other exposure measures. Conclusions: Financial strain, and among women, also gender inequity in the couple relationship was related to depressive mood. There is a need to pay more attention to gender relations in future research on social determinants of depressive mood.
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| 8. |
- Hammarström, Anne, et al.
(författare)
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It´s no surprise! Men are not hit more than women by the health consequences of unemployment in the Northern Swedish Cohort
- 2011
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : SAGE Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 39:2, s. 187-193
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: Research often fails to ascertain whether men and women are equally hit by the health consequences of unemployment. The aim of this study was to analyze whether men’s self-reported health and health behaviour were hit more by unemployment than women’s in a follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort.Methods: A follow-up study of a cohort of all school leavers in a middle-sized industrial town in northern Sweden was performed from age 16 to age 42. Of those still alive of the original cohort, 94% (n = 1,006) participated during the whole period. A sample was made of participants in the labour force and living in Sweden (n = 916). Register data were used to assess the length of unemployment from age 40 to 42, while questionnaire data were used for the other variables.Results: In multivariate logistic regression analyses significant relations between unemployment and mental health/smoking were found among both women and men, even after control for unemployment at the time of the investigation and indicators of health-related selection. Significant relations between unemployment and alcohol consumption were found among women, while few visits to a dentist was significant among men.Conclusions: Men are not hit more by the health consequences of unemployment in a Swedish context, with a high participation rate of women in the labour market. The public health relevance is that the study indicates the need to take gendered contexts into account in public health research.
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| 9. |
- Hammarström, Anne, et al.
(författare)
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Why does youth unemployment lead to scarring of depressive symptoms in adulthood? The importance of early adulthood drinking
- 2023
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : Sage Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: The aim of the paper is to analyse if alcohol consumption could explain the scarring effect of youth unemployment on later depressive symptoms.Methods: The analyses are based on the 24-year follow-up of school leavers in a municipality in Northern Sweden (the Northern Swedish Cohort). Four-way decomposition analyses were performed to analyse if alcohol use at age 30 years could mediate and/or moderate the effect of youth unemployment (ages 18/21 years) on depressive symptoms in later adulthood (age 43 years).Results: Excessive alcohol use at early adulthood (age 30 years) mediates 18% of the scarring effect of youth unemployment on depressive symptoms in later adulthood. The scarring effect was seen among both those with and without excessive alcohol use.Conclusions: Youth unemployment leads to poor mental health later in life and part of these relations are explained by excessive alcohol consumption in early adulthood. Policy interventions should target the prevention of youth unemployment for reaching a lower alcohol consumption and better mental health.
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| 10. |
- Haukenes, Inger, et al.
(författare)
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Workplace gender composition and sickness absence : a register-based study from Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : Sage Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: This study aimed to examine the association between gender composition in the workplace and sickness absence days during a one-year period. Methods: The study population was drawn from the Northern Swedish Cohort (wave 3; 2007) by Statistics Sweden and consisted of all participants belonging to a specific workplace (n=837) as well as all co-workers at the workplace of the participants (n=132,464; 67,839 women and 64,625 men). Exposure was the gender composition of the workplace, and outcome was cumulative sickness absence days (⩾90 days or not) during 2007, provided through a link to the Database for Health Insurance and Labour Marked Studies of Statistics Sweden. Covariates were gender, age, educational level and branch of industry from the same data source. We performed descriptive analyses and multivariable regression analyses. Results: Workers in extremely female-dominated workplaces had a significantly higher risk of cumulative sickness absence days (⩾90 days) compared with gender-equal workplaces (fully adjusted odds ratio (OR)=1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09–1.48), whereas those working in extremely and moderately male-dominated workplaces had a significantly lower sickness absence risk (OR=0.62 and 0.66, respectively). Stratified by gender, the higher absence risk at female-dominated workplaces was fully explained by variation in branches of industry. Women working in extremely male-dominated workplaces had a significantly lower absence risk (OR=0.75), as did men working in moderately male-dominated workplaces (OR=0.78). Conclusions: Workplaces dominated by women had a significantly higher risk of days lost to sickness absence compared to gender-equal workplaces. Stratified by gender, this higher risk was explained by branch of industry.
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