Multilevel Correlates of Satisfaction with Neighborhood Availability of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Background  

Little is known about influences on perceptions of neighborhood food environments, despite their relevance for food-shopping behaviors and food choices.     

Perception of Neighborhood Disorder and Health Service Usage in a Canadian Sample

Background  

Neighborhood environment, both actual and perceived, is associated with health outcomes; however, much of this research has relied on self-reports of these outcomes.     

Exploring the Role of the Built and Social Neighborhood Environment in Moderating Stress and Health

Background  

Health researchers have explored how different aspects of neighborhood characteristics contribute to health and well-being, but current understanding of built environment factors is limited.     

Neighborhood consistency in mental arithmetic: Behavioral and ERP evidence

Background  

Recent cognitive and computational models (e.g. the Interacting Neighbors Model) state that in simple multiplication decade and unit digits of the candidate answers (including the correct result) are represented separately. Thus, these models challenge holistic views of number representation as well as traditional accounts of the classical problem size effect in simple arithmetic (i.e. the finding that large problems are answered slower and less accurate than small problems). Empirical data supporting this view are still scarce.     

Examining the Individual and Perceived Neighborhood Associations of Leisure-Time Physical Activity in Persons with Spinal Cord Injury

Background  

Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) constructs have been shown to be useful for explaining leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). However, other factors not captured by the TPB may also be important predictors of LTPA for this population.     

Neighborhood characteristics and mental health: the relevance for mothers of infants in deprived English neighborhoods

Purpose  

Neighborhood features have been linked with adult mental-health problems, particularly depression. A recent comprehensive review indicated structural neighborhood features derived from data sources such as the census may be less important predictors of mental health problems than social processes but that most studies lack multiple neighborhood measures. The aim of the study is to investigate relations between multiple neighborhood factors (observations, interviewer ratings, UK Census data) and maternal mental-health problems.     

Neighborhood social cohesion and posttraumatic stress disorder in a community-based sample: findings from the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study

Purpose

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common and debilitating. Although research has identified individual-level risk factors for PTSD, the role of macro-social factors in PTSD etiology remains unknown. This study tests whether perceived neighborhood social cohesion (NSC), measured at the both the individual and neighborhood levels, plays a role in determining past-year risk of PTSD among those exposed to trauma.

Methods

Data (n?=?1,221) were obtained from an ongoing prospective epidemiologic study in the city of Detroit. Assessment of traumatic event exposure and PTSD was consistent with DSM-IV criteria. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) and logistic regression models were used to estimate the association of neighborhood-level perceived NSC with the risk of PTSD, adjusting for individual-level perceptions of NSC and other covariates.

Results

The odds of past-year PTSD were significantly higher among those residing in a neighborhood with low social cohesion compared to high (OR?=?2.44, 95?% CI: 1.58, 3.78), independent of individual sociodemographic characteristics, number of traumas, and individual-level perceptions of NSC. The odds of past-year PTSD were not significantly associated with individual-level perceptions of NSC.

Conclusions

These results demonstrate that social context shapes risk of PTSD and suggest that changing the social context may shift vulnerability to this disorder.     

Perceptions of Neighborhood Park Quality: Associations with Physical Activity and Body Mass Index

Background

Parks are important resources for physical activity (PA), yet few studies have examined how perceptions of park characteristics relate to PA and health.

Purpose

This study investigated associations between perceptions of neighborhood park quality and overall moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), park-based PA, and body mass index (BMI).

Methods

Data were collected via questionnaire from 893 households in Kansas City, Missouri.

Results

The newly developed neighborhood park quality scale demonstrated good test–retest and internal reliability. Residents’ perceptions of neighborhood park quality were related to PA and health outcomes. Perceiving parks as a benefit was positively related to overall MVPA and park-based PA and negatively related to BMI. Perceptions of well-used parks were positively related to BMI, while perceived cleanliness was negatively related to park-based PA.

Conclusions

Better measuring and understanding how perceptions of local parks are associated with PA and health can improve appreciation of how parks facilitate active living.

     

Effect of Bike Lane Infrastructure Improvements on Ridership in One New Orleans Neighborhood

Background

Incorporating cycling into daily life is one way to increase physical activity.

Purpose

This study examined the impact of building new bike lanes in New Orleans to determine whether more people were cycling on the street and with the flow of traffic after bike lanes were built.

Methods

Through direct observation of one intervention and two adjacent streets, observers counted cyclists riding on the street and sidewalk, with and against traffic, before and after installation of the lanes. Data were tallied separately for adults, children, males, females, and by race for each location.

Results

There was an increase in cyclists on all three streets after the installation of the bike lanes, with the largest increase on the street with the new lane. Additionally, the proportion of riders cycling with traffic increased after the lanes were striped.

Conclusions

Bike lanes can have a positive impact in creating a healthy neighborhood.

     

The Mediating Roles of Perceived Stress and Health Behaviors in the Relation Between Objective,Subjective, and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Perceived Health

Background

Objective, subjective, and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with perceived health, morbidity, and mortality.

Purpose

We investigated whether perceived stress and health behaviors mediated the relation between the three types of SES and perceived health.

Methods

Participants (N?=?508) attending a public clinic completed a computerized survey assessing objective SES (income, education, employment); health behaviors; perceived stress; and perceived health. They also indicated their social standing relative to others (subjective SES) and provided their current address to determine neighborhood SES.

Results

In a structural equation model including all three SES types, lower objective and subjective SES were related to poorer perceived health. When mediators were included in the model, there were significant indirect effects of (a) SES on health through stress and (b) SES on health through stress and health-compromising behaviors.

Conclusions

Interventions to reduce the impact of stressors could improve the health of socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals.     

Neighborhood determinants of mood and anxiety disorders among men who have sex with men in New York City

Purpose

We examined the relationship between economic, physical, and social characteristics of neighborhoods, where men who have sex with men (MSM) lived and socialized, and symptom scores of depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

Methods

Participants came from a cross-sectional study of a population-based sample of New York City MSM recruited in 2010–2012 (n?=?1126). Archival and survey-based data were obtained on neighborhoods, where the men lived and where they socialized most often.

Results

MSM who socialized in neighborhoods with more economic deprivation and greater general neighborhood attachment experienced higher GAD symptoms. The relationship between general attachment to neighborhoods where MSM socialized and mental health depended on the level of gay community attachment: in neighborhoods characterized by greater gay community attachment, general neighborhood attachment was negatively associated with GAD symptoms, while in low gay community attachment neighborhoods, general neighborhood attachment had a positive association with GAD symptoms.

Conclusions

This study illustrates the downsides of having deep ties to social neighborhoods when they occur in the absence of broader access to ties with the community of one’s sexual identity. Interventions that help MSM cross the spatial boundaries of their social neighborhoods and promote integration of MSM into the broader gay community may contribute to the reduction of elevated rates of depression and anxiety in this population.

     

In Vivo Investigation of Glucose Metabolism in Idiopathic and PRKN-Related Parkinson's Disease

Background

Alterations in mitochondrial dysfunction have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Mitochondrial energy production is linked to glucose metabolism, and diabetes is associated with PD. However, studies investigating glucose metabolism in vivo in genetically stratified PD patients and controls have yet to be performed.

Objectives

The objectives of this study were to explore glucose production, gluconeogenesis, and the contribution of gluconeogenesis to glucose production in idiopathic and PRKN PD compared with healthy controls with state-of-the-art biochemical methods.

Methods

We applied a dried-blood sampling/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry approach to monitor fluxes in the Cori cycle in vivo.

Results

The contribution of gluconeogenesis to total glucose production is increased in idiopathic PD patients (n = 33), but not in biallelic PRKN mutation carriers (n = 5) compared with healthy controls (n = 13).

Conclusions

We provide first-time in vivo evidence for alterations in glucose metabolism in idiopathic PD, in keeping with the epidemiological evidence for an association between PD and diabetes. © 2023 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.     

Postoperative confusion and basilar artery stroke

Introduction  

Non-focal postoperative mental status changes can be challenging.     

Neighborhood disadvantage in context: the influence of urbanicity on the association between neighborhood disadvantage and adolescent emotional disorders

Purpose

Inconsistent evidence of a relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and adolescent mental health may be, in part, attributable to heterogeneity based on urban or rural residence. Using the largest nationally representative survey of US adolescent mental health available, we estimated the association between neighborhood disadvantage and adolescent emotional disorders and the extent to which urbanicity modified this association.

Methods

The National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A) sampled adolescents aged 13–17 years (N = 10,123). Households were geocoded to Census tracts. Using a propensity score approach that addresses bias from non-random selection of individuals into neighborhoods, logistic regression models were used to estimate the relative odds of having a DSM-IV emotional disorder (any past-year anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder or dysthymia) comparing similar adolescents living in disadvantaged versus non-disadvantaged neighborhoods in urban center, urban fringe, and non-urban areas.

Results

The association between neighborhood disadvantage and emotional disorder was more than twice as large for adolescents living in urban centers versus non-urban areas. In urban centers, living in a disadvantaged neighborhood was associated with 59 % (95 % confidence interval 25–103) increased adjusted odds of emotional disorder.

Conclusions

Urbanicity modifies the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and emotional disorder in adolescents. This effect modification may explain why evidence of a relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and adolescent mental health has been inconsistent. Recognizing the joint influence of neighborhood socioeconomic context and urbanicity may improve specificity in identifying relevant neighborhood processes.     

Speech and gait abnormalities in motor subtypes of de-novo Parkinson's disease

Aim

To investigate the presence and relationship of temporal speech and gait parameters in patients with postural instability/gait disorder (PIGD) and tremor-dominant (TD) motor subtypes of Parkinson's disease (PD).

Methods

Speech samples and instrumented walkway system assessments were acquired from a total of 60 de-novo PD patients (40 in TD and 20 in PIGD subtype) and 40 matched healthy controls. Objective acoustic vocal assessment of seven distinct speech timing dimensions was related to instrumental gait measures including velocity, cadence, and stride length.

Results

Compared to controls, PIGD subtype showed greater consonant timing abnormalities by prolonged voice onset time (VOT) while also shorter stride length during both normal walking and dual task, while decreased velocity and cadence only during dual task. Speaking rate was faster in PIGD than TD subtype. In PIGD subtype, prolonged VOT correlated with slower gait velocity (r = −0.56, p = 0.01) and shorter stride length (r = −0.59, p = 0.008) during normal walking, whereas relationships were also found between decreased cadence in dual task and irregular alternating motion rates (r = −0.48, p = 0.04) and prolonged pauses (r = −0.50, p = 0.03). No correlation between speech and gait was detected in TD subtype.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that speech and gait rhythm disorder share similar underlying pathomechanisms specific for PIGD subtype.     

Individual and parental psychiatric history and risk for suicide among adolescents and young adults in Denmark

Background  

Both individual and familial histories of mental illness are substantial risk factors for suicide in young people.     

A Review and Meta-Analysis of Affective Judgments and Physical Activity in Adult Populations

Background  

Popular theories of health behavior have often been criticized for neglecting an affective component to behavioral engagement.     

Statins and cognition in late‐life bipolar disorder

Objectives

Recent data suggests that statins have positive effects on cognition in older adults. Studies in patients with mood disorders have found contradicting positive and negative effects of statins on mood and cognition, with limited data in bipolar disorder (BD). The objective of this study was to assess the association between statin use and cognition in older adults with BD.

Methods

In a cross‐sectional sample of 143 euthymic older adults with BD (age ≥ 50), statin users (n = 48) and nonusers (n = 95) were compared for cognitive outcomes: Global and cognitive domain z‐scores were calculated from detailed neuropsychological batteries using normative data from healthy comparators (n = 87).

Results

The sample had a mean age of 64.3 (±8.9) years, 65.0% were female, with an average of 15.1 (±2.79) years of education. Statin users did not differ from nonusers on global (?0.60 [±0.69] vs ?0.49 [±0.68], t[127] = 0.80, P = .42) or individual cognitive domains z‐score.

Conclusions

In older patients with BD, statin use is not independently associated with cognitive impairment. This suggests that in older BD patients, the cognitive dysfunction associated with BD trumps the potential cognitive benefit that is associated with statins in older adults without a psychiatric disorder. Further, statins do not seem to exacerbate this cognitive dysfunction. Future longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these findings.     

Suicide and mental illness in parents and risk of suicide in offspring

Background  

A family history of completed suicide and psychiatric illness has been identified as risk factors for suicide.     

Hope,despair and transformation: Climate change and the promotion of mental health and wellbeing

Background  

This article aims to provide an introduction to emerging evidence and debate about the relationship between climate change and mental health.