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Working long hours has been associated with adverse health outcomes. However, a definition of long work hours relative to adverse health risk has not been established. Repeated measures of work hours among approximately 2,000 participants from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1986-2011), conducted in the United States, were retrospectively analyzed to derive statistically optimized cutpoints of long work hours that best predicted three health outcomes. Work-hours cutpoints were assessed for model fit, calibration, and discrimination separately for the outcomes of poor self-reported general health, incident cardiovascular disease, and incident cancer. For each outcome, the work-hours threshold that best predicted increased risk was 52 hours per week or more for a minimum of 10 years. Workers exposed at this level had a higher risk of poor self-reported general health (relative risk (RR) = 1.28; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06, 1.53), cardiovascular disease (RR = 1.42; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.63), and cancer (RR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.22, 2.17) compared with those working 35-51 hours per week for the same duration. This study provides the first health risk--based definition of long work hours. Further examination of the predictive power of this cutpoint on other health outcomes and in other study populations is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There have been few prospective studies on the association between anxiety disorders and adolescent obesity; none examine potential reciprocal effects.Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the prospective association between anxiety disorders and obesity among adolescents.Methods: Using data from a two-wave, prospective study of 3134 adolescents, we examined reciprocal effects between body weight and DSM-IV anxiety disorders.Results: Weight status did not increase future risk of anxiety disorders nor did anxiety disorders at baseline increase risk of future obesity in the overall sample. Stratifying by gender revealed an increased risk of overweight and obesity in males with anxiety disorders, but not for females. Major depression did not mediate these associations.Conclusion: Similar to prospective studies of depression, it appears anxiety disorders may increase risk of obesity. However, more research is needed on the role of psychopathology in adolescent obesity, in particular anxiety disorders and possible moderators (such as gender) and mediators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies assessing protective effects of physical activity on depression have had conflicting results; one recent study argued that excluding disabled subjects attenuated any observed effects. The authors’ objective was to compare the effects of higher levels of physical activity on prevalent and incident depression with and without exclusion of disabled subjects. Participants were 1,947 community-dwelling adults from the Alameda County Study aged 50–94 years at baseline in 1994 with 5 years of follow-up. Depression was measured using criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Physical activity was measured with an eight-point scale; odds ratios are based upon a one-point increase on the scale. Even with adjustments for age, sex, ethnicity, financial strain, chronic conditions, disability, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking, and social relations, greater physical activity was protective for both prevalent depression (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.79, 1.01) and incident depression (adjusted OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.73, 0.96) over 5 years. Exclusion of disabled subjects did not attenuate the incidence results (adjusted OR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.67, 0.92). Findings support the protective effects of physical activity on depression for older adults and argue against excluding disabled subjects from similar studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Does obesity affect mental health? Two waves of data from a panel study of community residents 50 years and older were used to investigate the association between obesity and eight indicators of mental health: happiness, perceived mental health, life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, optimism, feeling loved and cared for, and depression. For none of the eight mental health outcomes examined did we observe a protective effect for obesity. Either no association was observed between obesity and psychological functioning, or the obese were worse off. Using 1994-1999 prospective data, the obese were at increased risk for poorer mental health on five of the outcomes examined using bivariate analyses. However, controlling for mental health problems at baseline and using statistical controls for covariates, the increased relative risk was limited to depression. There has been sufficient disparity of results thus far to justify further research on this question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two waves of data from a community-based study (Alameda County Study, 1994–1995) were used to investigate the association between obesity and depression. Depression was measured with 12 items covering Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for major depressive episode. Following US Public Health Service criteria, obese subjects were defined as those with body mass index scores at the 85th percentile or higher. Covariates were age, sex, education, marital status, social isolation and social support, chronic medical conditions, functional impairment, life events, and financial strain. Results were mixed. In cross-sectional analyses, greater odds for depression in 1994 were observed for the obese, with and without adjustment for covariates. When obesity and depression were examined prospectively, controlling for other variables, obesity in 1994 predicted depression in 1995 (odds ratio (OR) = 1.73, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04, 2.87). When the data were analyzed with obesity defined as a body mass index of ≥30, cross-sectional results were the same. However, the prospective multivariate analyses were not significant (OR = 1.43, 95% CI: 0.85, 2.43). Although these data do not resolve the role of obesity as a risk factor for depression, overall the results suggest an association between obesity and depression. The authors found no support for the “jolly fat” hypothesis (obesity reduces risk of depression). However, there has been sufficient disparity of results thus far to justify continued research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Examines the symptoms of major depressive episodes, using data from the Alameda County Study. Public health problem posed by depression in the United States; Factors which determines depression; Question of whether increasing age constitutes to depression; Details on the study.

Presents an analysis of associations between two forms of religiosity and depression, as well as the extent to which religiosity separates relationships between stressors and depression. Methodology of study using the 1994 Alameda County Study; Results of both forms of religiosity; Effect of religiosity on non-family stressors and family crises.

Social Science researchers examining factors, which influence responses to mail surveys, have pointed out that no studies had experimentally tested the effect of including a deadline with mail questionnaires, although use of such a procedure is often advocated. The primary purpose of this paper is to report the results of an experiment which provides additional evidence on the efficacy of specifying a return deadline in mail surveys. A survey of dentist has been conducted for the Bureau of Community Health Services. The survey examined the effects of personalization, social appeal, and response deadline. A systematic sample of general practitioners was selected from the membership file of the American Dental Association, stratified by geographic area, using a sampling fraction of 1/75. The resulting sample of 1,190 was randomly assigned to eight groups, using a factorial design with two levels of personalization, two levels of appeal, and two levels of deadline. The data were analyzed using categorical data analysis. The results indicate that the only clear effect is that of specifying a deadline for returning the questionnaire.

Results from a second empirical test of a theory of intergenerational family relations, as an example of empirically driven theory construction in social gerontology, are presented. The theory we tested reflects an attempt to explain later-life patterns of affection, association, and consensus between parents and children as interdependent components of a meta-construct — family intergenerational solidarity. The theoretical model also identifies variables that are expected to predict variations in levels of solidarity. A recent empirical test (Atkinson, Kivett, and Campbell, 1986) offered little support for the central proposition of the model: that solidarity can be indexed by a linear-additive composite of affection, association, and consensus. The replication analysis reported here is based on a different sample, as well as alternate measures and statistical methods. The convergent results suggest that (a) later-life intergenerational solidarity is not a unidimensional construct, and (b) different variables predict each component. This exercise of theory statement, testing, and retesting leads us to suggest several refinements to the theory acknowledging a more complex relationship between dimensions of intergenerational relations in old age. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]