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This study examined the psychometric properties of the Danish WEMWBS and its short version (SWEMWBS) in a Danish population sample, and compared scores in Denmark with scores representative of three other European settings. A total of 3,508 Danish men and women aged 16-95 filled out an electronic survey. Face validity was examined by cognitive interviews. Content validity was assessed by examining response distributions and construct validity by confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance, and relations to other or similar measures. Overall mental well-being scores were calculated, as well as stratified by sex and age. Support was found for the single-factor hypothesis, yielding good model fits for both versions of the scale. Both scales have high internal consistency. Correlations with mental health measures were largely in line with expectations. The highest mental well-being scores were reported for Catalonia, followed by Denmark, Iceland, and England. The (S)WEMWBS appear to be appropriate instruments to measure mental well-being in the Danish population. The present findings encourage the use of the scales, particularly SWEMWBS, in epidemiological, intervention and evaluation studies in research and practice. Cross-cultural comparisons like the one reported here may be essential to inform international mental health policy., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Loneliness is a prevalent and urgent public health issue. Optimal planning of community approaches to loneliness requires a differentiated understanding of loneliness across the life span. We identified groups at high risk of loneliness by exploring the relationship between loneliness and socio-demographic and health-related factors across multiple age groups., Methods: This was a combined population-based questionnaire survey and register data study based on a representative sample, including 33,285 Danish individuals aged 16-102 years. Loneliness was measured using the Three-Item Loneliness Scale., Results: The relation between loneliness and age took a shallow U-shaped distribution. Ethnic minority status, receiving disability pensions or being unemployed, living alone, prolonged mental disorder, and psychiatric treatment were strongly associated with severe loneliness. Socio-demographic and health-related factors were associated with an increased risk of severe loneliness in specific age groups. Being female, having a low educational level and living in a deprived area were only associated with loneliness in adolescence/emerging adulthood. Receiving disability pensions and living alone (i.e., divorced), on the other hand, were strongly associated with loneliness in early and middle adulthood and young-old age., Conclusion: Ethnic minority status, living alone, and prolonged mental disorder may well be key factors in determining the generic level of loneliness in a given population. Other conditions are associated with an increased risk of severe loneliness in specific age groups and may moderate the age-loneliness relation. These findings may help to identify populations within communities at risk of loneliness and thereby support the implementation of policies and public health interventions across the life span.

Social isolation is associated with increased mortality. Meta-analytic results, however, indicate heterogeneity in effect sizes. We aimed to provide new evidence to the association between social isolation and mortality by conducting a population-based cohort study. We reconstructed the Berkman and Syme's social network index (SNI), which combines four components of social networks (partnership, interaction with family/friends, religious activities, and membership in organizations/clubs) into an index, ranging from 0/1 (most socially isolated) to 4 (least socially isolated). We estimated cumulative mortality and adjusted mortality rate ratios (MRR) associated with SNI. We adjusted for potential important confounders, including psychiatric and somatic status, lifestyle, and socioeconomic status. Cumulative 7-year mortality in men was 11% for SNI 0/1 and 5.4% for SNI 4 and in women 9.6% for SNI 0/1 and 3.9% for SNI 4. Adjusted MRRs comparing SNI 0/1 with SNI 4 were 1.7 (95% CI: 1.1-2.6) among men and 1.6 (95% CI: 0.83-2.9) among women. Having no partner was associated with an adjusted MRR of 1.5 (95% CI: 1.2-2.1) for men and 1.7 (95% CI: 1.2-2.4) for women. In conclusion, social isolation was associated with 60-70% increased mortality. Having no partner was associated with highest MRR.

Aims: Prolonged loneliness and severe stress are increasingly recognised as public health concerns and considered risk factors for mental disorders, somatic illnesses and mortality. Loneliness and perceived stress also often co-occur; however, their longitudinal relation remains unclear. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study aiming to investigate the longitudinal relation between loneliness and perceived stress independently of cross-sectional associations and time effects. Methods: Designed as a population-based cohort study with repeated measurements, the present study included individuals aged 16–80 years at baseline who participated in the Danish National Health Survey ('How are you?') in 2013 and 2017 (N = 10,159; response rate = 50%). Structural equation modelling was used to examine associations between loneliness and perceived stress in the total sample and across age groups (i.e., 16–29, 30–64 and 65–80 years). Results: The models indicated bidirectional relations between loneliness and perceived stress. The standardized cross-lagged path from loneliness to perceived stress (β: 0.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.08, 0.16), p < 0.001) and from perceived stress to loneliness (β: 0.12, 95% CI (0.07, 0.16), p < 0.001) both corresponded to small effect sizes in the total sample. Additionally, the results indicated strong cross-sectional associations, especially among adolescents and young adults (16–29 years), and high temporal stability, especially among the elderly (65–80 years). Conclusions: Loneliness and perceived stress mutually predict each other over time. The finding of both substantial bidirectional and cross-sectional associations demonstrates an interdependence between loneliness and perceived stress that may be relevant to consider in future interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mounting evidence that loneliness is a determinant of poor health and well-being underpins the need for effective interventions and community action. 'More Together' (MoTo) is a large-scale, complex, multi-component and multi-level intervention for community change that addresses loneliness among young people and older adults in Silkeborg Municipality, Denmark. The intervention is inspired by the Collective Impact framework, and it is practice driven and rooted in an extensive cross-sector partnership. This article outlines (i) the organization of the cross-sector partnership, (ii) the structure of the intervention programme, (iii) the key components and activities of the programme and, finally, (iv) the intervention setting and target population. MoTo aims to create new ways to develop, implement and evaluate loneliness interventions. Experiences gained from MoTo hold the potential to transform our understanding of loneliness interventions and may inform and guide future interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the evolution of psychiatric epidemiology. Topics discussed include register-based epidemiology, emergence of various sources of data in mental health research, and the contribution of mental disorders to the overall burden of disease. Also mentioned are the future challenges of psychiatric epidemiology, changes in the diagnostic criteria, and increase in the number of studies based on administrative registers.

Abstract Professionals and policy makers have only recently begun to recognize the extent to which different types of victimization are interconnected. To enhance our knowledge of the co-occurrence of physical and sexual violence across childhood and adolescence/early adulthood, the present study investigated distinct typologies of victimization in a sample of adolescents and young adults and explored the relationship between victimization typologies and gender, age, and mental health. Data from the Danish 2013 National Health Survey (“How are you?”) were used. Latent class analysis (i.e., a person-centered approach) was used to identify typologies of physical and sexual victimization in a representative sample of 3812 adolescents and young adults aged 16–24 years. Five distinct victimization typologies emerged: a normative, non-victimization group (76%), a physical victimization in adolescence/early adulthood group (13%), a physical revictimization group (5%), a poly-victimization group (4%), and a physical victimization in childhood group (2%). Physical revictimization, poly-victimization, and physical victimization in childhood were highly associated with poor mental health status. Using a latent variable modeling approach, we identified meaningful subgroups of the victimized population. Two subgroups (i.e., physical revictimization and poly-victimization), which comprised a third of all individuals in the victimization subgroups, had a high probability of exposure to multiple traumatic events and poor mental health. These study findings underscore the need to promote interventions addressing the co-occurrence of physical and sexual victimization and the persistence of victimization over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]