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Developmental scholars, parents, and policymakers alike have long heralded the opening years of life as disproportionately influential. Recent work on adolescence has revealed, however, greater influence of these later years--but without considering how experience during these two periods interact. We address this issue by studying adverse experiences (e.g., parental divorce, incarceration) measured at ages 0-5 years and 13-18 years on problematic development at 18-19 years (e.g., criminal behavior, disconnection from school and work) on 363,444 Danish siblings. Given multiple possible interaction patterns, no predictions were advanced. The extent to which adverse experiences in early childhood impact future problematic development depends on level of adversity experienced in adolescence: Only when exposure to adversity in adolescence was limited did greater early life adversity predict poorer future outcomes. Otherwise, adolescent adversity swamped effects of early life adversity. Results are discussed in terms of the design and context of the research.

As disasters increase due to climate change, population density, epidemics, and technology, information is needed about postdisaster consequences for people's mental health and how stress-related mental disorders affect multiple spheres of life, including labor-market attachment. We tested the causal hypothesis that individuals who developed stress-related mental disorders as a consequence of their disaster exposure experienced subsequent weak labor-market attachment and poor work-related outcomes. We leveraged a natural experiment in an instrumental variables model, studying a 2004 fireworks factory explosion disaster that precipitated the onset of stress-related disorders (posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression) among individuals in the local community (N = 86,726). We measured labor-market outcomes using longitudinal population-level administrative data: sick leave, unemployment benefits, early retirement pension, and income from wages from 2007 to 2010. We found that individuals who developed a stress-related disorder after the disaster were likely to go on sickness benefit, both in the short-and long-term, were likely to use unemployment benefits and to lose wage income in the long term. Stress-related disorders did not increase the likelihood of early retirement. The natural experiment design minimized the possibility that omitted confounders biased these effects of mental health on work outcomes. Addressing the mental health and employment needs of survivors after a traumatic experience may improve their labor-market outcomes and their nations' economic outputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Deaths from suicides, drug poisonings, and alcohol-related diseases ('deaths of despair') are well-documented among working-age Americans, and have been hypothesized to be largely specific to the U.S. However, support for this assertion–and associated policies to reduce premature mortality–requires tests concerning these deaths in other industrialized countries, with different institutional contexts. We tested whether the concentration and accumulation of health and social disadvantage forecasts deaths of despair, in New Zealand and Denmark. Methods: We used nationwide administrative data. Our observation period was 10 years (NZ = July 2006–June 2016, Denmark = January 2007–December 2016). We identified all NZ-born and Danish-born individuals aged 25–64 in the last observation year (NZ = 1 555 902, Denmark = 2 541 758). We ascertained measures of disadvantage (public-hospital stays for physical- and mental-health difficulties, social-welfare benefit-use, and criminal convictions) across the first nine years. We ascertained deaths from suicide, drugs, alcohol, and all other causes in the last year. Results: Deaths of despair clustered within a population segment that disproportionately experienced multiple disadvantages. In both countries, individuals in the top 5% of the population in multiple health- and social-service sectors were at elevated risk for deaths from suicide, drugs, and alcohol, and deaths from other causes. Associations were evident across sex and age. Conclusions: Deaths of despair are a marker of inequalities in countries beyond the U.S. with robust social-safety nets, nationwide healthcare, and strong pharmaceutical regulations. These deaths cluster within a highly disadvantaged population segment identifiable within health- and social-service systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundPurposeMethodsResultsConclusionRefugees from Syria face health challenges with psychosocial dimensions due to disrupted networks, uncertain life situations, and language barriers. Additionally, a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of noncommunicable diseases, so health-promoting initiatives involving physical activities are essential.To explore physiotherapists’ clinical reasoning and collaboration with refugee families in developing group-based health-promoting physical exercising to increase participants’ wellbeing, sense of togetherness, and self-efficacy.The design was participating action research with 24 resettled refugees from Syria. Data consisted of field notes and three focus group interviews. Data gathering followed a phenomenological approach, and the four-step analysis was inspired by Giorgi.Based on clinical reasoning and collaboration with the participants and their wishes, the physiotherapists organized a physical exercise intervention integrating language learning. The physiotherapists based the intervention on social cognitive theory, focusing on the group’s and the individual’s capacity and working with the participants on exercise and organizational adaptations to the group and individual. The participants appreciated the joyful physical activities, body awareness, and a sense of togetherness. To accommodate that many suffered from musculoskeletal pain, the physiotherapists developed an intervention for therapeutic exercising that included individual assessment and pain management.The physiotherapists’ clinical reasoning in working with refugees included the cultural, linguistic, and social context rooted in a salutogenic perspective. The participants’ wellbeing and self-efficacy in adhering to exercise increased. They experienced pain relief and increased confidence in using the body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]