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BackgroundEducational disparities in daily smoking begin during adolescence and can lead to educational disparities in health among adults. In particular, vocational students including apprentices have higher daily smoking rates compared to non-vocational students. This study aimed to identify the determinants of the gap in daily smoking between French apprentices and high school students aged 17 in 2008 and in 2017.MethodsWe used data from a cross-sectional repeated survey representative of all French adolescents aged 17 in 2008 and 2017. We conducted a non-linear extension of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition technique and included the following variables: sociodemographic and familial characteristics, parental smoking, cannabis and alcohol use, suicidal attempt, grade repetition and money received.ResultsDaily smoking was about two times higher among French apprentices compared to high school students in 2008. This gap did not decrease between 2008 and 2017. Differences in measured characteristics between the two groups explained this gap partly, from 28.6 to 51.2%. Cannabis and alcohol use, money received and parental smoking contributed the most to the daily smoking gap.ConclusionsPrevention programs could target cannabis and alcohol use as well as parental smoking to help decrease educational disparities in smoking status among French adolescents.

Background A higher risk of suicidal ideation associated with self-report of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-like symptoms or COVID-19 infection has been observed in cross-sectional studies, but evidence from longitudinal studies remains limited. The aims of this study were 2-fold: (1) to explore if self-reported COVID-19-like symptoms in 2020 were associated with suicidal ideation in 2021; (2) to explore if the association also existed when using a biological marker of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in 2020. Methods and findings A total of 52,050 participants from the French EpiCov cohort were included (median follow-up time = 13.7 months). In terms of demographics, 53.84% were women, 60.92% were over 45 years old, 82.01% were born in mainland France from parents born in mainland France, and 59.38% completed high school. COVID-19-like symptoms were defined as participant report of a sudden loss of taste/smell or fever alongside cough, shortness of breath, or chest oppression, between February and November 2020. Symptoms were self-reported at baseline in May 2020 and at the first follow-up in Autumn 2020. Serology-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020 was derived from Spike protein ELISA test screening in dried-blood-spot samples. Samples were collected from October 2020 to March 2021, with 94.4% collected in 2020. Suicidal ideation since December 2020 was self-reported at the second follow-up in Summer 2021. Associations of self-reported COVID-19-like symptoms and serology-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020 with suicidal ideation in 2021 were ascertained using modified Poisson regression models, weighted by inverse probability weights computed from propensity scores. Among the 52,050 participants, 1.68% [1.54% to 1.82%] reported suicidal ideation in 2021, 9.57% [9.24% to 9.90%] had a serology-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020, and 13.23% [12.86% to 13.61%] reported COVID-19-like symptoms in 2020. Self-reported COVID-19-like symptoms in 2020 were associated with higher risks of later suicidal ideation in 2021 (Relative Risk.sub.ipw [95% CI] = 1.43 [1.20 to 1.69]), while serology-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020 was not (RR.sub.ipw = 0.89 [0.70 to 1.13]). Limitations of this study include the use of a single question to assess suicidal ideation, the use of self-reported history of mental health disorders, and limited generalizability due to attrition bias. Conclusions Self-reported COVID-19-like symptoms in 2020, but not serology-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020, were associated with a higher risk of subsequent suicidal ideation in 2021. The exact role of SARS-CoV-2 infection with respect to suicide risk has yet to be clarified. Including mental health resources in COVID-19-related settings could encourage symptomatic individuals to care for their mental health and limit suicidal ideation to emerge or worsen., Author(s): Camille Davisse-Paturet 1,*, Massimiliano Orri 2, Stéphane Legleye 1,3, Aline-Marie Florence 4, Jean-Baptiste Hazo 5, Josiane Warszawski 6, Bruno Falissard 1, Marie-Claude Geoffroy 2,7, Maria Melchior 4, Alexandra Rouquette [...]

Background: Reliability of nonprobability online volunteer panels for epidemiological purposes has rarely been studied. Objectives: To assess the quality of a questionnaire on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) administered in a nonprobability Web panel and in a random telephone survey (n = 8,992; n = 8,437, age 16-49 years). Especially, we were interested in the possible difference in the association of sociodemographic variables and some outcome variables in the two surveys that are in the reliability of analytical epidemiological studies conducted in such panels. Methods: Interventions to increase response rate were used in both surveys (four e-mail reminders, high number of call attempts and callbacks to refusals). Both were calibrated on the census population. Sociodemographic composition, effects of reminders, and prevalence were compared to their telephone counterpart. In addition, the associations of sociodemographic and sexual behaviors were compared in the two samples in multivariate logistic regressions. Results: The online survey had a lower response rate (20.0 percent vs. 44.8 percent) and a more distorted sociodemographic structure although the reminders improved the representativeness as did the analogous interventions on the telephone survey. Prevalences of SRH variables were similar for the common behaviors but higher online for the stigmatized behaviors, depending on gender. Overall, 29 percent of the 63 interactions studied were significant for males and 11 percent for women, although opposite effects of sociodemographic variables were rare (5 percent of the 171 tested for each gender). Conclusion: Nonprobability online panels are to be used with caution to monitor SRH and conduct analytical epidemiological studies, especially among men. [This paper was written with the FECOND research Team.]

The 2013 FECOND (Fertility, Contraception, and Sexual Dysfunction) probability telephone survey aims to monitor sexual health behaviors among fifteen to forty-nine year olds in France. We conducted a random experiment to compare a classic telephone survey (group T, n  = 3,846 respondents) with two Internet-telephone mixed-mode protocols: a sequential Internet-telephone protocol (group S, n  = 762, among which there were 462 Internet questionnaires), and a concurrent protocol (group C, n  = 1,165, among which there were 208 Internet questionnaires). We compare telephone (T), sequential (S), and concurrent (C) samples on cooperation rates, break-off, and item nonresponse rates, sociodemographic characteristics, health behaviors, and seven sexual health behaviors and personal opinions questions. Reports on the most sensitive behaviors were expected to be more truthful and more prevalent on the Internet—and thus in the mixed-mode samples—than in the telephone sample. The cooperation rate (i.e. the response rate among the possible respondents selected during the initial telephone call) was higher in the classic telephone survey than in the sequential and concurrent mixed-mode protocols (88 percent for T versus 77 percent for S and 55 percent for C), where break-off and item nonresponse rates were also higher. Despite these lower response rates, mixed-mode samples showed better representativeness: their marginal distribution of sociodemographic characteristics was closer to that of the 2013 census, and they had higher R-indicators. A causal estimation of the measurement effect resulting from Internet administration found higher prevalence of three out of the seven sexual health behaviors and personal opinions in the sequential protocol compared to the classic telephone group; a similar pattern was found in the concurrent protocol. In addition, the variance of the weights of the mixed-mode protocols is lower, especially for the sequential design. Sequential telephone-Internet mixed-mode protocols nested in a probability telephone survey may be a good way to improve survey research on sensitive behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Among European countries, France is particularly concerned by adolescent tobacco smoking, especially in disadvantaged socio‐economic backgrounds (SES). We measured the respective contributions of parental smoking and family living arrangement to social disparities in smoking during adolescence. Design: Secondary analysis of survey data. Setting: A cross‐sectional nation‐wide exhaustive 12‐day survey in March 2017 of French youth aged 17–18.5 years participating in the national mandatory civic information day. Participants: A total of 13 314 adolescents answering a pen‐and‐paper questionnaire about their own tobacco consumption and the smoking of their parents. Measurements Risk ratios (RRs) were computed using modified Poisson regressions, and population‐attributable fraction (PAF) was used as a measure of the explanatory roles of the different factors as mediators of SES. Findings Adolescents living within very privileged and privileged SES were significantly less likely to report daily tobacco smoking (20.4 and 22.7%, respectively) than those within modest and disadvantaged ones (26.0 and 28.6%, respectively). Parental smoking and family living arrangement independently explained the smoking inequalities among adolescents. After adjusting for schooling factors, the risks associated with parental smoking ranged between RR = 1.64 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.50–1.79] when the father only smoked and RR = 2.17 (95% CI = 1.99–2.36) when both parents smoked, compared with non‐smoking parents; the risk associated with living in a non‐intact family was 1.35 (95% CI = 1.26–1.43) and that of living outside the parental home was 1.20 (95% CI = 1.10–1.30). Apprentices and adolescents out of school had higher risks than those at school (RR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.68–1.98) and RR = 2.10, 95% CI = 1.92–2.29). The contribution of parental smoking to adolescent smoking (PAF = 32%) was greater than that of SES (PAF = 9%), family living arrangement (PAF = 17%) or schooling factors (14%). The share of SES decreased from 18 to 9% when considering these mediating factors. Conclusion: In France, parental smoking appears to be the factor that most influences adolescent smoking, followed by family living arrangement; the role of family socio‐economic status is small in comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]