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Background. The extended recession and stagnant housing market in the 1990s following the boom of the late 1980s resulted in more than half a million housing repossessions. This study explores the impact of unsustainable housing commitments on psychological well-being. We test the hypotheses that housing payment problems and housing arrears have adverse impacts on heads of households' psychological well-being over and above those caused by financial hardship more generally.Method. Data came from the British Household Panel Survey 1991-2003 and the samples for analysis consist of: (1) 5651 male head of households producing 26618 person-year observations, and (2) 2534 female head of households producing 9091 person-year observations. Summary statistics and multivariate, fixed effects regression models are used. Mental health was measured by the 12-item General Health Questionnaire.Results. For male heads of households housing payment problems and entering arrears have significant detrimental effects on mental well-being and for female heads of households longer-term housing payment problems and arrears have significant detrimental effects on mental well-being. The sizes of these effects are in addition to and larger in magnitude than those associated with financial hardship more generally. The net effects appear to be relatively stable over the time of the panel data.Conclusions. This study provides evidence that housing payment problems have independent psychological costs over and above those associated with general financial hardship. The magnitude of the effect is similar to that shown for marital breakdown and job loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. A considerable body of research has established that transitions out of marriage are generally deleterious for mental health and some have examined transitions out of cohabitation. In this study we depart from these established areas to investigate the effects of poor mental health on the duration and outcome of cohabitations and on the time to, and likelihood of, repartnering after both cohabitation and marriage.Method. Samples came from the British Household Panel Survey, 1991-2001. These were: (1) 447 cohabiting spells; (2) 5571 paired person-years during cohabitation; (3) 508 spells after cohabitation; (4) 1197 person-year observations within those spells; (5) 869 spells after marriage; and (6) 2736 person-year observations within those spells. Life tables, log-rank tests, multinomial logit and proportional hazard models were used. Mental health was measured by the 12-item General Health Questionnaire.Results. Poor mental health increased the risk of dissolving a cohabiting union for both men and women. Poor mental health reduced the risk of repartnering after a cohabiting union but had no effect on the risk of repartnering after a marriage. Other factors such as past marital status, age and parental status also had significant effects.Conclusions. This study provides evidence that poor mental health during a cohabiting union increases the chances of that union dissolving instead of turning into marriage and poorer mental health immediately after a transition out of a cohabiting union is associated with reduced chances of repartnering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is little information on youth gambling in Ghana even though there is an unprecedented emergence of various types of gambling and gambling venues throughout the country. The aim of this cross-sectional exploratory study was to examine the role of perceived social difficulties and perceived protective social factors in participation and attitudes of Ghanaian youth towards gambling using data from a school-based survey (n = 770)., Methods: Participants completed measures on perceived social difficulties, perceived protective social factors, attitudes towards gambling and participation in four types of gambling., Results: Sports betting was the most common form of gambling. There were significant differences in gambling participation with males gambling more than females. Youth who reported more perceived social difficulties from family and friends had a more positive attitude and a negative attitude towards gambling, respectively. Youth who reported higher protective social factors from family and teachers were less likely to have a negative attitude towards gambling. In all situations, high frequency gambling resulted in a more positive attitude towards gambling., Conclusion: Perceived social difficulties influences Ghanaian youths to have a positive attitude towards gambling, however, protective social factors from family and teachers may help youth to have a negative attitude towards gambling, gamble less and consequently achieve academic success., (©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

Purpose: The spiritual dimension of a patient's life is an important factor that may mediate detrimental impacts on mental health. The lack of research investigating spiritual well-being, religiosity, and mental health among Jordanian hemodialysis patients encouraged this research. This study explored levels of spiritual well-being and its associations with depression, anxiety, and stress., Design: A quantitative, cross-sectional correlational study., Method: A sample of 218 Jordanian Muslim hemodialysis patients completed a structured, self-administered questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear multivariate regression models., Findings: The hemodialysis patients had, on average, relatively low levels of spiritual well-being, moderate depression, severe anxiety, and mild to moderate stress. The results of the regression models indicated that aspects of spiritual well-being were negatively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress, but only existential well-being consistently retained significant associations after controlling for religious well-being, religiosity, and sociodemographic variables., Conclusions: Greater spiritual and existential well-being of Jordanian hemodialysis patients were significantly associated with less depression, anxiety, and stress. It appears that these patients use religious and spiritual beliefs and practices as coping mechanisms to overcome their depression, anxiety, and stress. The implications for holistic clinical practice are explored.

Living with housing problems increases the risk of mental ill health. Housing problems tend to persist over time but little is known about the mental health consequences of living with persistent housing problems. We investigated if persistence of poor housing affects mental health over and above the effect of current housing conditions. We used data from 13 annual waves of the British Household Panel Survey (1996 to 2008) (81,745 person/year observations from 16,234 individuals) and measured the persistence of housing problems by the number of years in the previous four that a household experienced housing problems. OLS regression models and lagged-change regression models were used to estimate the effects of past and current housing conditions on mental health, as measured by the General Health Questionnaire. Interaction terms tested if tenure type modified the impact of persistent poor housing on mental health. In fully adjusted models, mental health worsened as the persistence of housing problems increased. Adjustment for current housing conditions attenuated, but did not explain, the findings. Tenure type moderated the effects of persistent poor housing on mental health, suggesting that those who own their homes outright and those who live in social housing are most negatively affected. Persistence of poor housing was predictive of worse mental health, irrespective of current housing conditions, which added to the weight of evidence that demonstrates that living in poor quality housing for extended periods of time has negative consequences for mental health., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Little is known about the role of age and gender in the association between psychosomatic symptoms and common mental illness in Ghanaian adolescents. This cross-sectional study examined age and gender as moderators between psychosomatic symptoms and common mental illness using data from a school-based survey ( N = 770). Males reported higher psychosomatic symptoms and common mental illness, while younger adolescents reported higher common mental illness only. Psychosomatic symptoms were positively associated with common mental illness, but age and gender did not moderate this association. Interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence rate in psychosomatic symptoms are crucial in decreasing common mental illness in Ghanaian adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to explore associations of spiritual well-being, spiritual perspective, and religiosity with self-rated health in a convenience sample of 340 adult Jordanian Arab Christians. Data were collected through church and community groups. Results indicated that spiritual well-being and religiosity were positively associated with self-rated health, but in the final regression model only spiritual well-being retained a significant association after controlling for the other spiritual and religious measures. In conclusion, spirituality and religiosity are important to Jordanian Arab Christians' health and well-being, and the implications for nursing practice are explored., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

Aims and Objectives: This study develops a new instrument, the Spiritual Care Intervention-Provision Scale, and assesses its psychometric properties in an Arab Muslim nurse sample. The Spiritual Care Intervention-Provision Scale was developed to measure the frequency with which nurses provided aspects of spiritual care., Background: Most of the available spiritual care instruments were developed in the West and reflect a predominantly Christian tradition. A review of the literature on spiritual care in nursing revealed that no instrument exists for measuring spiritual care interventions provided by nurses to Arab Muslim patients., Design: A cross-sectional descriptive and correlational design., Methods: Following an extensive literature search, review by an expert panel and a pilot study which included patients' views regarding aspects of spiritual care provided by nurses, the final version of the Spiritual Care Intervention-Provision Scale was tested in a convenience sample of 360 Jordanian Arab Muslim nurses. Correlational and factor analysis were used., Results: The internal consistency of the Spiritual Care Intervention-Provision Scale was high, with α coefficient of 0·85. The exploratory factor analysis supported a two-factor structure for the Spiritual Care Intervention-Provision Scale as hypothesised. A significant positive correlation between the Spiritual Care Intervention-Provision Scale and religiosity was in the expected direction though small in magnitude., Conclusions: This study initiates the development of an instrument for the provision of spiritual care intervention by nurses that balances the religious and existential dimensions of spirituality. The Spiritual Care Intervention-Provision Scale exhibited acceptable evidence of internal consistency and validity among Jordanian Arab Muslim nurses. Further work was suggested to firmly establish all aspects of this new scale., Relevance to Clinical Practice: This culturally specific instrument contributes to the evaluation of the provision of spiritual care by Jordanian Muslim nurses to their patients, to guide them in providing a comprehensive and appropriate spiritual care interventions and to examine the effect of spiritual care on various aspects of patient's quality of life., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: People in prison have a higher burden of blood-borne virus (BBV) infection than the general population, and prisons present an opportunity to test for BBVs in high-risk, underserved groups. Changes to the BBV testing policies in English prisons have recently been piloted. This review will enable existing evidence to inform policy revisions. We describe components of routine HIV, hepatitis B and C virus testing policies in prisons and quantify testing acceptance, coverage, result notification and diagnosis., Methods: We searched five databases for studies of both opt-in (testing offered to all and the individual chooses to have the test or not) and opt-out (the individual is informed the test will be performed unless they actively refuse) prison BBV testing policies., Results: Forty-four studies published between 1989 and 2013 met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 82% were conducted in the USA, 91% included HIV testing and most tested at the time of incarceration. HIV testing acceptance rates ranged from 22 to 98% and testing coverage from 3 to 90%. Mixed results were found for equity in uptake. Six studies reported reasons for declining a test including recent testing and fear., Conclusions: While the quality of evidence is mixed, this review suggests that reasonable rates of uptake can be achieved with opt-in and, even better, with opt-out HIV testing policies. Little evidence was found relating to hepatitis testing. Policies need to specify exclusion criteria and consider consent processes, type of test and timing of the testing offer to balance acceptability, competence and availability of individuals., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.)

Purpose: To examine the role of perceived social support and parental education on physical activity and eating behaviour of Ghanaian adolescents., Methods: Seven hundred and seventy Senior High School students (504 boys and 266 girls) between the ages of 14-21 years participated by completing questionnaires on perceived social support, physical activity and eating behaviour. The highest education attained by either parent or guardian was also obtained. Multivariate analysis of covariance was the main statistical test used to analyse the data., Results: The results showed significant gender differences in physical activity and eating behaviour combined, with boys more likely to engage in physical activity than girls, and girls also more likely to engage in healthy eating behaviour than boys, albeit the effect was not statistically significant. While perceived social support had a significant positive effect on eating behaviour and physical activity, parental education had a significant effect only on eating behaviour but not physical activity., Conclusion: Perceived social support from family coupled with parental education provides more opportunities for adolescents to engage in healthy eating behaviour. Also, parents' educational attainment alone does not necessarily guarantee that adolescents will engage in physical activity; providing the needed social support and conducive home environment is more likely to induce physical activity behaviours. Finally, physical activity and eating behaviour should not be construed as alternative health behaviours as suggested by gender differentials in these health behaviours.

Purpose: There is little information about the reliability and validity of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in Ghana. This study sought to examine the reliability and factor structure of the GHQ-12 in Ghanaian adolescents., Methods: High school students (N = 770) completed the GHQ-12 and the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ). Internal consistency, convergent validity and exploratory factor analysis were used., Results: A two factor structure, each with six items, was extracted. The total GHQ-12 had acceptable internal consistency and a generally high correlation with the ASQ subscales., Conclusion: The GHQ-12 can be used in Ghanaian samples, but more research is needed to confirm its factor structure.

The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the role psychosocial factors play in promoting the health and academic success of adolescents. A total of 770 adolescent boys and girls in Senior High Schools were randomly selected to complete a self-report questionnaire. School reported latest terminal examination grades were used as the measure of academic success. Structural equation modelling indicated a relatively good fit to the posteriori model with four of the hypothesised paths fully supported and two partially supported. Perceived social support was negatively related to stress and predictive of health and wellbeing but not academic success. Stress was predictive of health but not academic success. Finally, health and wellbeing was able to predict academic success. These findings have policy implications regarding efforts aimed at promoting the health and wellbeing as well as the academic success of adolescents in Ghana., (Copyright © 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality for which there are many modifiable risk factors. This study investigated changes in social inequalities of cardiovascular disease risk factors amongst men aged 20-64 years in England between 1998 and 2006., Study Design: Repeated cross-sectional study., Methods: Health Survey for England data from 1998, 2003 and 2006 were used. The following physiological risk factors were considered: body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, blood pressure and total serum cholesterol level. The behavioural risk factors considered were limited physical exercise, smoking status and level of social support. The National Statistics Socio-economic Classification was used to measure socio-economic position. An index of inequality for each risk factor was calculated, and change in inequality over time was assessed by t-tests., Results: Significant cross-sectional inequality was found for waist-to-hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, smoking, limited physical exercise and social support at one or more time points. Between 1998 and 2006, there was a significant increase in inequality for smoking status [relative index of inequality (RII) 4.06-6.65 (t-test: 2.88, P = 0.003)] and limited physical exercise [RII 1.06-1.74 (t-test: 2.92, P = 0.003)]; these increases in inequality over time were due to improvements for those in higher socio-economic classes., Conclusions: Policies have not had the desired impact of reducing inequalities. Although the long-term effects of these policies might not yet be apparent, available evidence needs to be used to monitor impact and direct policy change to address the possibility of widening inequalities., (Copyright © 2012 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The numbers of housing repossessions and evictions in the UK are increasing. This study investigates whether repossessions and evictions increase the likelihood of common mental illness and examine patterns over time., Methods: Data come from the core longitudinal panel of the British Household Panel Survey (N = 12,390) of adults living in private households. Multivariate fixed-effects regression models are used with weighted data. Common mental illness is measured by the 12-item General Health Questionnaire., Results: Housing repossession is associated with an increased risk of common mental illness (adjusted odds ratio 1.61, 95% confidence interval 1.10 to 2.36), whereas eviction from rented property shows no increased risk (0.97, 0.76 to 1.20). The pattern over time shows a clear increase in the years before repossession., Conclusions: Repossession of owned property, although a relatively rare event in the panel, significantly increases the risk of common mental illness immediately after the event. In contrast, eviction from rented property is a more common event but is not associated with an increased risk of common mental illness. This difference in association may be due to losing the security of owned housing and the often transitory nature of the rented housing population.

Objective: To examine the social determinants of inequalities in health in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the post-conflict period, and to test if the relative effects vary across the two entities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska., Study Design: Cross-sectional data come from the first wave of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Household Panel Study conducted in 2001, which collected data from 7482 respondents aged 17 years and older based on over 3000 households., Methods: Distributions and odds ratios for physical limitations and poor mental well-being were calculated over a number of known social determinants. Multivariate logistic regression and t-tests were used to compare risks across entities within the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina., Results: The prevalence of poor mental well-being and physical limitations was significantly higher in the Republika Srpska. Significant differences in poor mental well-being and physical limitations were observed across most determinants within each entity, but only a few of these relative effects differed between entities., Conclusions: Efforts to tackle absolute differences in poor health between the entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina should be pursued, along with reducing social inequalities.

Objectives: To examine the extent of socio-economic inequalities in health in the London Borough of Newham and to compare them with those in the UK as a whole., Study Design: Cross-sectional, individual-level observational study with data on socio-economic and health measures from wave one of the Newham Household Panel Survey (n=1723) and wave 11 of the British Household Panel Survey (n=8444)., Methods: Age-standardized comparison of the social distribution, by household social class, education, housing conditions and neighbourhood problems, of six indicators of health and service utilization. Relative index of inequality is used to compare magnitude of inequality across the samples., Results: Age-standardized prevalence ratios for most health and service use indicators indicated that Newham has poorer health and higher utilization compared with the UK as a whole. Significant health inequalities were associated with socio-economic measures in both Newham and Britain, but few significant differences in the relative effects between the two., Conclusions: Although Newham has higher prevalence of poor health and high service use, the relative effects of socio-economic inequalities are similar to those in Britain as a whole.

Objective: To examine differences between single and married mothers in the 12-month prevalence of psychiatric disorders., Methods: The analysis uses data from the National Comorbidity Survey, collected in 1992-1993, and focuses on women aged 15 to 55 years with children (n=1346). Psychiatric disorders are assessed with the University of Michigan Composite International Diagnostic Interview, a survey instrument based on DSM-III-R criteria., Results: Compared with married mothers, previously married mothers have elevated rates of disorders. Prevalences among single mothers who were never married are similar to those among married mothers, but they are generally lower than prevalences among mothers who experience a marital disruption., Conclusions: These results indicate that marital separation and divorce may be markers for elevated risk for psychiatric disorder among women with children. It is important to consider the impact of marital history on the relation between family structure and psychiatric outcomes.

The increasing role for chosen friends is a key element in current debates on individualization and the transformation of intimacy. This paper describes the changes in friendship choices over time and demonstrates how life events subsequently impact on those choices. We primarily distinguish between kin and non-kin nominations of friends and how these may be related to the social and economic turbulence inherent in late modernity. Analyses of data from ten years of the British Household Panel Survey showed that kin nominations still form a significant proportion of all friends but increasingly so with age and over time as people age. Life events, such as divorce or death of a partner, have large effects on the likelihood of changes in friendship choices as did gender, age, marital status and social class. We frame these results in a discussion of the saliency and nature of friendship at stages of the life course and conclude that the case for a general secular shift to choosing non-kin friendships rather than kin-based friendship is not demonstrated.

Background: The concept of comorbid mental health problems and substance misuse has gained prominence in the last two decades, due in part to the closure of large psychiatric hospitals and to the increasing prevalence of drug use in the community. This client group has a dual requirement for both medical and social care needs and is at risk for social exclusion., Methods: A retrospective matched case-control study to examine aspects of social exclusion between service users who have comorbid diagnoses and those with a single diagnosis. Samples were drawn from the service users of a mental health Trust in the South-East of England, from both Adult Mental Health (n = 400) and Drug and Alcohol services (n = 190). Data were collected from Care Programme Approach assessment forms and medical records. McNemar's chi(2) and odds ratios via a conditional logit regression model are used to test for differences in the social exclusion indicators., Results: There were significant differences in social exclusion between the comorbid and singly diagnosed clients of the Adult Mental Health service, but differences were less pronounced between the comorbid and singly diagnosed clients of the specialist Drug and Alcohol service., Conclusions: Recent Government policy advocates treating comorbid clients within mainstream mental health services. Health care workers need to recognise the likelihood of high levels of social exclusion among clients with comorbid problems.

Most research identifies marital disruption as a precursor for poor mental health but is generally unable to discount the potential selection effect of poor mental health leading to marital disruption. We use data from nine annual waves of the British Household Panel Survey to examine social selection and social causation as competing explanations. Mental health is measured using the general health questionnaire. We examine mental health at multiple time points prior to and after a marital transition through separation or divorce and compare this process to those who experience widowhood. All groups transitioning out of marriage have a higher prevalence of poor mental health afterwards but for those separated or divorced, poor mental health also precedes marital disruption, lending support to both social-causation and social-selection processes. The processes both preceding and after the transition to widowhood differ, with increased prevalence of disorder centering around the time surrounding the death itself

Although much of the evidence stresses the stability of dysfunctional behavior throughout the life cycle, other evidence suggests that stability of antisocial behavior is a matter of degree. In this work we determine the degree of stability of such behavior in preadolescence and how this is influenced by age, gender, social structures, and family processes. Also, we explore whether change in the level of antisocial behavior impacts upon other important developmental regimes such as health and educational performance. We use a large, 2 wave, nationally representative sample of preadolescent children, and focus on children 4-9 years of age at wave 1 (n=6,846). We employ a cluster analysis across a series of behavioral variables to determine levels of antisocial behavior and then examine the stability of antisocial behavior over time and identify the precursors and consequences associated with movement into and out of these behavioral clusters. Antisocial behavior is more stable in boys and older children. Structural factors--age of the mother, number of children in the household, and having a single parent--along with family factors--hostile parenting and maternal depression--raise the likelihood of increases in and lower the likelihood of decreases in antisocial behavior, although there are notable differences by gender of the child and initial level of antisocial behavior. Consequences of change in antisocial behavior include scholastic performance, high levels of school mobility, school-parent contacts, and health perceptions. The implications of these findings for prevention and intervention programs are discussed.

Background: Social disadvantage and lack of social support have been identified as important risk factors for the onset and continuance of episodes of common mental illness. This study aimed to identify the social precursors to episodes of and recovery from common mental illness in a large, general population sample over eight yearly intervals., Method: The analytical samples were drawn from those aged > or = 16 in the British Household Panel Survey from 1991 to 1998. The samples were: (1) onset--over 42,000 paired years from 10,204 persons; (2) recovery--over 10,000 paired years from 4878 persons; and (3) 1812 spells with observed onset and recovery. Markov and discrete-time complementary log-log models were used. Common mental illness was measured using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire., Results: Sex, age, changes in marital and employment status, physical health, family care and social support were all associated with differential rates of onset and recovery. Severity of disorder was associated with less likelihood of recovery and longer time to recovery., Conclusions: The study confirms many previous findings concerning social factors associated with onset and recovery. Low social support acted as expected by increasing chances of onset and decreasing chances of recovery. Other social factors such as separation or divorce, becoming and remaining unemployed, health limiting daily activities, caring for a sick relative all decreased chances of recovery. The chances of observing a change in state (either onset or recovery) decreased with the number of prior observations in that state. Reduced rates of recovery with increasing degrees of severity of distress was expected, but not previously demonstrated.

Objective: Although the gender gap in depression among adults is well established, the age at which this phenomenon appears during adolescence is less clear. To address this, the authors present a cross-national examination of the emergence of the gender gap in depression during adolescence using national longitudinal panel data from Canada, Great Britain, and the United States., Method: The two-wave, 1994-1996 Canadian National Population Health Survey uses a diagnostic measure across a 24-month interval, providing 12-month prevalence rates of major depressive disorder. The British Youth Panel measures depressive symptomatology across five annual waves beginning in 1995. The two-wave, 1995-1996 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health uses a measure of depressive symptomatology across a 12-month interval., Results: Females have significantly higher rates of depression for each sample overall. When samples are decomposed by age, the gender gap in depression consistently emerges by age 14 across all three national samples, irrespective of the measure used or whether categorical cutoffs or untransformed scale scores are used to assess depressive symptomatology., Conclusions: There is a consistent pattern in the onset of the gender gap in depression at age 14 across all three countries and measures. This consistency provides important etiologic clues concerning underlying causes of depression and identifies at what age diagnosis, treatment, and intervention strategies should be directed.

Objectives: In this study we examine the factors that are associated with adverse birth outcomes using a representative national sample. In our analysis we take into account factors which are related to the mother's behaviour during pregnancy and also consider the socio-economic circumstances of the family., Methods: A series of logistic regression models are used to determine the increased risks of low birth weight, preterm, and small for gestational age births associated with maternal smoking, alcohol consumption and high blood pressure in relation to socio-economic factors, such as family dysfunction, social support, income adequacy, age, and education., Results: All socio-economic factors showed gradients of maternal smoking during pregnancy while only mother's education and socio-economic status demonstrated gradients of alcohol use and high blood pressure. Maternal smoking, high blood pressure, higher levels of family dysfunction, and lower levels of mother's education were found to significantly increase the risk of an adverse birth outcome., Conclusions: Interventions designed to mitigate the hazards of adverse birth outcomes should be designed to reflect the gradients of risky prenatal maternal behaviours associated with age, education, income, and family dysfunction.

There has been little research as to the development of self-rated health among adolescents. In this paper, we present a replication of a model of student self-rated health initially proposed by Vingilis, Wade and Adlaf (1998) using data from 1993 Ontario Student Drug Use Survey (n=840). The data for this replication come from the first wave of the US National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (public release data, n=5673). The original model is tested by a series of nested regression equations and path analysis. The results add support for the original model and are notable given that many items used to build the underlying constructs differ across the two datasets., (Copyright 2000 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.)

Background: Previous studies have indicated that the 60-, 30-, 28- and 12-item versions of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) are liable to retest effects, especially when administered multiple times with short intervals. The aim of this study was to examine data from a large general population sample for evidence of any retest effects over 7 yearly applications., Methods: A core panel was drawn from the British Household Panel Survey of those respondents who had completed the GHQ-12 seven times from 1991 to 1997 (n = 4749). The panel results were compared with cross-sectional data from the Health Surveys for England for the same years. The analyses were conducted separately for males and females broken down by age groupings., Results: No evidence of retest effects was found. For males, the panel results did not diverge significantly from the cross-sectional results. For females, the panel results did indicate a divergence from the cross-sectional results, but this was due to the age composition of the panel and differing age trajectories., Conclusion: The GHQ-12 is a consistent and reliable instrument when used in general population samples with relatively long intervals between applications.

Chandola's (2000; Social Science and Medicine, 50(5), 641-649) claims that the UK National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) is not significantly related to mortality are examined. It is shown that this result is likely to be an artefact of the data and methods he uses. Other findings and interpretations in his paper are also critically discussed. In the process, various theoretical, measurement and analysis issues relating to the use of classifications such as the NS-SEC in health research are reviewed.

This study identifies a high-risk subpopulation of children with a markedly antisocial behavioural profile in a national sample of Canadian children. We examine a broad array of environmental and child factors that may be associated with this high-risk group. The data are for 18,135 two to eleven year olds in the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. A cluster analysis was performed to identify children possessing extreme antisocial behaviour across five dimensions: aggression, hyperactivity, prosocial behaviour, emotional difficulties and misconduct. Clusters were compared across structural, family, school, neighbourhood, and health covariates. Membership in this severe cluster is associated with material disadvantage across the range of environmental factors as well as significant deficits in child health and education.