HIV/AIDS-related expectations and risky sexual behaviour in Malawi

[…] rural Malawi to investigate how risky sexual behaviour may be influenced by individuals’ expectations about survival, and future HIV status, which in turn depend on the perceived impact of HIV/AIDS on survival, expectations about own and partner’s current HIV status, and expectations about HIV transmission rates. Subjective expectations, in particular about mortality risk but […]

Exploring the impact of ‘hostile environment’ policies on psychological distress of ethnic groups in the UK: a differences-in-differences analysis

[…] eras for the White British group. Conclusion: Psychological distress increased in Pakistani and Bangladeshi individuals following the introduction of hostile environment policies. We did not find an impact for Indian, African, or Caribbean groups. This finding underscores the importance of disaggregating analyses by ethnic group to capture the distinct identities and experiences and how […]

Bayesian interrupted time series for evaluating policy change on mental well-being: an application to England’s welfare reform

[…] to social inequalities are also associated with negative mental health outcomes leading to disparities in mental well-being. We propose a Bayesian hierarchical model which can evaluate the impact of policies on population well-being, accounting for spatial/temporal dependencies. Building on an interrupted time series framework, our approach can evaluate how different profiles of individuals are […]

A Bayesian interrupted time series framework for evaluating policy change on mental well-being: an application to England’s welfare reform

[…] to social inequalities are associated with negative mental health outcomes and disparities in mental well-being. We propose a Bayesian hierarchical controlled interrupted time series to evaluate the impact of policies on population well-being whilst accounting for spatial and temporal patterns. Using data from the UKs Household Longitudinal Study, we apply this framework to evaluate […]

Alleviating loneliness during COVID-19: the impact of neighbor cohesion and social connections in England

This paper investigates the role of pre-pandemic levels of social interactions in mitigating the impact of mobility restrictions, implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19, on feelings of loneliness. Using individual-level data from the U.K. Household Longitudinal Study (U.K.HLS) on ’Understanding Society,’ we analyze the relationship between loneliness and both neighborhood social cohesion and […]

Private renting is associated with faster epigenetic ageing

Main findings: 1) Living in a privately rented home is associated with faster biological ageing; 2) The impact of renting in the private sector, as opposed to outright ownership (with no mortgage), was almost double that of being out of work rather than being employed; 3) It was also 50% greater than having been […]

Air pollution reduces the individuals’ life satisfaction through health impairment

The impact of air pollution on individuals’ happiness and life satisfaction (LS), and its relationship to other factors became the focus of recent research. Though, the underlying mechanism of how air pollution impacts LS remains unclear. In this study, we examined the direct and indirect effect of air pollution on individuals’ LS through health […]