Harvard Pop Center research assistant Enryka Christopher is an author of a study published in International Journal of Environmental Health Research that finds that one-third of surveyed home-quarantined adults were suffering from symptoms of anxiety, while over one-half were experiencing symptoms of depression. “These findings warrant the consideration of easily accessible low-intensity mental health interventions during and beyond this pandemic.” Authors: Md. Hasan Al Banna, Abu Sayeed, Satyajit Kundu, Enryka…
Mental health status check of young adults in U.S. during first wave of COVID-19 pandemic
Harvard Pop Center faculty member Cindy H. Liu, PhD, and colleagues have published a study in Psychiatry Research that found that nearly half of the U.S. young adults (18-30) in the study showed high rates of depression and anxiety, and nearly a third showed high levels of PTSD symptoms. Family support was associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety.
To support front-line health care workers we must remove mental health stigma
Dean Michelle Williams and Arianna Huffington have teamed up to write this op-ed in USA Today in light of the tragic suicide by an ER doctor in New York, as well as the ongoing struggles faced by health care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Twelve years after Hurricane Katrina, some still suffering from post-traumatic stress
Researchers affiliated with the RISK project have published a study in Social Science & Medicine that looks at the long-term mental health consequences of Hurricane Katrina. Among the study participants—a group of low-income mothers— one in six was found to still be suffering post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and hurricane-related traumas were found to predict persistent PTSS.
Pregnant women with psychosis (and their babies) may face more challenges during delivery (and after)
Michelle A. Williams, Harvard Pop Center faculty member and dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is an author on a study published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth that takes a rare look at the obstetric and neonatal outcomes for pregnant women with psychosis.
Study finds police killings of unarmed black Americans negatively impact mental health of black Americans in general population
Faculty members Alex Tsai and David R. Williams are among the authors on a study in The Lancet that utilizes novel data on police killings of black Americans to reveal the spillover effects on those living in the same state. Learn more in The New York Times and on the study website.
State laws permitting denial of services to same-sex couples linked to significant increase in mental distress among sexual minority adults
S. Bryn Austin, ScD, is an author on a paper published in JAMA Psychiatry that has found that state laws permitting the denial of services to sexual minorities (currently, 12 states have such laws) was associated with a 46% increase in the proportion of sexual minority (defined as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or not sure of their sexual orientation) adults experiencing mental distress.
Father’s unemployment linked to increased purchases of psychotropic medication by offspring
Mauricio Avendano is an author on a paper that shows that while there was no association between a mother’s unemployment and the purchases of pscyhotropic medication by her offspring, there was a significant increase in these purchases among adolescents whose fathers were unemployed.
A call to unite & act as health care & public health professionals face potential public health crisis if DACA is terminated
Harvard Pop Center faculty member and RWJF Health & Society Scholar program alum Alexander Tsai, MD, PhD, has co-authored an editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine. Read more in Medical Xpress.
Depression and anxiety levels increase with age and vary by gender in aging South African population
Harvard Bell Fellow Collin Payne, PhD, is author on a paper in Demography that takes a rare look at the mental health status of aging adults in Malawi, South Africa, a low-income setting with a high incidence of HIV. Findings suggest that declining levels of physical health with age may be a key driver of the rise in depression and anxiety.