Interventions addressing anxiety & depression have long-term mental health benefits for war-affected youth

Harvard Pop Center faculty member Theresa Betancourt, ScD, is lead author on a study published in Pediatrics that assesses the longer-term impact of mental health interventions on war-affected youth in Sierra Leone. Learn more about the study in this Reuters article.

More years of secondary schooling, particularly for women, reduces HIV risk in Botswana

A study published in the Lancet Global Health authored by Harvard Pop Center faculty members Gunther Fink, PhD, and S “Subu” V Subramanian, PhD, and colleagues, suggests that secondary schooling could be a cost-effective HIV prevention measure in HIV-endemic settings. Read more in this Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health press release.

More frequent overnight menopausal hot flashes linked with increased brain scan changes

Rebecca Thurston, PhD, Harvard Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholar program alumna, is lead author on a study published in Menopause that explores a link between brain health (measured by white matter hyperintensities (WMH)) and menopausal hot flashes. The study has received attention in Neurosciencenews.com, Sleep Review, MedicalXpress, University Herald, and HealthNewsDigest.com.

Report warns of high cost of increasing non-communicable diseases in Indonesia

A World Economic Forum report co-authored by Pop Center affiliated faculty member David Bloom, PhD, and PGDA Fellow Mark McGovern, PhD, warn that increasing non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and mental health conditions) could cost the emerging country of Indonesia close to 4.5 trillion dollars from 2012-2030. The report was covered by CNBC and this Wall Street Journal blog.

How did Hurricane Katrina affect short & long-term happiness of survivors?

Former Harvard Pop Center Bell Fellow Rocio Calvo Vilches, PhD,  Pop Center faculty member Mary Waters, PhD,  and Pop Center Yerby Fellow Mariana Arcaya, ScD, co-authored a study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies titled Happily Ever After? Pre-and-Post Disaster Determinants of Happiness Among Survivors of Hurricane Katrina. The study, which compared survivors’ happiness levels pre-disaster to one and four years post-disaster, has received international media attention on fastcoexist.com,…

Single motherhood before age 50 linked to poorer health later in life

Harvard Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, PhD, is lead author on a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health that found that single motherhood before the age of 50 was associated with poorer health in later life. The association was stronger in England, the US, Denmark, and Sweden than in some of the other countries, such as those in Southern Europe, suggesting that social supports (e.g., a…