Harvard Pop Center faculty members—Atheendar S Venkataramani, MD, Ichiro Kawachi, MD, PhD, and Alexander C Tsai, MD— along with recent Harvard RWJF Health & Society program alumnus Rourke O’Brien, PhD, and another colleague, are authors of this article in The Lancet Public Health that examines the health consequences of the US Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program.
Working paper explores cognitive health of aging population in Sub-Saharan Africa
Harvard Bell Fellow Collin Payne is lead author on a working paper that investigates the cognitive health of the understudied, growing population of aging adults (+45 years) in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Rising temperatures may lower your spirits, sense of well-being
Former Harvard Pop Center fellows Clemens Noelke, Mark McGovern, and Daniel Corsi, along with Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, are among the authors of a study published in Environmental Research that looked at temperature and emotional well-being in a sample of 1.9 million Americans over a six-year period. Temperatures over 70 degrees were associated with reduced positive emotions, and increased negative emotions and fatigue, particularly among less educated and older Americans.
Community-Based Participatory Research and the mental health of refugees
Theresa Betancourt was lead author and PI on a recent study examining disparities in the mental health of young Somali Bantu and Bhutanese refugees living in Massachusetts. The study used a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach, which, “with its emphasis on respecting and privileging local knowledge and cultural context, [is] well suited for research on eliminating health disparities among marginalized groups.” Results appeared in the American Journal of Public Health.
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.
Lisa Berkman on link between maternity leave & mental health featured in Harvard Chan School’s The Big 3
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s news feature The Big 3 asks Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, PhD, three questions about a recent paper that found that women who received more generous maternity leave benefits with their first born child experienced better mental health that extended in older age. Other co-authors of the study, published in Social Science & Medicine, include Pop Center faculty member and former Bell…
More generous maternity leave benefits linked to better mental health for women into older age
Harvard Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, PhD, is co-author of a study published in Social Science & Medicine that explores the relationship between comprehensive maternity leave benefits and women’s mental health in later life, based on evidence from European countries. The researchers, including Pop Center faculty member and former Bell Fellow Mauricio Avendano, PhD, who is lead author on the study, along with Giacomo Pasini, PhD, who was a visiting…
Rwanda Study Shows Children With HIV-Positive Caregivers Suffer Same Mental Health Problems as HIV-Positive Children
Harvard Pop Center affiliated faculty member Theresa Betancourt, Sc.D., and colleagues have published a study in Pediatrics that suggests that HIV-affected children (those living with an HIV-positive caretaker) could benefit from the same type of policies and programs that have helped HIV-positive children.
Being Socially Well-Integrated Reduces Risk of Suicide
A 24-year prospective cohort study authored by Harvard RWJF Health & Societies Scholar Program Alum Alexander Tsai and Harvard Pop Center affiliated faculty member Ichiro Kawachi indicates that middle-aged men who are well-integrated socially have more than a 2-fold reduced risk for suicide. Being married, having a larger social network, and attending religious services on a regular basis showed the strongest protective associations. This study was published online July 14…
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Older American workers more likely to be depressed after job loss than their European counterparts
In support of a recent study on job loss and depression in the USA and Europe published in the International Journal of Epidemiology and reported by CBS News, Harvard Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman has written a commentary. The HSPH researchers and their colleagues found that older American workers (aged 50-64) are more likely to experience depression after job loss than their European counterparts. In Berkman’s commentary, The hidden and…