Patterns of Social Connection Among Older Adults in England.

Importance: Issues related to social connection are increasingly recognized as a global public health priority. However, there is a lack of a holistic understanding of social connection and its health impacts given that most empirical research focuses on a single or few individual concepts of social connection.

Objective: To explore patterns of social connection and their associations with health and well-being outcomes.

A qualitative exploration of active ingredients and mechanisms of action of an online singing programme with mothers experiencing postnatal depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: SHAPER-PNDO study.

Background: Social distancing restrictions and the suspension of in-person treatment and support contributed to an increase in postnatal depression during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Creative health interventions can help to alleviate anxiety and depression, with studies showing that singing is particularly effective for supporting the mental health of new mothers. We adapted an in-person group singing programme (Breathe Melodies for Mums (M4M)) to online delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic to support the mental health of new mothers, and, in a feasibility study, found improvements in postnatal depression (PND) symptoms at 6-month follow up.

Art for health's sake or health for art's sake: Disentangling the bidirectional relationships between arts engagement and mental health.

Increasing evidence links arts engagement with mental health, but the directionality of the link remains unclear. Applying a novel approach to causal inference, we used nonrecursive instrumental variable models to analyze two waves of data from the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study ( = 17,927). Our findings reveal bidirectional causal relationships between arts engagement (arts participation, cultural attendance, and heritage visits) and mental health (GHQ-12 mental distress and SF-12 Mental Component Summary mental well-being).

Protein signatures associated with loneliness and social isolation: Plasma proteome analyses in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, with causal evidence from Mendelian randomization.

Introduction: The understanding of biological pathways related to loneliness and social isolation remains incomplete. Cutting-edge population-based proteomics offers opportunities to uncover novel biological pathways linked to social deficits.

Methods: This study employed a proteome-wide and data-driven approach to estimate the cross-sectional associations between objective measures of social connections (i.

A fRAmework of the DetermInants of Arts aNd Cultural Engagement (RADIANCE): integrated insights from ecological, behavioural and complex adaptive systems theories.

Background: Arts and cultural engagement (ACEng) is ubiquitous across every human culture since palaeolithic times, but in contemporary society, ACEng is unevenly distributed, demographically, socio-economically, geographically and politically. But what are the "determinants" of ACEng (i.e.

Lessons from COVID-19 for behavioural and communication interventions to enhance vaccine uptake.

The Covid pandemic has yielded new insights into psychological vaccine acceptance factors. This knowledge serves as a basis for behavioral and communication interventions that can increase vaccination readiness for other diseases.

Protein signatures associated with loneliness and social isolation: plasma proteome analyses in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, with causal evidence from Mendelian randomization.

The understanding of biological pathways related to loneliness and social isolation remains incomplete. Cutting-edge population-based proteomics offers opportunities to uncover novel biological pathways linked to social deficits. This study employed a proteome-wide and data-driven approach to estimate the cross-sectional associations between objective measures of social connections (i.

Participatory and Receptive Arts Engagement in Older Adults: Associations with Cognition Over a Seven-Year Period.

There is growing evidence for the impact of arts engagement on later life cognition. However, confounding by socioeconomic factors may have led to an overestimation of this association. We analyzed data from 4,344 older adults in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.

The Changing Relationship Between Hobby Engagement and Substance Use in Young People: Latent Growth Modelling of the Add Health Cohort.

Cross-sectional and some longitudinal evidence suggests doing hobbies can reduce substance use, but findings have been inconsistent, and whether associations differ across adolescence remains unclear. This study included 7454 Add Health participants (50% female, 77% White, age mean=14.95 and SD = 1.

Social prescribing for individuals with mental health problems: An ethnographic study exploring the mechanisms of action through which community groups support psychosocial well-being.

Background: Social prescribing involves connecting individuals to community groups and activities, often to support their mental health and well-being. It has received increasing support in recent years across the NHS. There is a strong evidence base for the benefits of different types of community activities, including exercise groups, arts groups and nature interventions, on mental health outcomes, however, less is known about these groups impact mental health and well-being.

The impact of UK social distancing guidance on the ability to access support and the health and wellbeing of disabled people during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative exploration.

Background: The sudden introduction of social distancing measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant lifestyle changes for the UK population. People living with physical disabilities were deemed to be at greater risk of complications following COVID-19 infection and were subjected to stricter social distancing guidelines. But gaps remain in our understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions affected the ability to access support, health and wellbeing of people with physical disabilities.

A cross-sectional investigation into the role of intersectionality as a moderator of the relation between youth adversity and adolescent depression/anxiety symptoms in the community.

Background: Adolescents exposed to adversity show higher levels of depression and anxiety, with the strongest links seen in socially/societally disadvantaged individuals (e.g., females, low socioeconomic status [SES]), as well as neurodivergent individuals.

Singing for lung health in COPD: a multicentre randomised controlled trial of online delivery.

Background: Singing for lung health (SLH) is an arts-based breathing control and movement intervention for people with long-term respiratory conditions, intended to improve symptoms and quality of life. Online, remotely delivered programmes might improve accessibility; however, no previous studies have assessed the effectiveness of this approach.

Methods: We conducted an assessor-blind randomised controlled trial comparing the impact of 12 weeks of once-weekly online SLH sessions against usual care on health-related quality of life, assessed using the RAND 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) Mental Health Composite (MHC) and Physical Health Composite (PHC) scores.

Youth adversity and trajectories of depression/anxiety symptoms in adolescence in the context of intersectionality in the United Kingdom.

Background: Youth adversity is associated with persistence of depression and anxiety symptoms. This association may be greater for disadvantaged societal groups (such as females) compared with advantaged groups (e.g.

The reciprocal associations between social deficits, social engagement, and inflammation: Longitudinal evidence comparing venous blood samples and dried blood spots and mapping the modifying role of phenotypic and genotypic depression.

Background: Social psychoneuroimmunology suggests an interplay between social deficits (loneliness and isolation) and chronic inflammation, but the direction of these relationships remains unclear. We estimated the reciprocal associations of social deficits and social engagement with levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), compared the consistency of the findings depending on the biological sampling method used, and examined the modifying role of phenotypic and genotypic depression.

Methods: We used longitudinal nationally representative data from the US (Health and Retirement Study, 3 waves, 2006-16) and England (English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, 4 waves, 2004-18).

Life-course social participation and physical activity in midlife: longitudinal associations in the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70).

A hypothesized benefit of social participation is that it encourages people to be more physically active. However, limited evidence exists on the association between social participation over the life-course and physical activity in midlife. We sought to apply a life-course framework to examine the association of social participation and device measured physical activity in midlife in the UK.

Longitudinal associations between loneliness, social isolation, and healthcare utilisation trajectories: a latent growth curve analysis.

Purpose: To explore the longitudinal associations between eight-year trajectories of loneliness, social isolation and healthcare utilisation (i.e. inpatient, outpatient, and nursing home care) in US older adults.

Leisure engagement in older age is related to objective and subjective experiences of aging.

Leisure engagement has potential to slow health and functional decline in older age. However, the benefits of different leisure domains for different aspects of aging remains unclear. In 8771 older adults from the Health and Retirement Study (a longitudinal panel study), we measured engagement in physical, creative, cognitive, and community activities.

Variation in symptoms of common mental disorders in the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic: longitudinal cohort study.

Background: A significant rise in mental health disorders was expected during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, referrals to mental health services dropped for several months before rising to pre-pandemic levels.

Aims: To identify trajectories of incidence and risk factors for common mental disorders among the general population during 14 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, to inform potential mental health service needs.

Implementing a singing-based intervention for postpartum depression in Denmark and Romania: a brief research report.

Background: There is a burgeoning evidence-base that demonstrates the positive impact of the arts on our health, wellbeing, and health behaviors. However, very few studies have focused on how to optimize the implementation of these activities for different sociocultural contexts. Due to the increasing interest in scaling effective arts interventions as part of public health strategies, and in line with global goals of achieving health equity, this is an essential focus.

The experiences and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young carers: practice implications and planning for future health emergencies.

Background: Young carers are children or young people aged up to 25 years old who undertake unpaid caring responsibilities for a friend or family member. Young carers faced significant challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. We explored the impact of the pandemic and associated restrictions on mental health, wellbeing and access to support in young carers in the United Kingdom (UK) to understand how to improve services, as well as support this population in future health emergencies.

Leisure Engagement and Self-Perceptions of Aging: Longitudinal Analysis of Concurrent and Lagged Relationships.

Objectives: There is evidence to suggest that leisure engagement may influence self-perceptions of aging, but disentangling potential bidirectionality in this relationship is challenging. A better understanding of the directionality of this association is essential for designing more effective interventions to promote healthy aging. We, therefore, tested concurrent effects and lagged effects in both directions for a univariate measure of leisure engagement as well as specific domains of community, cognitive, creative, and physical activities.