Place Still Matters: Social Vulnerabilities, Place-Level Disadvantage, and Food Insecurity during COVID-19.

COVID-19 variants continue to create public health danger impacting mortality and morbidity across the United States. The spillover effects of COVID-19 on the economy and social institutions pose a significant threat to broader wellbeing, including the food security of millions across the country. We aim to explore whether the context of place matters above and beyond individual and social vulnerabilities for food insecurity.

Examining disparities in the early adoption of Covid-19 personal mitigation across family structures.

The United States' response to the COVID-19 pandemic has relied heavily on personal mitigation behaviors versus centralized governmental prevention strategies, especially early in the virus's outbreak. This study examines how family structure shapes mitigation, focusing on the intersectional effects of gender, marital status, and the presence of children while accounting for differences in worry about infection from the virus. Using data from a national survey of 10,368 United States adults early in the pandemic (March 2020), survey-weighted logistic regression models show important differences in the likelihood of personal mitigation adoption across family structures.

Race and ethnicity, gender, and age on perceived threats and fear of COVID-19: Evidence from two national data sources.

Previous studies find preventative behaviors designed to reduce the number of infections during emerging disease outbreaks are associated with perceived risk of disease susceptibility. Few studies have attempted to identify underlying factors that explain differences in perceptions of risk during an infectious disease outbreak. Drawing from two early waves of American Trends Panel (7,441), as well as a National Science Foundation funded, Qualtrics national panel survey from the early stages of the pandemic (10,368), we test whether race and ethnicity, gender, and age were associated with six perceived threat and fear outcomes related to COVID-19.

Facing new fears during the COVID-19 pandemic: The State of America's mental health.

Objective: COVID-19 is rearranging our society with fear and worry about the novel coronavirus impacting the mental health of Americans. The current study examines the intersection of COVID-19 fear, worries and perceived threat with social vulnerabilities and mental health consequences, namely anxiety and depressive symptomatology.

Methods: Using an online platform, a national sample (n = 10, 368) of U.

Examining the neighborhood-level socioeconomic characteristics associated with fatal overdose by type of drug involved and overdose setting.

Background: Fatal drug overdose in the United States is a public health crisis fueled by increased opioid and polysubstance use. Few studies have compared the neighborhood-level socioeconomic characteristics associated with overdoses of various substance classes and, to our knowledge, no investigation has yet assessed these factors in relation to polysubstance overdoses. Further, no study has determined whether socioeconomic conditions predict other contextually relevant aspects of overdoses such as whether they occur at-home or out-of-home.

Living in the midst of fear: Depressive symptomatology among US adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The current study examines interrelationships between social vulnerability, individual stressors, social and psychological resources, and depressive symptomatology among US adults during the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: Using an online survey platform, a poststratified (by age, gender, race, income, and geography), representative sample (n = 10,368 adults) is used in the analysis.

Results: On average, sample respondents report Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale symptomatology nearly a point higher than the often used cutoff score for clinical caseness (16+); one-third of respondents had CES-D scores higher than 25.

Fear of COVID-19 and the mental health consequences in America.

The intent of this work was to examine the intersection of COVID-19 fear with social vulnerabilities and mental health consequences among adults living in the United States. Data are from a nationally representative sample ( = 10,368) of U.S.

Pharmacies and features of the built environment associated with opioid overdose: A geospatial comparison of rural and urban regions in Alabama, USA.

Background: Elements of the physical environment have been shown to influence health behaviors including drug use and overdose mortality. Throughout the opioid epidemic in the United States, rural regions have been disproportionately affected by opioid overdose. Although the relationship between the urban built environment and opioid overdose has been established, little is known as to how trends may differ in rural areas.

Neighborhood Violent Crime and Academic Performance: A Geospatial Analysis.

Decades of empirical work have confirmed that experiences with violence are associated with a variety of adverse behavioral and mental health as well as academic outcomes for children and adolescents. Yet this research largely has relied on indirect measures of exposure. In this study, we apply geospatial analysis to examine the relation between neighborhood violent crime (via police reports) and academic performance (via school-level standardized test proficiency rates).