Decreasing income inequality and adolescent emotional distress: a population-based case study of Icelandic adolescents 2006-2016.

Objectives: In this study, we aim to test whether changes in community income inequality influence adolescent emotional distress. We take advantage of the unique combination of data and history available in Iceland. This affluent welfare society has experienced extreme shifts in income inequality, allowing us to test whether changes in community income inequality are related to changes in adolescent emotional distress.

Neighborhood income inequality, social capital and emotional distress among adolescents: A population-based study.

Theory holds that income inequality may harm adolescent mental health by reducing social capital within neighborhood communities. However, research on this topic has been very limited. We use multilevel data on 102 public schools and 5958 adolescents in Iceland (15 and 16 years old) to examine whether income inequality within neighborhoods is associated with emotional distress in adolescents.

The neighborhood effects of disrupted family processes on adolescent substance use.

In the current paper, we argue that the neighborhood-level of disrupted family processes (weak social ties to parents and coercive family interaction) should have a contextual effect on adolescent substance use (cigarette smoking, heavy drinking, and lifetime cannabis use), because adolescents living in neighborhoods in which disrupted family processes are prevalent should be more likely to associate with deviant (substance using) peers. We use nested data on 5491 Icelandic adolescents aged 15 and 16 years in 83 neighborhoods to examine the neighborhood-contextual effects of disrupted family processes on adolescent substance use (cigarette smoking, heavy drinking, and lifetime cannabis use), that is, whether neighborhoods in which disrupted family processes are common have more adolescent substance use, even after partialling out the individual-level effects of disrupted family processes on substance use. As predicted, we find that the neighborhood-levels of disrupted family processes have significant, contextual effects on all the indicators of substance use, and that association with substance using peers mediates a part of these contextual effects.

Peer groups and substance use: examining the direct and interactive effect of leisure activity.

This paper explores the relationships among adolescent leisure activities, peer behavior, and substance use. We suggest that peer group interaction can have a differential effect on adolescent deviant behavior depending on the type of leisure pattern adolescents engage in. We analyze data from a representative national sample of Icelandic adolescents, exploring the variations in the use of alcohol and illegal drugs among three different patterns of leisure activity, controlling for parental ties and school commitment.

Lifestyle, harassment at work and self-assessed health of female flight attendants, nurses and teachers.

Health-related lifestyle, harassment at work, and self-assessed health of female flight attendants in comparison to that of female nurses and female primary school teachers were surveyed. A higher proportion of flight attendants than nurses or teachers were smokers, 26% vs. 15% and 17% respectively; and consumed alcohol at least once a week, 40% vs.