Validity of the five-item mental health inventory for screening current mood and anxiety disorders in the general population.

Objectives: The Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) is frequently used as a screener for mood and anxiety disorders. However, few population-based studies have validated it against a diagnostic instrument assessing disorders following current diagnostic criteria.

Methods: Within the third Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS-3), a representative population-based study of adults (N = 6194; age: 18-75 years), the MHI-5 was used to measure general mental ill-health in the past month.

Conceptualizing Vulnerability for Health Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Associated Measures in Utrecht and Zeist: A Concept Map.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated measures have impacted the health of many. Not all population groups are equally vulnerable to such health effects, possibly increasing health inequalities. We performed a group concept mapping procedure to define a common, context-specific understanding of what makes people vulnerable to health effects of the pandemic and the measures.

Factors influencing short-term effectiveness and efficiency of the care provided by Dutch general practice mental health professionals.

Introduction: This study examined whether factors related to general practice mental health professionals (GP-MHPs), that is, characteristics of the professional, the function, and the care provided, were associated with short-term effectiveness and efficiency of the care provided by GP-MHPs to adults in Dutch general practice.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted among 320 adults with anxiety or depressive symptoms who had an intake consultation with GP-MHPs (n = 64). Effectiveness was measured in terms of change in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) 3 months after intake; and efficiency in terms of net monetary benefit (NMB) at 3-month follow-up.

Do conceptualisations of health differ across social strata? A concept mapping study among lay people.

Objectives: The legitimacy of policies that aim at tackling socioeconomic inequalities in health can be challenged if they do not reflect the conceptualisations of health that are valued in all strata. Therefore, this study analyses how different socioeconomic groups formulate their own answers regarding: what does health mean to you?

Design: Concept mapping procedures were performed in three groups that differ in educational level. All procedures followed exactly the same design.

Implementation of a guideline for local health policy making by regional health services: exploring determinants of use by a web survey.

Background: Previous evaluation showed insufficient use of a national guideline for integrated local health policy by Regional Health Services (RHS) in the Netherlands. The guideline focuses on five health topics and includes five checklists to support integrated municipal health policies. This study explores the determinants of guideline use by regional Dutch health professionals.

Towards local implementation of Dutch health policy guidelines: a concept-mapping approach.

To develop a targeted implementation strategy for a municipal health policy guideline, implementation targets of two guideline users [Regional Health Services (RHSs)] and guideline developers of leading national health institutes were made explicit. Therefore, characteristics of successful implementation of the guideline were identified. Differences and similarities in perceptions of these characteristics between RHSs and developers were explored.

Key features of an EU health information system: a concept mapping study.

Background: Despite the acknowledged value of an EU health information system (EU-HISys) and the many achievements in this field, the landscape is still heavily fragmented and incomplete. Through a systematic analysis of the opinions and valuations of public health stakeholders, this study aims to conceptualize key features of an EU-HISys.

Methods: Public health professionals and policymakers were invited to participate in a concept mapping procedure.

Alcohol segment-specific associations between the quality of the parent-child relationship and adolescent alcohol use.

Background: There is much evidence that parents have an influence on the alcohol use of their children. However, in general the relationship is rather weak. A reason for this small association may be due to the fact that adolescents are a heterogeneous group and that, consequently, the association between the quality of the parent-child relationship and alcohol use varies for diverse subgroups, resulting in an overall small effect.

A qualitative exploration of attitudes towards alcohol, and the role of parents and peers of two alcohol-attitude-based segments of the adolescent population.

Background: An earlier study using social marketing and audience segmentation distinguished five segments of Dutch adolescents aged 12-18 years based on their attitudes towards alcohol. The present, qualitative study focuses on two of these five segments ('ordinaries' and 'ordinary sobers') and explores the attitudes of these two segments towards alcohol, and the role of parents and peers in their alcohol use in more detail.

Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in the province of North-Brabant, the Netherlands.

Effectiveness of alcohol prevention interventions based on the principles of social marketing: a systematic review.

Background: Alcohol education aims to increase knowledge on the harm related to alcohol, and to change attitudes and drinking behaviour. However, little (lasting) evidence has been found for alcohol education, in changing alcohol-related attitudes and behaviour. Social marketing uses marketing techniques to achieve a social or healthy goal, and can be used in alcohol education.

Looking for interaction: quantitative measurement of research utilization by Dutch local health officials.

Background: In the Netherlands, local authorities are required by law to develop local health memoranda, based on epidemiological analyses. The purpose of this study was to assess the actual use of these epidemiological reports by municipal health officials and associated factors that affect this use.

Method: Based on a conceptual framework, we designed a questionnaire in which we operationalized instrumental, conceptual, and symbolic use, the interaction between researchers and local health officials, and four clusters of barriers in this interaction process.

Health inequalities in the Netherlands: a cross-sectional study of the role of Type D (distressed) personality.

Background: In the Netherlands, as in many European countries, inequalities in health exist between people with a high and a low socioeconomic status (SES). From the perspective of the 'indirect selection hypothesis', this study was designed to expand our understanding of the role of Type D personality as an explanation of health inequalities.

Methods: Data came from two cross-sectional Dutch surveys among the general population (aged between 19 and 64 years, response 53.

Examining the Link Between Domestic Violence Victimization and Loneliness in a Dutch Community Sample: A Comparison Between Victims and Nonvictims by Type D Personality.

The current study investigated whether differences in loneliness scores between individuals with a distressed personality type (type D personality) and subjects without such a personality varied by domestic violence victimization. Participants (N = 625) were recruited by random sampling from the Municipal Basic Administration of the Dutch city of 's-Hertogenbosch and were invited to fill out a set of questionnaires on health status. For this study, only ratings for domestic violence victimization, type D personality, feelings of loneliness, and demographics were used.

Towards quality criteria for regional public health reporting: concept mapping with Dutch experts.

Background: In the Netherlands, municipal health assessments are carried out by 28 Regional Health Services, serving 418 municipalities. In the absence of guidelines, regional public health reports were developed in two pilot regions on the basis of the model and experience of national health reporting. Though they were well received and positively evaluated, it was not clear which specific characteristics determined 'good public health reporting'.