A Qualitative Investigation of Engagement in Mental Health Services Among Black and Hispanic LGB Young Adults.

Objective: Little attention has been paid to engagement in mental health services among racially and ethnically diverse youths who identify as a sexual minority, despite research indicating that they face significant mental health disparities. In this study, the authors assessed the service use experiences of black and Hispanic lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) young adults to identify factors that promoted or hindered their engagement.

Methods: Semistructured interviews with 38 young adults regarding past and present experiences with mental health services were analyzed thematically for perceived challenges to and support for engagement.

Testing for Sexually Transmitted Diseases in US Public Health Laboratories, 2016.

Background: Laboratory testing practices are an important part of sexually transmitted disease (STD) diagnosis and control. The goal of this article is to describe the volume and types of STD tests performed in public health laboratories (PHLs) in the United States in 2016.

Methods: A total of 105 state and local PHLs who were members of the Association of Public Health Laboratories were invited to participate in a survey between May and August 2017.

Education and Gender Gap in Couples' Time Use: Evidence from China.

Using the 2010 China Family Panel Studies data, this article provides new evidence on the gender gap and the role of education in time use among married Chinese couples in both urban and rural areas. Across urban and rural areas and on both work and non-work days, wives spent much more time on personal and household care, while husbands spent more time on work and leisure/social activities. For urban wives, having the same or higher levels of education than their husbands helped narrow the gender gap in time spent on personal and household care, paid work, and leisure/social activities.

Attitudinal Acceptance of Intimate Partner Violence Among Adolescents and Young Adults in Nigeria and Tanzania: An Exploration Into Target Reference Groups Order and Affiliation of Authorship.

Purpose: Attitudinal programming for the prevention of intimate partner violence (IPV) among adolescents and young adults often focuses on whom to target based on gender or age; yet other pivotal junctures may relate to when to intervene, such as critical events (e.g., marriage).

The effects of the dependent coverage provision on young women's utilization of sexual and reproductive health services.

The Affordable Care Act dependent coverage provision expanded insurance for young adults by allowing maintained coverage through a parent's plan until the age of 26. This study examines whether this provision was associated with changes in sexual and reproductive health service utilization among young adult women, and if effects differed by race/ethnicity. The National Survey of Family Growth data were used to examine utilization among women before (2006-2009) and after (2011-2013) enactment of the provision.

Complicated grief therapy for clinicians: An evidence-based protocol for mental health practice.

In the United States alone, about 10 million persons are newly bereaved each year. Most do not require professional intervention or treatment, but many can benefit from targeted support. However, a significant minority of bereaved persons experience intense, prolonged and disabling grief symptoms associated with considerable morbidity and mortality (aka, "Complicated Grief").

Unequal Protective Effects of Parental Educational Attainment on the Body Mass Index of Black and White Youth.

Background: Parental educational attainment is shown to be protective against health problems; the Minorities' Diminished Returns theory, however, posits that these protective effects tend to be smaller for socially marginalized groups particularly blacks than whites.

Aims: To explore racial differences in the effect of parental educational attainment on body mass index (BMI) in a national sample of US adolescents.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used baseline data of 10,701 (8678 white and 2023 black) 12-17 years old adolescents in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH; 2013).

Culture, Race, and Health: Implications for Racial Inequities and Population Health.

Unlabelled: Policy Points Racism is a fundamental cause of health inequities and disease, which requires policy solutions that address this cause directly rather than only targeting mechanisms. Cultural systems, such as cultural racism, undergird the social conditions that shape racial inequities in health, including social and health policy decision making, governance, practice, and public reception. Policies targeting racial health equity benefit from integrating social theory and meaningful assessments of the social context concerning race, racism, and health.

Living arrangements and quality of life among older adults in China: does social cohesion matter?

This study investigated how living arrangements are related to the well-being of Chinese older adults and the role of social cohesion in this relationship. This study used the China data from the WHO's Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health. The analytic sample featured 5,600 Chinese adults aged 60 or older.

Examining the Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Associated Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Among Low-Income Uninsured Adults.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to poor adult health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease. However, little is known about its prevalence, specifically in low-income populations. The objective of this study was to estimate the extent of ACEs in a low-income, nonclinical, uninsured adult population and assess the relationship between ACEs and cardiovascular disease risk factors.

A combination intervention addressing sexual risk-taking behaviors among vulnerable women in Uganda: study protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial.

Background: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS, with Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda accounting for 48% of new infections. A systematic review of the HIV burden among women engaged in sex work (WESW) in 50 low- and middle-income countries found that they had increased odds of HIV infection relative to the general female population. Social structural factors, such as the sex work environment, violence, stigma, cultural issues, and criminalization of sex work are critical in shaping sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV risks among WESW and their clients in Uganda.

The Effects of the ACA Medicaid Expansion on Nationwide Home Evictions and Eviction-Court Initiations: United States, 2000-2016.

To evaluate the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansions on national rates of home eviction and eviction initiation in the United States. Using nationally representative administrative data from The Eviction Lab at Princeton University, we estimated the effects of the ACA Medicaid expansions on county-level evictions and filings from 2000 to 2016 with a difference-in-difference regression design. We found that Medicaid expansions were associated with an annual reduction in the rate of evictions by 1.

Measuring Gender-Based Household Maltreatment in Urban Slums of Mumbai, India.

Emerging research has documented non-violent forms of abuse against wives in India. Gender-based household maltreatment (GBHM) has been linked to poor maternal and child health outcomes, but the measurement of GBHM requires statistical validation. The objective of this study is to evaluate a new measure of GBHM of women by husbands and in-laws during the perinatal period for validity and internal reliability (before, during, and post pregnancy).

Improving HIV service delivery for people who inject drugs in Kazakhstan: study protocol for the Bridge stepped-wedge trial.

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) in Kazakhstan face many barriers to HIV testing as well as to accessing HIV care, to retention in HIV care, and to initiating and adhering to anti-retroviral treatment (ART). Needle and syringe programs (NSPs) are an opportune setting for integrated interventions to link PWID to HIV care.

Methods: This Hybrid Type II study employs a stepped-wedge design to evaluate both effectiveness and implementation outcomes of Bridge, an intervention to identify, test, and link HIV-positive PWID to HIV care.

Existence, Distribution, and Characteristics of STD Clinics in the United States, 2017.

Objectives: Studies of sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics have been limited by the lack of a national list for representative sampling. We sought to establish the number, type, and distribution of STD clinics and describe selected community characteristics associated with them.

Methods: We conducted a 2-phased, multilevel, online search from September 2014 through March 2015 and from May through October 2017 to identify STD clinics in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia.

Interprofessional Collaboration and On-the-Job Training Improve Access to HIV Testing, HIV Primary Care, and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).

The HIV Continuum of Care is a global priority, yet vulnerable patients face access/retention challenges. Research is missing on the role social and public health service providers can play to help these patients. Using structural equation modeling, we examined the effects of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) and on-the-job training on the frequency of linkages to HIV testing, HIV primary care, and on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) psychoeducation.

Cognitive Interviewing to Improve Questionnaires for Justice-Involved Youth.

This study demonstrates the utility of cognitive interviewing for survey and scale development in criminal justice research and identifies common comprehension problems with survey items for justice-involved youth. A cognitive interviewing strategy was utilized with a sample of youth who completed a survey examining risk factors for recidivism. A content analysis of interviews was used to identify patterns and to classify the nature and type of comprehension issues youth experienced.

The epidemiology of hepatitis C virus in Central Asia: Systematic review, meta-analyses, and meta-regression analyses.

The objective was to delineate hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemiology in countries of Central Asia (CA), specifically Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. A systematic review was conducted guided by the Cochrane Collaboration Handbook, and reported using PRISMA guidelines. Meta-analyses were performed using DerSimonian-Laird random-effects models with inverse variance weighting.

Two- and three-year follow-up from a gender-specific, web-based drug abuse prevention program for adolescent girls.

Introduction: Rates of drug use among early adolescent girls meet or exceed rates of their male counterparts. Girls are also vulnerable to differential risk factors for drug use. Yet, expressly designed prevention programs targeting this population are absent.

Converging drivers of interpersonal violence: Findings from a qualitative study in post-hurricane Haiti.

Objective: Interpersonal violence affecting women and children is increasingly recognized as a public health priority in humanitarian emergencies. Yet, research and intervention efforts have been fragmented across gender-based violence and child protection sectors. Using data from the Transforming Households: Reducing Incidence of Violence in Emergencies (THRIVE) project, this study sought to qualitatively investigate the intersecting drivers of multiple forms of violence in Côteaux, Haiti, while obtaining insight on how these drivers may be influenced by a humanitarian emergency.

Antipoverty Impact Of Medicaid Growing With State Expansions Over Time.

Out-of-pocket spending on health care pushed over 10.5 million Americans into poverty in 2016. Medicaid helps offset this risk by providing medical coverage to millions of poor and near-poor children and adults and thereby constraining out-of-pocket medical spending.

The Development of a Culturally Adapted Pilot Intervention for African American Family Members of Homicide Victims: A Preliminary Report.

African Americans are disproportionately impacted by homicide in the United States. Individuals who have lost a relative to homicide often experience symptoms of complicated grief. The objective of this study was to explore the impact of a culturally tailored psychoeducational pilot intervention whose development was informed by a conceptual model of coping for African American survivors of homicide victims and was designed to (a) educate participants about the manifestation of complicated grief and symptoms and (b) help participants develop ways to cope with their grief.