The Distribution of Carceral Harm: County-Level Jail Incarceration and Mortality by Race, Sex, and Age.

Jail incarceration remains an overlooked yet crucial component of the U.S. carceral system.

Excess natural-cause mortality in US counties and its association with reported COVID-19 deaths.

In the United States, estimates of excess deaths attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic have consistently surpassed reported COVID-19 death counts. Excess deaths reported to non-COVID-19 natural causes may represent unrecognized COVID-19 deaths, deaths caused by pandemic health care interruptions, and/or deaths from the pandemic's socioeconomic impacts. The geographic and temporal distribution of these deaths may help to evaluate which explanation is most plausible.

COVID-19 and All-Cause Mortality by Race, Ethnicity, and Age Across Five Periods of the Pandemic in the United States.

Racial/ethnic and age disparities in COVID-19 and all-cause mortality during 2020 are well documented, but less is known about their evolution over time. We examine changes in age-specific mortality across five pandemic periods in the United States from March 2020 to December 2022 among four racial/ethnic groups (non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Asian) for ages 35+. We fit Gompertz models to all-cause and COVID-19 death rates by 5-year age groups and construct age-specific racial/ethnic mortality ratios across an Initial peak (Mar-Aug 2020), Winter peak (Nov 2020-Feb 2021), Delta peak (Aug-Oct 2021), Omicron peak (Nov 2021-Feb 2022), and Endemic period (Mar-Dec 2022).

Variation in Cumulative Childhood Risks of Parental Imprisonment and Foster Care Removal by State and Race/Ethnicity.

The racialized nature of state intervention into family life has increasingly called attention to the impact of parental incarceration and foster care placement on the wellbeing of children across the United States. Yet little is known about how these interventions collectively operate at a macro-level in the lives of children. This study estimates the cumulative childhood risks of experiencing parental imprisonment or foster care placement for White, Black, and Hispanic children across fourteen states.

Unequal Duties and Unequal Retirement: Decomposing the Women's Labor Force Decline in Postreform China.

The gender gap in labor force participation (LFP) in China has grown over the last 30 years, despite substantial advances in women's education and economic development. Previous research has identified gender discrimination and work-family conflicts as two key explanations for the gap, both of which have risen since the start of China's economic reform in 1978. Using multiple waves of the national census and household panel data from China, this research shows that one overlooked mechanism widening the LFP gender gap lies in the institutional constraints that require women to retire earlier than men.

Monthly excess mortality across counties in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, March 2020 to February 2022.

Excess mortality is the difference between expected and observed mortality in a given period and has emerged as a leading measure of the COVID-19 pandemic's mortality impact. Spatially and temporally granular estimates of excess mortality are needed to understand which areas have been most impacted by the pandemic, evaluate exacerbating factors, and inform response efforts. We estimated all-cause excess mortality for the United States from March 2020 through February 2022 by county and month using a Bayesian hierarchical model trained on data from 2015 to 2019.

Associations between mortality from COVID-19 and other causes: A state-level analysis.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the high death toll from COVID-19 was accompanied by a rise in mortality from other causes of death. The objective of this study was to identify the relationship between mortality from COVID-19 and changes in mortality from specific causes of death by exploiting spatial variation in these relationships across US states.

Methods: We use cause-specific mortality data from CDC Wonder and population estimates from the US Census Bureau to examine relationships at the state level between mortality from COVID-19 and changes in mortality from other causes of death.

Differences Between Reported COVID-19 Deaths and Estimated Excess Deaths in Counties Across the United States, March 2020 to February 2022.

Accurate and timely tracking of COVID-19 deaths is essential to a well-functioning public health surveillance system. The extent to which official COVID-19 death tallies have captured the true toll of the pandemic in the United States is unknown. In the current study, we develop a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate monthly excess mortality in each county over the first two years of the pandemic and compare these estimates to the number of deaths officially attributed to Covid-19 on death certificates.

Migration and Contraception among Mexican Women: Assessing Selection, Disruption, and Adaptation.

Despite the sizeable impact of migration on childbearing, less is known about how it shapes contraceptive use undergirding fertility. We utilize binational survey data collected in 2006/7 by the study to assess how selection, disruption, and adaptation shape contraceptive use among Mexican migrant women. We address selectivity with respect to both socio-demographic and formative sexual initiation characteristics, comparing migrants to non-migrants in Mexico.

Same environment, stratified impacts? Air pollution, extreme temperatures, and birth weight in South China.

This paper investigates whether associations between birth weights and prenatal ambient environmental conditions-pollution and extreme temperatures-differ by 1) maternal education; 2) children's innate health; and 3) interactions between these two. We link birth records from Guangzhou, China, during a period of high pollution, to ambient air pollution (PM and a composite measure) and extreme temperature data. We first use mean regressions to test whether, overall, maternal education is an "effect modifier" in the relationships between ambient air pollution, extreme temperature, and birth weight.

Monthly excess mortality across counties in the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic, March 2020 to February 2022.

Excess mortality is the difference between expected and observed mortality in a given period and has emerged as a leading measure of the overall impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that is not biased by differences in testing or cause-of-death assignment. Spatially and temporally granular estimates of excess mortality are needed to understand which areas have been most impacted by the pandemic, evaluate exacerbating and mitigating factors, and inform response efforts, including allocating resources to affected communities. We estimated all-cause excess mortality for the United States from March 2020 through February 2022 by county and month using a Bayesian hierarchical model trained on data from 2015 to 2019.

County-level estimates of excess mortality associated with COVID-19 in the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. has been largely monitored using death certificates containing reference to COVID-19.

The unequal burden of the Covid-19 pandemic: Capturing racial/ethnic disparities in US cause-specific mortality.

Despite a growing body of literature focused on racial/ethnic disparities in Covid-19 mortality, few previous studies have examined the pandemic's impact on 2020 cause-specific mortality by race and ethnicity. This paper documents changes in mortality by underlying cause of death and race/ethnicity between 2019 and 2020. Using age-standardized death rates, we attribute changes for Black, Hispanic, and White populations to various underlying causes of death and show how these racial and ethnic patterns vary by age and sex.

The Asian Games, air pollution and birth outcomes in South China: An instrumental variable approach.

We estimate the effects of air-pollution exposure on low birthweight, birthweight, and prematurity risk in South China, for all expectant mothers and by maternal age group and child sex. We do so by exploiting exogenous improvement in air quality during the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, when strict regulations were mandated to assure better air quality. We use daily air-pollution levels collected from monitoring stations in Guangzhou, the Asian Games host city, and Shenzhen, a nearby control city, between 2009 and 2011.

Association of Health Care Factors With Excess Deaths Not Assigned to COVID-19 in the US.

This cross-sectional study assesses health care factors associated with excess deaths not assigned to COVID-19 in US counties in 2020.

Kinship Practices Among Alternative Family Forms in Western Industrialized Societies.

Objective: This paper discusses how kinship is construed and enacted in diverse forms of the family that are now part of the culturally pluralistic family system of Western societies.

Background: The study is the second in a pair documenting changes over the past century in the meaning and practice of kinship in the family system of Western societies with industrialized economies. While the first paper reviewed the history of kinship studies, this companion piece shifts the focus to research explorations of kinship in alternative family forms, those that depart from the standard nuclear family structure.

COVID-19 and excess mortality in the United States: A county-level analysis.

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) excess deaths refer to increases in mortality over what would normally have been expected in the absence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several prior studies have calculated excess deaths in the United States but were limited to the national or state level, precluding an examination of area-level variation in excess mortality and excess deaths not assigned to COVID-19. In this study, we take advantage of county-level variation in COVID-19 mortality to estimate excess deaths associated with the pandemic and examine how the extent of excess mortality not assigned to COVID-19 varies across subsets of counties defined by sociodemographic and health characteristics.

Motivations and deterrents toward blood donation in Kampala, Uganda.

Severe malaria, hemorrhage during childbirth, sickle cell anemia, injury from road accidents, and other medical conditions that necessitate blood transfusions affect thousands of Ugandans every year. However, only 0.3-0.

Material Hardship and Contraceptive Use During the Transition to Adulthood.

Decades of research have attempted to understand the paradox of stubbornly high unintended pregnancy rates despite widespread use of contraception. Much of this research has focused on socioeconomic disparities in rates of unintended pregnancy, finding that economically disadvantaged women tend to use less effective contraceptive methods and use them less consistently. Building on this research, this study examines how material hardship is associated with less consistent contraceptive use among women who do not desire to become pregnant.

Assessing the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on US Mortality: A County-Level Analysis.

Background: Covid-19 excess deaths refer to increases in mortality over what would normally have been expected in the absence of the Covid-19 pandemic. Several prior studies have calculated excess deaths in the United States but were limited to the national or state level, precluding an examination of area-level variation in excess mortality and excess deaths not assigned to Covid-19. In this study, we take advantage of county-level variation in Covid-19 mortality to estimate excess deaths associated with the pandemic and examine how the extent of excess mortality not assigned to Covid-19 varies across subsets of counties defined by sociodemographic and health characteristics.

Obesity and Incident Prescription Opioid Use in the U.S., 2000-2015.

Introduction: Prior studies have identified associations between obesity and numerous conditions that increase risks for chronic pain. However, the impact of obesity on prescription opioid use is not well known. This study investigates the association between obesity and incidence of long-term prescription opioid use.

Interest in HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among adolescents and their caregivers in Malawi.

Over a third of new HIV infections occur in adolescents aged 10-19 globally. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) could be a powerful tool for prevention. Understanding more about the drivers of PrEP interest could inform implementation strategies among this age group.

Emerging partner violence among young adolescents in a low-income country: Perpetration, victimization and adversity.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is prevalent in high- as well as low-income contexts. It results in a substantial public health burden and significant negative socioeconomic and health outcomes throughout the life-course. However, limited knowledge exists about IPV during early adolescence.