School performance and the social gradient in young adult death in Norway.

Young adults from low socioeconomic backgrounds face an increased risk of early mortality. Here we utilize population-wide data from 17 Norwegian birth cohorts (N = 986,573) to assess whether this risk gradient was explained by early-life educational performance, specifically grade point average at 16 years of age. We show that the gradients in both parental education and income largely disappeared when adjusting for school performance in the models.

Differences in cognitive function at 18 y of age explain the association between low education and early dementia risk.

Major initiatives attempt to prevent dementia by targeting modifiable risk factors. Low education is frequently pointed to, due to its relationship with dementia. Impact of education is difficult to assess, however, because of associations with multiple other factors, requiring large population-representative samples to tease the relationships apart.

Effect of pharmacological treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder on later psychiatric comorbidity: a population-based prospective long-term study.

Background: Psychiatric comorbidity is frequent among persons with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Whether pharmacological treatment of ADHD influences the incidence of psychiatric comorbidity is uncertain.

Objective: To investigate associations and causal relations between pharmacological treatment of ADHD and incidence of subsequent comorbid psychiatric diagnoses.

Hearing Loss and Annual Earnings Over a 20-Year Period: The HUNT Cohort Study.

Objectives: The association between hearing loss and income has only been examined in cross-sectional studies. We aim to study annual increase in earnings over 20 years, comparing people with and without hearing loss.

Design: We used data from a population-based hearing study in Norway (The Trøndelag Health Study, 1996-1998), including 14,825 persons (46.

Economies of scope in the Norwegian public hospital sector.

This study investigates the potential economies of scope in the Norwegian public hospital sector after a major structural and organizational reform. Economies of scope refers to potential cost savings occurring from the scope of production rather than the scale. We use a data driven approach to distinguish between relatively specialized and differentiated hospitals.

Correlation between cognitive ability and educational attainment weakens over birth cohorts.

Educational attainment is a key indicator of status and opportunity in meritocratic societies. However, it is unclear how educational expansion has affected the link between cognitive abilities and educational attainment. As a result, this study examines the correlation between cognitive ability and educational attainment across male birth cohorts in Norway.

Effect of ADHD medication on risk of injuries: a preference-based instrumental variable analysis.

ADHD is associated with an increased risk of injury. Causal evidence for effects of pharmacological treatment on injuries is scarce. We estimated effects of ADHD medication on injuries using variation in provider preference as an instrumental variable (IV).

When health trumps money: Economic incentives and health equity in the public provision of nursing homes in Norway.

The allocation of public care services should be determined by individual needs, but can be influenced by economic factors. This paper examines the impact of economic incentives on the allocation of public nursing home care in the Norwegian long-term care system. In Norway, municipalities and city districts have economic incentives for choosing nursing home care for high-income individuals in need of care and home-based care in sheltered housing for low-income individuals.

Long term outcomes and causal modelling of compulsory inpatient and outpatient mental health care using Norwegian registry data: Protocol for a controversies in psychiatry research project.

Objectives: Compulsory mental health care includes compulsory hospitalisation and outpatient commitment with medication treatment without consent. Uncertain evidence of the effects of compulsory care contributes to large geographical variations and a controversy on its use. Some argue that compulsion can rarely be justified and should be reduced to an absolute minimum, while others claim compulsion can more frequently be justified.

Effect of Pharmacological Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder on Criminality.

Objective: Criminality rates are higher among persons with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and evidence that medication reduces crime is limited. Medication rates between clinics vary widely even within universal health care systems, partly because of providers' treatment preferences. We used this variation to estimate causal effects of pharmacological treatment of ADHD on 4-year criminal outcomes.

Stability and change in male fertility patterns by cognitive ability across 32 birth cohorts.

The relationship between cognitive ability (CA) and childbearing remains unsettled. Using Norwegian administrative registers with population coverage, we study how male lifetime fertility patterns differ across cognitive score groups, and how these changed across the 1950-1981 birth cohorts, covering a period characterized by rapid social and economic change. The analyses reveal systematic differences in fertility and fertility timing across CA groups, with high scoring males having delayed but ultimately higher fertility than lower scoring males.

Socioeconomic differences in the long-term effects of teacher absence on student outcomes.

School teachers' sickness absence has been shown to affect student achievement in the short run. However, we know little about whether socioeconomic backgrounds may compensate for reductions in instructional quality and to what extent teacher absence effects persist over time. This paper examines the socioeconomic differences in the short- and long-term effects of teacher absence.

Hearing loss, sick leave, and disability pension: findings from the HUNT follow-up study.

Background: Evidence on the association between hearing loss and sick leave or disability pension is to a great extent based on few cross-sectional studies and remains unclear. We aim to assess the associations in a long-term follow-up population study.

Methods: We used baseline data from a large population-based hearing study in Norway, the HUNT Hearing study (1996-1998).

Geographical variation in ADHD: do diagnoses reflect symptom levels?

Rates of ADHD diagnosis vary across regions in many countries. However, no prior study has investigated how much within-country geographic variation in ADHD diagnoses is explained by variation in ADHD symptom levels. We examine whether ADHD symptom levels explain variation in ADHD diagnoses among children and adolescents using nationwide survey and register data in Norway.

Effects of dialogue meetings on sickness absence-Evidence from a large field experiment.

Sickness absence entails large individual and societal costs. Dialogue Meetings (DMs) where the absentee, the employer, and the physician discuss arrangements for full or partial work resumption have been in place in Norway since 2007. In collaboration with the Labour and Welfare Administration, we conducted a large-scale, pre-registered, randomized field experiment to evaluate aspects of the Norwegian DMs policy.

Quantifying social segregation in large-scale networks.

We present a measure of social segregation which combines mobile phone data and income register data in Oslo, Norway. In addition to measuring the extent of social segregation, our study shows that social segregation is strong, robust, and that social networks are particularly clustered among the richest. Using location data on the areas where people work, we also examine whether exposure to other social strata weakens measured segregation.

Material resources and well-being - Evidence from an Ethiopian housing lottery.

Do better material conditions improve well-being and mental health? Or does any positive relationship merely reflect that well-being promotes economic success? We compare winners and losers from a large Ethiopian housing lottery in a preregistered analysis. Winners gain access to better housing, experience a substantial increase in wealth, and report higher levels of overall life satisfaction and lower levels of financial distress. However, we find no average effects of winning on psychological distress.

Opioid overdose deaths and the expansion of opioid agonist treatment: a population-based prospective cohort study.

Background And Aim: Effective policies to reduce drug-related overdoses remain a public health priority. We aimed to estimate the causal effects of a national opioid agonist treatment (OAT) program on population level drug fatalities.

Design: Population-based prospective cohort study exploiting supply driven variation in treatment uptake across cohort-age groups generated by the introduction and scale-up of a national OAT program.

Preference-based instrumental variables in health research rely on important and underreported assumptions: a systematic review.

Objective: Preference-based instrumental variables (PP IV) designs can identify causal effects when patients receive treatment due to variation in providers' treatment preference. We offer a systematic review and methodological assessment of PP IV applications in health research.

Study Design And Setting: We included studies that applied PP IV for evaluation of any treatment in any population in health research (PROSPERO: CRD42020165014).

The Potential of Anti-Bullying Efforts to Prevent Academic Failure and Youth Crime. A Case Using the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP).

The effectiveness of bullying prevention programs has led to expectations that these programs could have effects beyond their primary goals. By reducing the number of victims and perpetrators and the harm experienced by those affected, programs may have longer-term effects on individual school performance and prevent crime. In this paper, we use Norwegian register data to study the long-term impact of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) on academic performance, high school dropout, and youth crime for the average student, which we call population-level effects.

Impact of the School Environment on Medical Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Population-Wide Register Data Study of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.

Although attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most heritable psychiatric childhood disorders, social and gene-environment interactions seemingly play an important role in the etiology of ADHD. Consistent with this, this study finds that School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) reduced the likelihood of pharmacotherapeutic treatment for ADHD at age 14-16 by 12%, using population-wide Norwegian register data and a difference-in-difference design (N = 698,364, birth cohorts 1990-2002, 48.7% girls, 5.

Using fees to reduce bed-blocking: a game between hospitals and long-term care providers.

In several countries, a fee has been introduced to reduce bed-blocking in hospitals. This paper studies the implications of this fee for the strategic decisions of the hospitals and the long-term care providers. We introduce a Stackelberg game where the hospital is the leader and the care provider the follower.

A multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA) for evaluating and appraising government policy responses to non medical heroin use.

Background: Globally, non-medical heroin use is generating significant public health and social harms, and drug policy about heroin is a controversial field that encompasses many complex issues. Policy responses to illegal heroin markets have varied from militarized eradication of the opium poppy and harsh punishment of users, to more tolerant harm reduction approaches with decriminalized possession and use.

Methods: This paper reports the outcomes of a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) on four generic regulatory regimes of heroin: prohibition, decriminalisation, state control and free market.

Causal modelling of variation in clinical practice and long-term outcomes of ADHD using Norwegian registry data: the ADHD controversy project.

Introduction: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most common mental disorders in children and adolescents, and it is a strong risk factor for several adverse psychosocial outcomes over the lifespan. There are large between-country and within-country variations in diagnosis and medication rates. Due to ethical and practical considerations, a few studies have examined the effects of receiving a diagnosis, and there is a lack of research on effects of medication on long-term outcomes.

Armed conflict and maternal mortality: A micro-level analysis of sub-Saharan Africa, 1989-2013.

There is existing country-level evidence that countries with more severe armed conflict tend to have higher Maternal Mortality Rates (MMR). However, during armed conflict, the actual fighting is usually confined to a limited area within a country, affecting a subset of the population. Hence, studying the link between country-level armed conflict and MMR may involve ecological fallacies.