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Are Enrollment Gains From Conditional Cash Transfers Sustained After Program Rollback? Evidence From Mexico

We examined the prospective role of parental support and adult identity profiles in the transition to adulthood on teen mothers’ socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood. Analyses were based on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally representative sample of youth followed over a decade. We used data from Waves 1, 3, and 4 (mean age = 28.6, Wave 4). Analytical sample consisted of 981 females who gave birth before age 20. Analysis included design-based regression models. Findings from adjusted regression models showed no statistically significant associations between teen mothers’ parental support and socioeconomic outcomes. While teen mothers have already achieved an important marker of adulthood, variability in adult identity profiles was observed. Teen mothers with older subjective age, regardless of their levels of psychosocial maturation, had higher socioeconomic attainment on some indicators. Findings suggest that teen mothers’ adult identity profiles differentiate their socioeconomic trajectories later in life.

Donna Howard and colleagues are studying the impact of electronic communication technologies on dating violence

Research shows persistent mental health disparities among sexual minority populations

Black populations in the United States are disproportionately affected by HIV. This disparity may be affected by social and structural barriers to HIV testing, leading to undiagnosed infection and prolonged HIV transmissibility. Using data from a nationally representative sample of 1,727 Black men in the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System we tested for differences in poverty, depression, and health care barriers between Black men who had been HIV tested in the past year and those who had not. We also tested a syndemic index of these factors. Number of syndemic factors was linearly associated with less HIV testing (aPR=0.79, 95% CI 0.66-0.95). Assumptions of unidimensionality were met. The use of a syndemic index was a superior approach to analyzing these factors individually, both in terms of model fit and associations detected. The accumulation of poverty, depression, and health care barriers has an adverse impact on HIV testing among Black men.

Black populations in the United States are disproportionately affected by HIV. This disparity may be affected by social and structural barriers to HIV testing, leading to undiagnosed infection and prolonged HIV transmissibility. Using data from a nationally representative sample of 1,727 Black men in the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System we tested for differences in poverty, depression, and health care barriers between Black men who had been HIV tested in the past year and those who had not. We also tested a syndemic index of these factors. Number of syndemic factors was linearly associated with less HIV testing (aPR=0.79, 95% CI 0.66-0.95). Assumptions of unidimensionality were met. The use of a syndemic index was a superior approach to analyzing these factors individually, both in terms of model fit and associations detected. The accumulation of poverty, depression, and health care barriers has an adverse impact on HIV testing among Black men.

MacDorman findings from 2016 addressed, somewhat

Background Suicidal ideation due to abortion has been used to justify restrictive US abortion policies. Much research examining abortion and mental health has relied on self-report, has had low participation rates, and did not consider confounding factors. In the present study, we used data that do not rely on self-report and are not affected by low participation rates to examine the association between abortion and non-fatal suicide attempts, adjusting for confounding factors. Methods In this longitudinal cohort study of Danish population registries, we linked data on a cohort of women born in Denmark between Jan 1, 1980, and Dec 30, 1998, who did not die or emigrate from Denmark before their 18th birthday or before study entry. Follow-up started on the woman's 18th birthday or Jan 1, 2000, whichever came last. Follow-up ended at the date of first suicide attempt, date of emigration from Denmark, date of death, or Dec 31, 2016, whichever came first. Women were between the ages of 18 and 36 years during the study period. We used a survival analysis to examine the risk of first suicide attempts or self-harm associated with a first abortion compared with no abortion, in the complete study cohort. To examine incidence rate ratios (IRRs) associated with abortion, we used Poisson regression with the logarithm of woman-years at risk as an offset. We also examined whether the risk of suicide attempts changed before and after the abortion, adjusting for age, calendar year, socioeconomic status, and history of childbirth, mental health, parental mental health, and physical health. Findings Data on 523 280 women were included in this study. Of these, 48 990 (9·4%) women had a record of at least one first-trimester abortion, and 10 216 (2·0%) had a suicide attempt during the study period. Among 48 990 women who had an abortion, 1402 (2·9%) had a first suicide attempt after the first abortion. In our fully-adjusted model which adjusted for all covariates, the risk of first-time non-fatal suicide attempts was similar in the year before an abortion (IRR 2·46 [95% CI 2·22–2·72]) and the year after an abortion (IRR 2·54 [2·29–2·81], p=0·509) compared with women who had not had an abortion, and decreased with increasing time since the abortion (1–5 years IRR 1·90 [1·75–2·06]; ≥5 years IRR 1·73 [1·53–1·96]). Interpretation We found that women who had abortions had a higher risk of non-fatal suicide attempts compared with women who did not have an abortion. However, because the increased risk was the same both the year before and after the abortion, it is not attributable to the abortion. Thus, policies based on the notion that abortion increases women's risk of suicide attempts are misinformed.

Severe maternal morbidity continues to be on the rise in the US. Short birth spacing is a modifiable risk factor associated with maternal morbidity, yet few studies have examined this association, possibly due to few available data sources to examine these rare events. To examine the association between interpregnancy interval (IPI) and severe maternal morbidity using near‐national birth certificate data and account for known under‐reporting using probabilistic bias analysis. We used revised 2014‐2017 birth certificate data, restricting to resident women with a non–first‐born singleton birth. We examined the following: (a) maternal blood transfusion, (b) admission to intensive care unit (ICU), (c) uterine rupture (among women with a prior caesarean delivery) and (d) third‐ or fourth‐degree perineal laceration (among vaginal deliveries) by IPI categories (<6, 6‐11, 12‐17, 18‐23, 24‐59 and 60+ months). Risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using log‐binomial regression, adjusting for select maternal characteristics. Probabilistic bias analyses were performed. Compared with IPI 18 to 23 months, adjusted models revealed that the risk of maternal transfusion followed a U‐shaped curve with IPI, while risk of ICU admission and perineal laceration increased with longer IPI. Risk of uterine rupture was highest among IPI <6 months. With the exception of maternal transfusion, these findings persisted regardless of the extent or type of misclassification examined in bias analyses. Associations between IPI and maternal morbidity varied by outcome, even after adjusting for misclassification of SMM. Differences across maternal health outcomes should be considered when counselling and making recommendations regarding optimal birth spacing.

Quynh Nguyen and Thu Nguyen examine how built environment features affect U.S. traffic collisions