Rastafari, Social Exclusion and Covid-19 in Ghana

BackgroundSocial exclusion has far-reaching consequences that extend beyond regular activities and access to resources and knowledge; social exclusion is a major social determinant of health. However, there is a lack of evidence on social exclusion and health outcomes among India’s older adults. Thus, the current study investigates the association of social exclusion with depressive symptoms among Indian older adults.MethodsThis study used information on 30,366 older adults from Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) wave-1, 2017-2018. Social exclusion scores were calculated, and two broad domains of social exclusion, i.e., exclusion from civic activity & social relations and exclusion from services, were considered in the study. The depressive symptom was calculated using the CES-D score. Using logistic regression models, the average marginal effects of selected covariates and domains of social exclusion on depressive symptoms were estimated to assess the links between social exclusion and depressive symptoms.ResultsWith the increase in the social exclusion score in the selected domains, the prevalence of depressive symptoms among older also increased. Elderly persons who do not vote or live alone in the domain of being excluded from civic & social activities and older adults excluded from services were observed to have a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms. Adjusting for sociodemographic factors, the average marginal effects suggested that older with four scores of civic activity & social relation exclusion, two scores of service exclusion and four scores of overall social exclusion were estimated to have a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, respectively.ConclusionsThis study’s findings shed light on social exclusion and its relationship to depressive symptoms among older Indians. Older health care services should be expanded in breadth while also addressing social exclusion, resulting in considerable improvements in older individuals’ mental health.

<em>Hello, Ever After</em>

Poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon that includes a lack of education, health or housing; it is a relevant factor of social vulnerability that could lead to a situation of social exclusion. According to studies, poverty can be explained by external/social, internal/individual or cultural fatalistic factors. The aim was to confirm the structure of causal attributions of poverty and their relationships with sociodemographic characteristics, as well as religious and political beliefs, in young people. This is a cross-sectional study with a non-probabilistic convenience sample of undergraduate students on different degree courses. A survey was administered to 278 participants (45.4% women) with an average age of 21.59. They were young people studying health science degrees (78.4%) who self-identified as belonging to the lower or middle–lower class (57.2%), without any religious beliefs (56.5%) and as left wing (37.8%; n = 94) or center-left (27.7%; n = 69) in their political orientation. Confirmatory factorial analysis and multiple regression analysis supported the results in previous literature (CFI = 0.90, SRMR = 0.07, RMSEA = 0.06), indicating that there are cultural (C), external (E-S) and internal (I) attribution factors of poverty. The results show moderate relationships between the cultural factor and internal or external factors. The findings show that political affiliation and sex are the most consistent predictors of attributions for poverty.

본 연구는 노인의 사회적 배제 상태가 다양한 모습을 가질 수 있다는 전제에서 출발한다. 연구목적은 노인의 사회적 배제 하위 집단의 유형분류 및 각 집단 유형의 특성을 파악하고 나아가 영향요인을 규명함으로써 ‘사회적 배제’(social exclusion)를 극복하고 ‘사회적 포용’(social inclusion)으로 연결하기 위한 정책함의를 도출하는 것이다. 분석방법으로는 잠재계층 분석(Latent Class Analysis)을 사용하였다. 분석자료는 한국보건사회연구원에서 조사한 ‘2017년 노인실태조사’이며, 만 65세 이상 노인 10,070명의 자료가 최종분석에 사용되었다. 사회적 배제 지표는 다차원성을 고려하여 소득, 소비, 사회적 활동, 사회적 관계, 건강, 주거 등 6차원으로 구성되어 측정되었다. 각 사회적 배제 유형별 특성과 사회적 배제 유형에 미치는 영향요인을 규명하기 위해 다항 로지스틱 회귀분석을 사용하였다. 분석결과, 노인의 사회적 배제는 비배제형(46.0%), 소비배제형(16.3%), 건강배제형(17.0%), 건강⋅교류제한형(7.5%), 고위험다중배제형(13.2%)의 5개 유형으로 나타났고, 응답노인 중 20.7%의 노인은 동시에 두 개 이상의 차원에서 중복적으로 사회적 배제 상태를 보이는 다중배제형에 속하는 것으로 나타났다. 인구사회학적 특성, 사회경제적 특성, 건강 특성, 사회적 관계특성, 지역사회 특성 등에 따라 유형간 차이를 보였으며, 교육수준, 로그연가구소득이 사회적 배제 유형에 대한 공통된 주요 예측 요인으로 확인되었고, 성별, 연령, 건강변인, 사회적 관계 만족도 변인, 거주지는 특정 사회적 배제 유형에서만 유의한 예측요인으로 확인되었다. 연구 결과를 토대로 노인의 사회적 배제 문제를 해결하기 위한 실천적⋅정책적 개입 방안에 대해 논의하였다.This study is based on the assumption that there are various types of social exclusion in older adults. The purpose of the study is to identify subgroups of social exclusion in older adults, and examine the characteristics of each group. We expect this study to provide suggestions to overcome social exclusion and achieve social inclusion. The data were gathered from the “2017 National Profile Survey of Older Adults,” which was conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. Respondents were 65 years or older (N=10,070) and latent class analysis was applied to identify the optimal subgroups by using Social Exclusion Indicators that comprised six domains (income, consumption, social activities, social relationship, health, and housing status). We also performed multinomial logistic regression analysis and the result identified five different subgroups of social exclusion: non-exclusion (46%); consumption exclusion (16.3%); health exclusion (17.0%); health, social activities, and social relationship exclusion (7.5%) ; and high-risk multiple exclusion (13.2%). Of all the respondents, 20.7% appeared to belong to multiple social exclusion groups under two or more domains. Findings also showed that the social demographic factors, health factors, socio-economic factors, and community factors affect the subgroups differently. Meanwhile, education and logged annual household income level were significant predicting factors associated with each subgroup. This provided us with new implications in terms of practice and policy.

Background: Social determinants of health (SDOH) are crucial in shaping health outcomes, yet comprehensive studies that span all key SDOH domains (economic stability, education, healthcare access and quality, neighborhood and built environment, and social and community context) to examine their associations with liver cancer risk are sparse. We developed and validated a Social Determinants Disadvantage Score (SDDS) to address this knowledge gap. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 117, 783 participants from the All of Us Research Program. The SDDS was systematically constructed using validated questionnaires covering five domains recognized by the World Health Organization and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Each domain was dichotomized into advantage (0) or disadvantage (1), with the SDDS ranging from 0 to 5. Prevalent liver cancer, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), was identified by the Electronic Health Record. We used logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations of SDDS with HCC, adjusting for age, sex, race, ethnicity, birthplace, marital status, smoking status, and alcohol intake. Results: We identified 110 HCC cases in the participants who completed the SDOH questionnaires. Disadvantage in SDOH, as assessed by higher SDDS, was associated with a higher risk of HCC. Per unit increase in SDDS, the adjusted OR (95% CI) was 1.21 (1.02, 1.43) for HCC. The OR was 5.62 (1.95, 16.22) comparing the most disadvantaged to the most advantaged SDDS group. Strongest associations were observed for disadvantage in economic stability (OR = 2.37; 95% CI = 1.22, 4.63) and education (OR = 1.87; 95% CI = 1.08, 3.24). Conclusion: The SDDS provides a comprehensive, validated tool for assessing SDOH. Our findings highlight significant associations between social disadvantage and HCC prevalence, emphasizing the need for future longitudinal studies to inform targeted interventions. Citation Format: Xinyuan (Cindy) Zhang, Longgang Zhao, David Vlahov, Yun Chen, Tamar Taddei, Xuehong Zhang. Social determinants disadvantage score and risk of liver cancer in the All of Us Research Program [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2025; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2025 Apr 25-30; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2025;85(8_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 4939.

Religion has contributed to societal divides regarding COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. In this study, we conducted a secondary analysis of a survey of U.S. adults ( N =4939) focused on how religious affiliations, beliefs, and practices impact attitudes toward genetic and genomic activities, one of which was mRNA vaccines. The dataset included large samples of participants from six religious groups in the U.S. (Black Protestant, Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, Jewish, Mainline Protestant, and Muslim), as well as individuals who were atheist, agnostic, or spiritual. ANCOVA results indicated that Evangelical Protestant participants showed significantly less support for mRNA vaccines than other groups, while atheist participants were the most supportive. Muslim participants had the highest concerns, whereas atheist participants had the lowest. Regression analyses indicated the strongest predictors of support for mRNA vaccines were more spiritual community support for community health, followed by higher acceptance of evolution, more liberal political orientation, less distrust toward the healthcare system, higher frequency of attending religious activities, higher income, lower fundamentalist religious beliefs, and more spiritual community support for liberal reproductive and end of life views. The strongest predictors of concerns about mRNA vaccines were more distrust toward the healthcare system and more conservative political orientation, followed by less spiritual community support for community health, stronger beliefs about God in the body, more fundamentalist religious beliefs, and lower knowledge of genetics. The large sample size, and examination of a broad array of religious variables alongside distrust and political orientation offer new insights. These findings add to the literature on the culture wars surrounding mRNA vaccines, and can perhaps aid in future efforts to build trust and relationships between public health and religious communities.

How do individual religious, political, and social tolerance orientations influence the acceptance of ART among Spanish citizens? Social tolerance and religiosity are predictive factors for the acceptance of ART, with more tolerant individuals and those with lower levels of religiosity being more accepting of ART; political conservatism mediates the relationship between social tolerance and acceptance of ART, particularly for left-leaning individuals. The rapid advancement of ART has raised questions about its societal acceptance, especially in the context of religious, political, and social beliefs. The analysis utilized data from the combined Europe Values Study and World Values Survey, comprising cross-sectional national surveys from 1981 to 2021. Each country's population was surveyed a maximum of seven times and a minimum of two times during this period. This study uses the cross-sectional data of 2021. After filtering for Spanish citizens and deleting cases with missing key variables, a sample of 1030 valid responses from Spanish citizens was obtained. Quotas were set for sex, age, and educational level, following guidance from the Spanish Statistics Institute. The study surveyed participants' attitudes towards ART, their religious and political orientations, and collected demographic information. The sample consisted of 51.7% women, most respondents were married or in common-law partnerships, and 61.6% had children. Catholicism was the dominant religion (53.0%) and a majority had completed secondary education (66.2%), with half earning over 1400 euros per month. Using two linear models to test hypotheses, the study found that social tolerance and religiosity significantly predict acceptance of ART, with more tolerant and less religious individuals being more accepting. Political conservatism mediated the relationship between social tolerance and ART acceptance, particularly among left-leaning individuals. This study is cross-sectional and based on self-reported data, which may have limitations. Additionally, the findings are based on a Spanish sample and may not be universally applicable. The results have significant implications for policymakers and healthcare professionals in the field of reproductive technologies. They also contribute to public debates on ethical considerations surrounding ART. This work was funded by the Mineco-FrontVida Program, Frontiers of Life, Social Change, and Changing Values Around the Beginning and End of Life (grant number PID2019-106882RB-I00), as part of the State Program for Knowledge Generation and Scientific and Technological Strengthening, and the State R&D Program Oriented to the Challenges of Society, 2019, Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities of Spain. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. N/A.

This article is a comparative study of regional differences in social and political value orientations. I identify four central sets of value orientations: two Old Politics orientations – religious–secular and economic left–right; and two New Politics orientations – libertarian/authoritarian and green values. I use the international value studies from 15 West European countries as my empirical base. The article addresses three major research problems: (1) Which of the four value orientations is most strongly anchored in regional differences, and in which countries do we find the largest value differences between the regions? (2) Do we find the same ranking of the regions across the four value orientations, or do the value orientations group the regions in separate ways? (3) Can the other socio-structural variables explain the impact of region on value orientations, or is that impact unique? The average correlations between regions and each of the four value orientations are similar but somewhat larger for religious value and libertarian/authoritarian values. With regard to the second research problem, I hypothesize one-, two-, and three-dimensional solutions based on different spatial configurations. The one-dimensional configurations implied that there exist some (centre) regions that have secular, economic rightist, green, and libertarian regions, and (peripheral) regions with opposite value orientations. This pattern is clearly found in four countries. The expected two-dimensional solution with an Old Politics and a New Politics dimension was found in four countries, whereas the expected three-dimensional solution with two Old Politics and one New Politics dimension was found in three countries. In the multivariate analysis examining the causal impact of region, only a small portion of the correlation between region and value orientations was spurious when controlling for the other (quasi-)ascriptive variables. Furthermore, only a small portion of the impact of region was transmitted via social class variables.

There is evidence that, in general, the West is becoming more secular. Religious belief has been shown in some studies to have positive associations with outcomes such as coping with serious illness and other life events and general well-being. In this paper, we describe the data from parents enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) on their religious behaviour and beliefs collected on three occasions during the 1990s and early 2000s, that are available for researchers to use in association with other longitudinally collected data on social, biological, genetic and epigenetic features of this culturally largely protestant Christian population. Data were collected antenatally and then subsequently at 5 and 9 years post-delivery from self-completion questionnaires completed by each parent independently. Strong sex differences (all P<0.001) were noted regarding religious beliefs and behaviour: for example, 49.9% of women stated that they believed in God or some divine being compared with 37% of men. Almost twice as many men (28.6%) than women (14.9%) declared they were atheists. Men were less likely to have stated that they had been helped by a divine presence; to appeal to God if they were in trouble, to attend religious services or obtain help from members of religious groups. Among the 6256 women and 2355 men who answered the questions at all three time points, there was evidence of a slight reduction in professed belief and a slight increase in the proportion stating that they were atheists. Information is available from this resource, which is rich in data on the environment, traumatic incidents, health and genetic background. It can be used for research into various aspects of the antecedents and consequences of religious belief and behaviour.

There is evidence that, in general, the West is becoming more secular. Religious belief has been shown in some studies to have positive associations with outcomes such as coping with serious illness and other life events and general well-being. In this paper, we describe the data from parents enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) on their religious behaviour and beliefs collected on three occasions during the 1990s and early 2000s, that are available for researchers to use in association with other longitudinally collected data on social, biological, genetic and epigenetic features of this culturally largely protestant Christian population. Data were collected antenatally and then subsequently at 5 and 9 years post-delivery from self-completion questionnaires completed by each parent independently. Strong sex differences (all P<0.001) were noted regarding religious beliefs and behaviour: for example, 49.9% of women stated that they believed in God or some divine being compared with 37% of men. Almost twice as many men (28.6%) than women (14.9%) declared they were atheists. Men were less likely to have stated that they had been helped by a divine presence; to appeal to God if they were in trouble, to attend religious services or obtain help from members of religious groups. Among the 6256 women and 2355 men who answered the questions at all three time points, there was evidence of a slight reduction in professed belief and a slight increase in the proportion stating that they were atheists. Information is available from this resource, which is rich in data on the environment, traumatic incidents, health and genetic background. It can be used for research into various aspects of the antecedents and consequences of religious belief and behaviour.

There is evidence that, in general, the West is becoming more secular. Religious belief has been shown in some studies to positively impact on outcomes such as coping with serious illness and other life events and general well-being. In this paper, we describe the data collected from parents enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) on their religious behaviour and beliefs on three occasions. These data are available for researchers to use in association with other longitudinally collected data on social, biological, genetic and epigenetic features of this culturally largely protestant Christian population. Data were collected antenatally and then subsequently at 5 and 9 years post-delivery from self-completion questionnaires completed by each parent independently. Strong sex differences (all P<0.001) were noted regarding religious beliefs and behaviour: for example, 49.9% of women stated that they believed in God or some divine being compared with 37% of men. Almost twice as many men (28.6%) than women (14.9%) declared they were atheists. Men were less likely to have stated that they had been helped by a divine presence; to appeal to God if they were in trouble, to attend religious services or obtain help from members of religious groups. Among the 6256 women and 2355 men who answered the questions at all three time points, there was evidence of a slight reduction in professed belief and a slight increase in the proportion stating that they were atheists. Information is available from this resource, which is rich in data on the environment, traumatic incidents, health and genetic background. It can be used for research into various aspects of the antecedents and consequences of religious belief and behaviour.

ABSTRACTSocial exclusion is a dynamic multi-dimensional process that is interactive in nature. The complex interplay between domains, whereby each domain can act as a determinant, indicator and/or outcome of social exclusion, hinders understanding of the process and the mechanisms through which social exclusion exists. This article highlights the need to disentangle these pathways and move beyond descriptive accounts of social exclusion, presenting a new working framework that allows direct hypothesis testing of these between-domain relationships. Whilst this working framework can be applied to any population, this article focuses on older adults. Life events that can drive social exclusion such as bereavement and changes in health are more likely to occur in later life, and occur more frequently, increasing the risk of social exclusion for this population. Rooted in the new working framework, this article presents the construction of later life social exclusion measures for use with Understanding Society – the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study. The validity of these measures are considered by examining the characteristics of those aged 65 years and over who score the highest, and therefore experience the greatest level of exclusion. This new working framework and developed social exclusion measures provide a platform from which to explore the complex relationships between domains of social exclusion and ultimately provide a clearer understanding of this intricate multi-dimensional process.

Introduction

Early life adversity (social disadvantage and psychosocial stressors) is associated with altered microstructure in fronto-limbic pathways important for socioemotional development. Understanding when these associations begin to emerge may inform the timing and design of preventative interventions. In this longitudinal study, 399 mothers were oversampled for low income and completed social background measures during pregnancy. Measures were analyzed with structural equation analysis resulting in two latent factors: social disadvantage (education, insurance status, income-to-needs ratio [INR], neighborhood deprivation, and nutrition) and psychosocial stress (depression, stress, life events, and racial discrimination). At birth, 289 healthy term-born neonates underwent a diffusion MRI (dMRI) scan. Mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were measured for the dorsal and inferior cingulum bundle (CB), uncinate, and fornix using probabilistic tractography in FSL. Social disadvantage and psychosocial stress were fitted to dMRI parameters using regression models adjusted for infant postmenstrual age at scan and sex. Social disadvantage, but not psychosocial stress, was independently associated with lower MD in the bilateral inferior CB and left uncinate, right fornix, and lower MD and higher FA in the right dorsal CB. Results persisted after accounting for maternal medical morbidities and prenatal drug exposure. In moderation analysis, psychosocial stress was associated with lower MD in the left inferior CB among the lower-to-higher socioeconomic status (SES) (INR ≥ 200%) group, but not the extremely low SES (INR < 200%) group. Increasing access to social welfare programs that reduce the burden of social disadvantage and related psychosocial stressors may be an important target to protect fetal brain development in fronto-limbic pathways.

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are crucial in shaping liver health outcomes, yet comprehensive assessments that span key SDOH domains are lacking. To address this knowledge gap, we developed a Social Determinants Disadvantage Score (SDDS) and examined its association with major adverse liver conditions. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 117,783 participants from the All of Us Research Program. The SDDS was systematically constructed using validated questionnaires covering economic stability, education, healthcare access and quality, neighborhood and built environment, and social and community context. Each question was scored on a 0 (most advantage) to 1 (most disadvantage) scale. Total SDDS was calculated as the mean of all questions, ranging from 0 to 1. We used logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations of SDDS with total and individual adverse liver conditions, including steatotic liver disease (SLD), metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), alcoholic liver disease (ALD), cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV), chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatic failure based on the Electronic Health Record. Higher SDDS was associated with a higher risk of adverse liver conditions. The highest SDDS quintile (most disadvantaged) compared to the lowest SDDS quintile had an OR = 1.67 (95% CI: 1.55-1.79) for total adverse liver condition risk after adjusting for age, sex, race, and other covariates. Similar associations were observed for individual liver conditions. Per 10% higher SDDS, the adjusted OR (95% CI) was 1.25 (1.22-1.29) for SLD, 1.27 (1.19-1.35) for MASH, 1.15 (0.99-1.34) for ALD, 1.31 (1.25-1.39) for cirrhosis, 1.35 (1.15-1.59) for HCC, 1.24 (1.14-1.35) for HBV infection, 1.40 (1.33-1.48) for HCV infection, and 1.35 (1.21-1.50) for hepatic failure. Consistent associations were found for disadvantages in individual SDOH domains, score excluding missingness, and score with selected factors. The SDDS provides a comprehensive, validated tool for assessing SDOH and their associations with liver health. Our findings highlight significant associations between social disadvantage and the prevalence of adverse liver conditions, emphasizing the need for future longitudinal studies to inform targeted interventions.