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Institute
Die Sozialepidemiologie befasst sich mit der sozialen Verteilung von Erkrankungsrisiken und Gesundheitschancen und den daraus resultierenden gesundheitlichen Ungleichheiten. Für die letzten 20 Jahre lässt sich ein kontinuierlicher Zuwachs an sozialepidemiologischen Forschungsbefunden in Deutschland konstatieren. Mit den gesundheitlichen Ungleichheiten und den sozialen Determinanten der Gesundheit adressiert die Sozialepidemiologie Kernbereiche von Public Health, deren Bearbeitung auch in Zukunft erheblichen Einfluss auf die wissenschaftlichen, politischen und praxisorientierten Perspektiven des Fachs haben dürfte.
Background
Health inequalities in school-aged children and adolescents were repeatedly reported across Europe but less is known about the contextual and compositional factors of families that might influence and reproduce those health inequalities. In this systematic scoping review we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the available international literature on the mediating and moderating influence of the family on health inequalities in children and adolescents in Europe and North America.
Methods
This review follows the PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews. After defining the research question a search strategy was developed in cooperation with a scientific librarian and the study protocol was registered. A search of three databases (Pubmed, Scopus, PsycINFO) was conducted to identify relevant literature in English or German published between the year 2000 and 2019. A qualitative data charting process was used to extract the relevant data.
Results
In total 11.838 records were identified through the multi database search (Pubmed n = 6370, PsycINFO n = 3505, Scopus n = 1963). After elimination of duplicates and records from excluded countries, 8862 abstracts were screened by two researchers independently. Different cluster of evidence of family influences on health inequalities were identified: Parental behaviors and children's obesity, parents' smoking and drinking habits and adolescents' risk behaviors, parenting style and children's common mental disorders, parental resources and children's quality of life.
Conclusions
There are different aspects of family's contextual and compositional characteristics on health inequalities identifiable in the international literature. These characteristics might be new targets for family-focused health promotion strategies.
Key messages:
-A systematic scoping review found different family aspects that influence health inequalities in children and adolescents.
- The identified family traits are promising targets for family-focused health promotion strategies to reduce health inequalities.
Background: By explaining the development of health inequalities, eco-social theories highlight the importance of social environments that children are embedded in. The most important environment during early childhood is the family, as it profoundly influences children’s health through various characteristics. These include family processes,
family structure/size, and living conditions, and are closely linked to the socioeconomic position (SEP) of the family. Although it is known that the SEP contributes to health inequalities in early childhood, the effects of family characteristics on health inequalities remain unclear. The objective of this scoping review is to synthesise existing research on the mediating and moderating effects of family characteristics on socioeconomic health inequalities (HI) during early childhood in high-income countries.
Methods: This review followed the methodology of “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews”. To identify German and English scientific peer-reviewed literature published from January 1st, 2000, to December 19th,
2019, the following search term blocks were linked with the logical operator “AND”: (1) family structure/size, processes, living conditions, (2) inequalities, disparities, diversities, (3) income, education, occupation, (4) health and (5) young children. The search covered the electronic databases PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus.
Results: The search yielded 7,089 records. After title/abstract and full-text screening, only ten peer-reviewed articles were included in the synthesis, which analysed the effects of family characteristics on HI in early childhood. Family processes (i.e., rules /descriptive norms, stress, parental screen time, parent–child conflicts) are identified to have mediating or moderating effects. While families’ living conditions (i.e., TVs in children’s bedrooms) are suggested as
mediating factors, family structure/size (i.e., single parenthood, number of children in the household) appear to moderate health inequalities. Conclusion: Family characteristics contribute to health inequalities in early childhood. The results provide overall
support of models of family stress and family investment. However, knowledge gaps remain regarding the role of family health literacy, regarding a wide range of children’s health outcomes (e.g., oral health, inflammation parameters, weight, and height), and the development of health inequalities over the life course starting at birth.
Health inequalities during school-to-work transitions among young adults: Mapping the evidence
(2020)
Background
School-to-work transition is a sensitive period that can have a substantial impact on health over the life course. Previous studies suggest pronounced health inequalities during this period but little is known about the determinants at the individual, meso- and macro-levels. We aim to further elucidate possible health inequalities during school-to-work transitions with a focus on multilevel determinants, e.g. evidence on potential effects of contextual and compositional factors of specific institutions involved.
Methods
We are currently conducting a scoping review (funded by the German Research Foundation) to map the evidence on the above mentioned topic among young adults (aged 16-24 years), following the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and ÓMalley and PRISMA. The literature search was performed in Ovid MEDLINE, Web of Science, ILO and NIOSH, using sensitive search strategy developed by text-analysis. Only articles published between January 2000 - February 2020 and written in English or German are considered. The selection process is conducted following a two-step approach:1) screening of titles and abstracts 2) screening of full-texts by two independent reviewers. Any discrepancies in the selection process are resolved by a third researcher.
Preliminary Results
Following the five stages of the methodological framework, the scoping review is currently in stage 3 (study selection-screening phase). We found 25,069 potentially relevant articles in our primary search. 15,508 articles remained after the duplicates were removed. Up to now, 8,825 papers were screened of which 7,629 were excluded and 1,176 included which qualified for full-text reading. Complete results of the scoping review will be presented at the conference.
Conclusions
This scoping review will improve our knowledge about the emergence and development of health inequalities during school-to-work transitions by examining health of individuals in different institutional contexts.
Key messages
- Improving our knowledge of health inequalities during school-to-work transitions.
- the role of determinants at the individual, meso- and macro-levels during this stage will also be examined.
Background: Although early childhood is a life period of overall good health, research shows that families’ socioeconomic position (SEP) is affecting children’s health from pregnancy on, ultimately leading to health inequalities. Little is currently known about the pathways by which family SEP is influencing child health and health-related behaviour, and which role family characteristics play. The scoping review therefore aims to screen the international literature on the mediating and moderating effects of contextual and compositional family characteristics on socioeconomic health risks of pre-school children in developed countries.
Methods: Following the PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews, three online databases (Pubmed, PsycINFO, and Scopus) will be searched for literature in English or German published after year 2000. The two-step data screening approach and the subsequent data extraction will be conducted independently by two researchers in consideration of specific criteria and a previously tested standardized data extraction form. Due to the broad research question at hand, various study designs (e.g. cross-sectional, intervention, cohort studies, and qualitative studies), SEP measures (e.g. education, income) and compositional (e.g. family size, migration) or contextual (e.g. parenting, housing) family characteristics influencing children ́s health will be included. Since diverse definitions and reporting formats of subjective health, health behaviour, well-being, and diseases will be considered, a substantial heterogeneity in outcome measures focusing on the age group of 0-6 years is expected. Thus, a narrative synthesis of the findings will be performed according to the Centre for
Reviews and Dissemination framework.
Ethics and dissemination: Because no primary data will be collected, ethical clearance will not be required. Dissemination will include peer-reviewed publications and conferences.
Background:
While health inequalities among young people are well described, the underlying mechanisms have been explored far less. Compositional and contextual characteristics of institutional contexts (e.g. kindergartens, schools) are likely to shape health inequalities among young people and may have an impact above and beyond individual-level determinants. The general research objectives of the research unit are to empirically study if characteristics of different institutional contexts are associated with the emergence of individual-level inequalities in health and c) to integrate findings from different life stages into a comprehensive theoretical model about the key mechanisms at individual and contextual levels.
Methods and analysis:
Building upon reviews of the existing evidence, each of the five subprojects of the research unit will analyse secondary data (cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys). The subprojects will focus on institutional contexts that serve as major socialization agents in society, such as the family, kindergarten, school, tertiary education/work, as well as the health care system. Linear or logistic multilevel modelling will be applied in order to examine the role of institutional characteristics for young people's health and health inequalities at the individual level.
Ethics and dissemination:
The dissemination activities include the publication of results in peer-reviewed journals, at international and national scientific conferences, as well as press releases in written and broadcast media to inform relevant stakeholders and the lay public. In the first funding stage, the research unit only uses secondary data of existing datasets. Therefore, ethical approval is not required.
Do families have moderating or mediating effects on early health inequalities? A scoping review
(2021)
Background
During early childhood, families have a crucial impact on children's health behaviour, health, and development (bhd). However, a family's socioeconomic position (SEP) determines both the parental behaviour, living conditions, and child health. To understand how family characteristics may influence the development of health inequalities, this scoping review synthesised research on their mediating and moderating effects.
Methods
The review followed the guidelines of the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews. The search included German and English peer-reviewed articles published between January 1st, 2000 and December 19th, 2019. The search in PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus used both free text terms in the title/abstract and index terms within linked keyword blocks: (1) family characteristics, (2) inequalities, (3) income, education, occupation, (4) bhd, (5) newborn, infant, toddler, preschooler. Two researchers independently examined eligibility for inclusion in two rounds (title/abstract; full-text).
Results
Of 7,089 articles identified, ten sources were included that studied family characteristics and health inequalities among 0-6 years olds. Parental rules, stress, and screentime, and TV in bedroom showed mediating effects on inequalities in behaviour problems or children's screentime. Families' negativity, single parenthood, and the number of children in the household moderated differences in impairment, health, behaviour problems, development or breastfeeding initiation.
Conclusions
The effect of family characteristics on early health inequalities has been sparsely investigated. The evidence supported models of family stress and investment. Further research is needed to comprehensively understand this association.
Key messages
Family characteristics contribute to health inequalities.
Taking families’ stress and investment into account could improve targeted prevention efforts aimed at reducing health inequalities.