Age-Specific Changes in the Effects of Social Connectedness and Loneliness on Depressive Symptoms: Evidence From the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the longitudinal effects of changes in the associations between two distinct aspects of social connections-i.e., social connectedness and loneliness-on depressive symptoms among community-dwelling Korean adults. This study also examines whether these associations vary across three age groups (45-64, 65-74, and 75 or above). METHODS: Using data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing collected between 2014 and 2020 (n=3,642 individuals), fixed effects models were used to examine the age-specific associations between the two distinct aspects of social connections and depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale) while, accounting for time-invariant individual heterogeneity. Social connectedness is measured by asking the frequency of interactions with friends, relatives, or neighbors. RESULTS: The findings indicate that the impact of loneliness on depressive symptoms outweighs that of social disconnectedness. Notably, this study unveils age-specific patterns concerning the impact of the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic on depressive symptoms and changes in the association between loneliness and depressive symptoms. Specifically, middle-aged individuals reported higher levels of depressive symptoms and loneliness along with a heightened impact of loneliness on depressive symptoms, despite maintaining stable social connections. Conversely, the oldest adults experienced reductions in both depressive symptoms and loneliness, despite a significant decrease in socializing. CONCLUSION: These findings shed light on the differential effects of loneliness on depressive symptoms within distinct age groups before and during the pandemic. The implications of these findings are discussed with a focus on informing the development of targeted policy interventions tailored to the specific needs of different age groups.

Social Connectedness and Cognitive Function Before and During COVID-19: A Longitudinal Study of Korean Older Adults With an Instrumental Variable Regression.

OBJECTIVE: We estimate the causal effect of social connectedness (i.e., the frequencies of meeting with friends, relatives, or neighbors) on cognitive function (the Korean version of Mini-Mental State Exam) among Korean older adults. METHODS: We used longitudinal panel data collected before and during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) to set up the fixed (FE) or random effect (RE) models. To overcome omitted variable bias or reverse causality, we used COVID-19 pandemic period as an instrumental variable to estimate the causal effect of social connectedness on cognitive function. RESULTS: Social distancing measures during the COVID-19 period decreased social interaction. The results showed that an increase in the frequency of social interaction led an increase in cognitive scores. Specifically, an increase of one unit in the frequency of meeting familiar people increased cognitive scores by 0.1470 and 0.5035 in the RE and FE models, respectively. CONCLUSION: Social distancing policies due to the global pandemic may have increased the risk of social isolation and cognitive decline among older adults. The government and local communities need to increase their effort to develop way to connect adults through the remainder of the pandemic and beyond.

Did Legalization of Sunday Alcohol Sales Increase Crime in the United States? Evidence From Seven States.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the impact of the legalization of Sunday alcohol sales on several different types of criminal activity in the United States. METHOD: The 2000-2010 data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for seven states (n = 1,746,249) and difference-in-differences type models are used to estimate the effect of the legalization of Sunday alcohol sales on different types of criminal activity. RESULTS: States that legalized Sunday sales of alcohol experienced up to a 16% to 23% increase in the total number of violent and property crimes committed on Sundays (p < .01). However, the aggregate impact of this policy change on crimes committed on all days of the week is not significant because of either positive or statistically insignificant spillover effects of the repeal of Sunday alcohol sales bans on crimes committed on Mondays through Saturdays. These results are robust under alternative model specifications. CONCLUSIONS: We find evidence that the negative effects of legalizing Sunday alcohol sales on criminal activity are day specific, and the overall crime trends are not affected by this policy change. These findings are particularly important given the ongoing public policy debates about the relevancy of the restrictions on Sunday sales of alcohol at off-premise locations.

Effects of health insurance coverage on risky behaviors.

Prior to implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, dependent health insurance coverage was typically available only for young adults under the age of 19. As of September 2010, the Affordable Care Act extended dependent health insurance coverage to include young adults up to the age of 26. I use the National Health Interview Survey for the sample period from 2011 to 2013 to analyze the causal relationship between the expansion of dependent coverage and risky behaviors including smoking and drinking as well as preventive care. I employ a regression discontinuity design to estimate the causal effect of health insurance coverage and overcome the endogeneity problem between insurance status and risky behaviors. When young adults become 26 years old, they are 7 to 10 percentage points more likely to lose health insurance than young adults under the age of 26. Although young adults over the age of 26 are generally aged out of insurance coverage, presence or absence of health insurance does not affect their smoking and drinking behaviors and their access to preventive care.

Influential factors in freeway crash response and clearance times by emergency management services in peak periods.

OBJECTIVE: Various factors influence the time performance of emergency management personnel when a freeway traffic crash occurs. The proper identification and prioritization of factors that contribute to emergency management services' response times and clearance times result in better usage of taxpayer resources. METHOD: Use of a proportional hazard-based Cox-regression model analyzed statewide, peak-period, traffic crash data from 1999 Ohio logs. These data included time performance measures of emergency management services. RESULTS: Traffic crash severity had the most effect on response times. Those crashes involving injuries or fatalities had up to 20% less emergency management service response times than "property damage only" crashes. Environmental factors such as weather or roadway conditions had minimal effect on response times to traffic crashes. Day of week, urban or rural area, off or opposing-lane crash location, number of vehicles involved, heavy vehicle involvement, and response time significantly affected clearance time and the resulting total time during peak periods. CONCLUSIONS: By assessing resources currently dedicated to insignificant factors, emergency management services can further improve response times to those casualties that crucially need emergency services. By accurately identifying and deciphering traffic crash severity from initial field reports, services can further improve. Moreover, improvements in crash severity prediction reduce "false alarms" for emergency services. The improvements reduce the probability of a very short response time for a property damage only crash in which initial reports implied a very severe injury. By focusing on factors that significantly reduce traffic crash clearance times on freeways in peak periods, more reductions in average delay experienced by freeway users, in fuel consumption, and in motor vehicle emissions can occur.