Age differences in mental health from May through August 2020 among U.S. adults: trajectories and the role of pandemic, lifestyle, and social factors.

Objectives: Using nationally representative data among U.S. adults, we assess age differences in changes in mental health both from 2018 to May 2020 and during the pandemic. We also examine factors explaining age differences in mental health.Methods: We analyzed 2018 General Social Survey data (N = 2,348; age 18-89) and three waves of COVID Response Tracking Study data (N = 2,279; age 20-94) spanning May-August 2020. Outcomes included happiness, loneliness, stress, positive affect, and negative affect.Results: U.S. adults reported greater loneliness and less happiness in May 2020 versus 2018. Only loneliness and negative affect changed significantly from May to August 2020, showing declines. Mental health trajectories did not differ significantly by age. Overall, older adults reported lower loneliness, stress, and negative affect than younger adults during 2020. Older age was associated with two factors linked with better mental health: less likelihood of COVID-19 exposure and greater satisfaction with social activities and relationships. However, none of the factors examined herein explained age differences in mental health.Conclusion: Although mental health trajectories during the pandemic were similar across ages, older adults tended to report better mental health than younger adults. Future research should identify factors that explain age differences in mental health that persisted into 2020.

Religious Affiliation, Religious Service Attendance, and Mortality.

Very few studies have examined the effects of both religious affiliation and religiosity on mortality at the same time, and studies employing multiple dimensions of religiosity other than religious attendance are rare. Using the newly created General Social Survey-National Death Index data, our report contributes to the religion and mortality literature by examining religious affiliation and religiosity at the same time. Compared to Mainline Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and other religious groups have lower risk of death, but Black Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, and even those with no religious affiliation are not different from Mainline Protestants. While our study is consistent with previous findings that religious attendance leads to a reduction in mortality, we did not find other religious measures, such as strength of religious affiliation, frequency of praying, belief in an afterlife, and belief in God to be associated with mortality. We also find interaction effects between religious affiliation and attendance. The lowest mortality of Jews and other religious groups is more apparent for those with lower religious attendance. Thus, our result may emphasize the need for other research to focus on the effects of religious group and religious attendance on mortality at the same time.

Self-reported altruistic and reciprocal behaviors among homosexually and heterosexually experienced adults: implications for HIV/AIDS service organizations.

Prior studies find that gay men and lesbians volunteer in HIV/AIDS service organizations at high rates. However, no population-based study has investigated the mechanisms involved. Using data from the General Social Survey, a nationally representative biennial survey that in 2002 and 2004 interviewed 2031 sexually experienced adults, the authors examine levels of empathic concern, altruistic values, and the past year occurrence of altruistic and reciprocal behaviors among homosexually and exclusively heterosexually experienced adults. Overall, women reported higher levels of empathic concern and stronger altruistic values relative to men while men reported engaging in a wider variety of altruistic behaviors than did women. In gender-specific comparisons, homosexually experienced men reported stronger altruistic values than did exclusively heterosexual men but levels of empathic concern and the range of altruistic and reciprocal behaviors engaged in did not vary appreciable. Among women, homosexually experienced women reported engaging in a wider range of altruistic behaviors than exclusively heterosexual women, but did not differ in their levels of empathic concern or strength of altruistic values. Findings support the existence of some small sexual orientation-related differences in altruistic values and altruistic and reciprocal behaviors. These have implications for HIV-related volunteerism. One surprising finding in this study was that approximately 17% of homosexually experienced men had donated blood in the year prior to interview despite the prohibition against doing so.

The general social survey-national death index: an innovative new dataset for the social sciences.

BACKGROUND: Social epidemiology seeks in part to understand how social factors--ideas, beliefs, attitudes, actions, and social connections--influence health. However, national health datasets have not kept up with the evolving needs of this cutting-edge area in public health. Sociological datasets that do contain such information, in turn, provide limited health information. FINDINGS: Our team has prospectively linked three decades of General Social Survey data to mortality information through 2008 via the National Death Index. In this paper, we describe the sample, the core elements of the dataset, and analytical considerations. CONCLUSIONS: The General Social Survey-National Death Index (GSS-NDI), to be released publicly in October 2011, will help shape the future of social epidemiology and other frontier areas of public health research.