Suchergebnisse

Network analysis has become a popular tool to examine data from online social networks to politics to ecological systems. As more computing power has become available, new technology-driven methods and tools are being developed that can support larger and richer network data, including dynamic network analysis. This timely merger of abundant data and cutting edge techniques affords researchers the ability to better understand networks over time, accurately show how they evolve, find patterns of growth, or study models such as the diffusion of innovation. We combine traditional methods in social network analysis with new innovative visualizations and methods in dynamic network studies to explore an online tobacco-control community called GLOBALink, using almost twenty years of longitudinal data. We describe the methods used for the study, and perform an exploratory network study that links empirical results to real-world events.

Abstract
Network analysis has become a popular tool to examine data from online social networks to politics to ecological systems. As more computing power has become available, new technology-driven methods and tools are being developed that can support larger and richer network data, including dynamic network analysis. This timely merger of abundant data and cutting edge techniques affords researchers the ability to better understand networks over time, accurately show how they evolve, find patterns of growth, or study models such as the diffusion of innovation. We combine traditional methods in social network analysis with new innovative visualizations and methods in dynamic network studies to explore an online tobacco-control community called GLOBALink, using almost twenty years of longitudinal data. We describe the methods used for the study, and perform an exploratory network study that links empirical results to real-world events.

AbstractGLOBALink, a large online network of tobacco control professionals, was active in the promotion of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control treaty, an international treaty aimed at reducing the global burden of tobacco-related death and disease. We examined and compared the roles that different countries served in the GLOBALink community during FCTC negotiation and ratification. Previous studies of FCTC ratification found the process adhered to a diffusion of innovation model (Valente et al., 2015). We followed that work by conducting content analyses of discussion messages posted by GLOBALink members representing different countries. Based on the time when they ratified the FCTC, each country was labeled by one of the four adoption stages of the diffusion model and we investigated the amount of shared word use between the different stages. A goodness-of-fit chi-squared test indicated that content was not shared in an expected manner between stages (χ2 = 11,856.45, N = 51,447, p < 0.001). A deeper look at the specific words shared between countries within and between adoption stages provided insight into how interactions between certain countries might have served to support the ratification process.

This article provides an overview of international translation of health behavior interventions. The ideas expressed in this article serve to provide direction when developing a health behavior program for a host country, utilizing previous programmatic knowledge from elsewhere. First, the authors discuss constituents of country-level variables about which international translation might focus. Next, they suggest two general sorts of adaptations reflecting country-level differences: surface versus deep-level changes and language. Then, they highlight the importance and means of cooperation in international translation. Two examples of international translation protocols are presented.

Mexico was the first country in the Americas to sign and ratify the World Health Organization's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2004. More than a decade later, it is appropriate to evaluate legislative and regulatory progress and the associated challenges; and also, to propose a roadmap to prioritize the problems to be addressed to achieve long-term sustainable solutions. Mexico has made substantial progress in tobacco control. However, regulations have been only weakly enforced. The tobacco industry continues to interfere with full implementation of the WHO-FCTC. As a result, tobacco consumption remains stable at about 17.6%, with a trend upwards among vulne­rable groups: adolescents, women and low-income groups. The growing popularity of new tobacco products (electronic cigarettes or e-cigs) among young Mexicans is an increasing challenge. Our review reveals the need to implement all provisions of the WHO-FCTC in its full extent, and that laws and regulations will not be effective in decreasing the tobacco epidemic unless they are strictly enforced.

Abstract
Purpose
This study evaluated adolescents' mental health their knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about mental health conditions, and their access to critical mental health services in Lira District, northern Uganda. The political history of the region, the epicenter of the decades-long conflict between the Lord's Resistance Army and the Ugandan government, makes for an interesting case study of the political and social determinants of mental health of those directly impacted by conflict, and on subsequent generations growing up in post-conflict communities.

Methods
This paper presents the results of a community-based participatory research study carried out by youth public health ambassadors in Lira District, Uganda. The study consisted of a mixed methods cross-sectional survey of households, schools, and healthcare facilities.

Results
The study found 66% of adolescents indicated poor well-being and possible symptoms of depression and 41% of adolescents reported at least 4 childhood trauma events. Over 35% reported feeling extremely sad and 60% reported feeling socially isolated during the COVID lockdowns that lasted from 2020 to 2021. Nearly half of the adolescents aged 14–17 surveyed (N = 306) believed that witchcraft caused mental health problems, while less than 20% believed that traumatic experiences could be a cause. Forty percent of respondents had no idea of where to seek mental health care, and few facilities had mental health services available.

Discussion
These findings illustrate the need to study the political and social determinants of mental health, especially on those directly impacted by armed conflict and for the generations growing up in post-conflict communities as they seek to rebuild.