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Background: Contextual factors influence how older adults perceive and adapt to chronic health conditions. We examined the impact of chronic health conditions on trajectories of depressive symptoms among older Chinese adults and investigated whether age-friendly communities buffer this effect.

Methods: We used panel data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study from 2011 to 2018, including 6122 adults aged ≥50 years (22 198 observations). Factor analysis of mixed data (FAMD) was performed to construct composite variables of community characteristics. The cross-level interactions between community variables and multimorbidity were included in growth curve models to assess the moderating effects.

Results: Individuals with multimorbidity had Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) scores that were, on average, 1.60 points higher (95% CI 1.31 to 1.89) than those without chronic conditions, indicating a relatively modest effect size. Associations with depressive symptoms were weaker in more favourable community environments and among individuals with higher participation (all P for interaction<0.001). For multimorbidity, β coefficients were smaller in areas with better infrastructure (1.50 vs 1.73), stronger social services (1.47 vs 1.85) and higher participation (1.47 vs 2.09). A similar pattern was observed for individuals with a single condition, with smaller β coefficients in areas with better infrastructure (0.41 vs 0.79), stronger social services (0.35 vs 0.78) and higher participation (0.35 vs 0.89).

Conclusion: Age-friendly environments may ameliorate the effects of multimorbidity on depressive symptoms. Interventions can target modifiable community-level factors to better support older adults with chronic conditions.

Background and Objectives: This study aims to examine the causal effect of adult children’s marital status on parental depressive symptoms in the Chinese context, and whether parents’ demographic characteristics play a role in the association.

Research Design and Methods: We utilized the 5 waves of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study spanning over 9 years. The participants were categorized into 3 distinct groups: (1) the individuals with at least 1 divorced adult child; (2) those with at least 1 unmarried child aged 30 or older; and(3) a reference group consisting of those not meeting criteria for the first 2 categories. We employed marginal structural models to estimate the causal effect of adult children’s marital status and parental depressive symptoms.

Results: In total, 13,077 participants were included in the analysis. Parents with divorced adult children (β = 1.55, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.28–1.82) and those with marriage-delayed children (β = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.53–1.13) had an increased risk of depressive symptoms when compared to the reference group. When the number of divorced or marriage-delayed adult children was included, the coefficient for parental depressive symptoms was 1.10 (95% CI: 0.92–1.28).

Discussion and Implications: This study provides evidence that adult children’s divorce and delayed marriage are associated with parental depressive symptoms in the Chinese context. This research helps uncover culturally significant risk factors for late-life depression, necessitating enhanced psychological support and preventive strategies to address the needs of vulnerable groups.

Traditional medicine has been practised for millennia in the Sámi population, based on a Sámi worldview and cosmology, which includes natural remedies, prayers, drums and yoik singing. During the Christianisation of the Sámi during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, these practices were condemned. In recent years, however, a revival of Sámi culture has occurred and so has the practice of Sámi traditional medicine (STM) and the use of complementary alternative medicine (CAM). The aim of this study is to map the prevalence and use of STM and CAM among Sámi in Sweden today. The study population consisted of 3641 Sámi from the whole of Sweden, who had participated in the population-based cross-sectional survey Sámi Health on Equal Terms (SámiHET) in 2021. Our results show that women are more prone to use both STM and CAM than men and that younger persons are more likely to use STM and CAM than elderly persons. STM is more often used in the northern parts of Sápmi compared to the southern parts as well as a lower use of CAM in the north. This might be due to the stronger Sámi identity and easier access to traditional Sámi healers/helpers in the north as well as limited access to CAM services.

Självskadande handlingar relateras ofta till psykisk ohälsa vilket medfört att de som skadar sig själva uppfattas vara i behov av psykologisk eller psykiatrisk behandling. Med hänvisning till att ett stort antal ungdomar skadar sig själva finns anledning att ompröva konnotationen mellan självskadande handlingar och psykisk problematik. För att förstå ungdomars självskadande handlingar bör dessa relateras till en sociokulturell kontext med fokus på unga människors handlingsutrymme. Att skada sig själv kan vara en strategi för att hantera de känslor som kan uppstå i problematiska situationer inom familj eller skola. Vi argumenterar för vikten av ett samhälleligt preventivt arbete för att motverka att ungdomar börjar skada sig själva, och menar att konkreta åtgärder i den sociala kontexten även kan stödja dem som redan börjat skada sig.

Although common among community adolescents, self-injuring acts are mainlystudied by psychiatrists and psychologists and rarely by social work researchers.The preponderance of medical research in the field has come to associateself-injuring acts with mental issues. This view has to a large extent beenadopted among professionals as well as among laypeople. When examiningadolescents’ unsolicited internet published narratives, this medicalization ofself-injuring acts was found to have negative consequences for disclosure andhelp-seeking, and hence limit the adolescents’ possibilities to get adequate helpand support. The main objective of this work is to study adolescents’ views onhampering factors for help-seeking for self-injuring acts and the role of medicalisationfor their willingness for disclosure and help-seeking. Disclosure ofself-injuring acts within the social network was described as met with demandsto seek professional mental help. Seeking professional help was accompaniedwith fear of being perceived as crazy or diagnosed as mentally ill. Internet websiteswere described as value free and safe arenas giving opportunity to discloseself-injuring acts without fear of being stigmatized and labelled as mentally ill.An extended involvement of social work researchers and professionals, approachingself-injuring acts not primarily as a sign of mental problems, but asan adolescent way of trying to manage a complicated social context, could enhancefinding adequate support systems. It is also necessary that the medicalprofession contributes to a demedicalization of self-injuring acts.

Sámi traditional healing has been practiced in the Sápmi region of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia for millennia. This study focuses on Sámi traditional healing in Sweden. Through interviews with five active healers and 11 key informants, we found that traditional healing is currently alive in Sweden but hidden. Healers treat health problems ranging from the physical to the spiritual, including mental issues and life’s difficult situations. Low-cost methods are used: spiritual healing with prayers and the laying on of hands, consultation, and herbal remedies. Healing takes place either face-to-face or over distance. Healers charge no money but accept small gifts. Being a healer is a calling. A general concern is voiced by informants about the diminishing number of healers in Sweden.

This study analyses suicides amongst reindeer herding Sami in Sweden using information from the database of the National Board of Forensic Medicine. Suicides were identified using registers (39 suicides from 1961-2000) and key informants (11 suicides from 2001-2017). A great majority of cases were males (43 males, 7 females), and 50% occurred in the northernmost region. The mean age was 37.4 years with a peak in the group 20-29 years of age. Shooting was the most common (56%) method, followed by hanging. Blood alcohol concentration measures available from 1993 were above 0.2 g/l in 76% of the cases. There was a maximum incidence of suicides between 1981 and 1990. An accumulation of suicides in the months of May (N = 8) and November (N = 7) was seen. The annual suicide rate was estimated to be between 17.5 and 43.9 per 100 000 population. There was a clear gradient in suicide incidence with the highest being in the southernmost region (Jamtland/Harjedalen) and the lowest in the northernmost county (Norrbotten). For strengthened suicide prevention in this group, future research should address sex differences, the role of alcohol use and the general conditions for reindeer herding.

Objective: The aim of this project was to describe the work organisation in the Sami communities and in reindeer-herding work and to explore the range of female duties and compare how men and women experience their psychosocial working conditions.

Design: A kind of intervention study was performed by means of a questionnaire sent out to 200 individuals from seven Sami communities. Questions were asked about work organisation, communication, personal relations, solitary work, support, participation and appreciation from colleagues and women's tasks. Meetings and discussions were held about what was perceived as being important in the life of the Sami communities. Notes from 16 group discussions were written down and analysed according to themes of topics relating to how men and women in the Sami communities experience their lives.

Results: Communication and relations were described as being inadequate and some respondents experienced a heavy workload. The women reported more troubled relations, less participation in decision-making and less appreciation from colleagues. Positive issues reported were the Sami identity and a strong connection to the reindeer and to nature.

Conclusions: This study indicates a need for a more systematic study of the psychosocial work conditions in the Sami communities in Sweden. Measures should be taken to develop the organisation of work, e.g. through developing communication strategies and conflict management, which has been requested by several Sami communities.