In-home firearm access among US adolescents and the role of religious subculture: Results from a nationally representative study.

Religious participation is linked to numerous positive safety outcomes for adolescents. Scant attention, however, has been paid to associations between religious participation and safety risks among adolescents. Using data from Add Health (N = 18,449), a nationally representative school-based sample of US adolescents, this study examines the relationship between adolescents' religious affiliation and easy access to firearms at home. Regression analyses adjust for complex sampling design and compare easy firearm access at home among conservative Protestant adolescents to adolescent firearm access in other religious traditions. Conservative Protestant adolescents have a substantially greater likelihood of easy access to a gun at home compared to adolescents of all other major religious traditions in the United States. Recognizing differences in adolescent firearm access between subcultural groups can help public health interventions more effectively identify and address the needs of vulnerable populations. The paper's conclusion considers suggestions for effective policy and programmatic initiatives.

Neighborhood perception and self-rated health among Mexican American older adults.

AIM: The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between neighborhood perception and poor self-rated health among older Mexican Americans, adjusting for important background characteristics, such as neighborhood ethnic composition and other health conditions. METHODS: Drawing on the 2004-2005 Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly data (n = 1780), the present study used logistic regression to examine the effects of neighborhood perception on poor self-rated health of older Mexican Americans. RESULTS: The results show that participants with a greater positive perception of their neighborhood were less likely to report poor self-rated health, controlling for both socioeconomic status and health status covariates. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that positive neighborhood perception serves as an important protective factor in overall health. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 2559-2564.

Occupational conditions, self-care, and obesity among clergy in the United States.

Prior research has shown that a variety of occupational conditions such as long work hours are associated with increased likelihood of obesity. In this study, we use the specific case of the clergy to explore how occupational conditions are linked to increased or decreased odds of being obese. We hypothesize that stressful conditions are associated with increased odds of obesity and that self-care practices are associated with decreased odds. Using the 2008/9 U.S. Congregational Life Survey's national sample of clergy from multiple religious traditions, we find support for our hypotheses. Clergy who experience more stress, work more hours, or are bi-vocational have higher odds of obesity. Those who take a day off each week, have taken a sabbatical, or are involved in a support group experience lower odds. For Protestant clergy, being involved in a support group or taking a day off moderates the association between certain stressful occupational conditions and obesity.