Michael Thomas French

Despite growing acceptance of cannabis, considerable knowledge gaps persist regarding its effects on overall health status and quality of life. This study examines the impact of cannabis use on individuals’ overall, physical, and mental health status. To address potential endogeneity in cannabis use, we employ an instrumental variable (IV) approach using individual-level data. Three sets of IVs—state-level cannabis laws, cannabis prices, and average cannabis use within matched gender-age groups—are used to estimate two-stage least-squares models. While the results vary across health measures and IVs, the findings based on the strongest IV—group average cannabis use—suggest that more days of cannabis use are associated with fewer days in good mental health among users aged 21 to 64, particularly males. For adults aged 65 and older, the effects are mixed.

Background: A considerable amount of research has examined the short-term health outcomes associated with distressed births. Most studies have focused on the survival of the newborn, health complications, and medical care utilization. Comparatively little research has considered the longer-term physical and mental health outcomes of distressed births that survive into adulthood. Objectives: The primary objective is to determine whether 3 common types of distressed births—low birth weight (LBW), preterm delivery, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission—are significantly related to physical (ie, self-reported overall health status, number of chronic health conditions) and mental (ie, number of mental health disorders) health among young and middle-aged adults. Subjects: Respondents to Waves IV (2008–2009; N=15,701) and V (2016–2018; N=12,300) of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) provide the data for our research. Research Design: Our empirical approach estimates numerous multivariate regression models for Waves IV and V separately, and mixed-effects models for both waves combined. Each subgroup (LBW, preterm delivery, and NICU admission) was analyzed separately in comparison to those without a distressed birth. Results: All 3 distressed birth measures are negatively and significantly (P<0.05) associated with physical and mental health status in adulthood. Conclusions: The primary implication is that clinicians, public health advocates, and policy makers at all levels of government can use these findings to secure additional resources for the prevention of future distressed births. Prevention initiatives can include teenage family planning, prenatal checkups and related care, and incentives for healthy behaviors during pregnancy.

Although they comprise a relatively small subset of all traffic deaths, hit‐and‐run (HR) fatalities are both contemptible and preventable. We analyze longitudinal data from 1982 to 2008 to examine the effects of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) laws on HR traffic fatalities. Our results suggest that lower BAC limits may have an unintended consequence of increasing HR fatalities, whereas a similar effect is absent for non‐HR fatalities. Specifically, we find that the adoption of a 0.08 BAC limit is associated to an 8.3% increase in HR fatalities. This unintended effect is more pronounced in urban areas and during weekends, which are typical settings for HR incidents.

Significant support exists in the United States for legalization of marijuana/cannabis. As of 2021, 36 states and four territories approved the legalization of medical cannabis via medical marijuana laws (MMLs), and 15 states and District of Columbia (DC) have adopted recreational marijuana laws (RMLs). We performed structured and systematic searches of articles published from 2010 through September 2021. We assess the literature pertaining to adolescent marijuana use; opioid use and opioid-related outcomes; alcohol use; tobacco use; illicit and other drug use; marijuana growing and cultivation; employment, earnings, and other workplace outcomes; academic achievement and performance; criminal activity; perceived harmfulness; traffic and road safety; and suicide and sexual activity. Overall, 113 articles satisfied our inclusion criteria. Except for opioids, studies on use of other substances (illicit drugs, tobacco, and alcohol) were inconclusive. MMLs and RMLs do not generate negative outcomes in the labor market, lead to greater criminal activity, or reduce traffic and road safety.

This paper examines workplace mentoring and socializing behaviours in the wake of #MeToo and whether these practices might be associated with women’s career trajectories. To address this important and timely topic, we fielded two surveys, one to managers (n = 203) and the other to female employees (n = 1,847), asking several questions about mentoring and male/female work interactions. Descriptive statistics show that 32% of the female employee sample report that their views on male/female work interactions are different today than they were 1–2 years ago. Multivariate analyses of the manager sample indicate that male managers are significantly less likely than female managers to mentor or interact one-on-one with female employees. The implication of these findings is that female employees may face a mentoring disadvantage in the wake of #MeToo. The adverse effects for career growth and advancement for female employees could be profound.

When the novel coronavirus entered the US in early 2020, the initial response to protect the health-care system capacity, slow transmission, and associated morbidity and mortality has been stay-at-home orders, social distancing, and proper hygiene. However, extended social isolation can result in unintended consequences. To examine possible unintended consequences, we fielded a longitudinal survey with the same sample of respondents – the first at the end of March 2020 and the second one month later at the end of April 2020. We calculated changes over time in physical health status, mental health status, alcohol consumption, and sleep quality. Random-effects logit models were estimated to identify statistically significant predictors for each outcome. Results show that individuals reported significantly worse outcomes in all four areas as the pandemic progressed, especially for alcohol consumption and sleep quality. In general, age, non-White race, religiosity, and resiliency are protective factors while being female and having greater fear of the coronavirus are risk factors. If these trends continue as we enter future stages of the pandemic, then the full societal costs could become extreme.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is a significant health and economic crisis around the world. The U.S. saw a rapid escalation in laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and related deaths in March, 2020. The financial consequences of a virtual economic shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavinis are widespread and debilitating, with over 30 million Americans (about 20% of the labor force) filing for unemployment benefits since mid-March. During these unprecedented times, it is important to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological distress and overall fear associated with the virus. Data: To gain an understanding of the overall levels and predictors of psychological distress experienced in the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., a survey was administered online to over 2,000 individuals residing in the country. The survey instrument was administered between March 22-26, 2020, during which time the country was suffering through a period of exponential growth in COVID-19 cases and fatalities. It was administered via MTurk, a popular crowdsourcing platform increasingly used by social scientists to procure large samples over a brief period of time. A short. valid screening instrument to measure psychological distress in individuals, the Kessler 10 scale was developed in the U.S. in the 1990s as an easy-to-administer symptom assessment. The first dependent variable is the respondents' summated Kessler 10 score. The second dependent variable is a 7-category measure of how afraid the subject is about the novel coronavirus. The final dependent variable is also a 7-category scale, this time measuring self-reported likelihood of contracting the coronavirus. A variety of socio-demographic variables and health status were collected to analyze factors associated with psychological distress and mental health. Methods: Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) multiple regression was employed to analyze these data. Results: We find that protective factors against psychological distress include age, gender (male). and physical health. Factors exacerbating psychological distress include Hispanic ethnicity and a previous mental illness diagnosis. Similar factors are significantly related to fear of the virus and self-assessed likelihood of contracting it. Discussion: The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with high levels of psychological distress in the U.S. The Kessler 10 mean value in our sample is 21.12, which falls in the likely to experience mild mental illness category, yet is considerably higher compared to one of the largest and earliest benchmark studies validating the scale. Psychological distress is one element of overall mental health status that could be influenced by the COVID-10 pandemic. Other mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders could also be affected by the pandemic. We encourage researchers to examine these and other mental health disorders in future research on the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The relatively high mean score (21.12) for psychological distress during early stages of the pandemic suggests government officials, policy-makers. and public health advocates should act quickly to address emerging mental health problems.