Colton L. Daniels

Previous research has shown that despite higher rates of poverty and race-based discrimination, Black Americans tend to report better mental health outcomes than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. This black-white mental health paradox has been attributed to greater religious involvement and associated health benefits among Black Americans. Data for this study come from a U.S. national sample (n = 1,259) who reported being sick in the past twelve months. Regression analysis indicates that Black American and Hispanic/Latino respondents reported lower levels of depressive symptoms. Frequent attendance at religious services and meetings is associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms, but only for Black Americans and Hispanics/Latinos. Interestingly, the public and private dimensions of religion are positively associated with increased levels of depressive symptoms.

Objective: Thyroid disorders are among the most common endocrine conditions worldwide. However, in the Republic of North Macedonia, national level data on their prevalence and demographic distribution are lacking. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and demographic patterns of nonmalignant thyroid disorders using data from the National eHealth System. Methods: This retrospective, population-based , cross-sectional study analyzed 269,690 anonymized records of patients diagnosed with nonmalignant thyroid disorders, derived from the National eHealth System as of 31 October 2024. Diagnoses were identified using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes E00–E07. Results: The overall national prevalence of nonmalignant thyroid disorders was 14.68%. Prevalence was higher in women (24.36%) than in men (4.85%) and increased with age, with the highest prevalence of 21.9% among those aged 60–79 years. Women had significantly higher odds of thyroid disorders than men (odds ratio: 6.32; 95% confidence interval: 6.25–6.38; p < 0.0001). Prevalence was higher in urban than in rural areas (17.1% vs. 10.9%). Hypothyroidism (E03) was the most common disorder, affecting 9.7% of the population. Conclusion: This is the first national level study to examine the epidemiology of nonmalignant thyroid disorders in the Republic of North Macedonia. The findings reveal marked variations in prevalence by sex, age, and place of residence, underscoring the need for targeted public health strategies and further investigation.

The health implications of engaging in risk-taking or protective behaviors can have long-lasting effects on an individual’s life. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in how religious attitudes and beliefs influence an individual’s health behaviors. However, research on the role of the God Locus of Health Control (GLHC) in the religion–health literature is lacking. Data was derived from a national US sample (n = 1,259) via a cross-sectional survey exploring health attitudes and practices, and important sociocultural factors (e.g., religious beliefs). Results indicated that higher scores on the GLHC scale were associated with greater risk-taking behaviors that included having driven drunk, driving without a seatbelt, being a current tobacco user, and not using sunscreen. Higher GLHC scores were also associated with the protective behaviors of taking allergy medication and washing one’s hands. These results indicated some variation by race/ethnicity, with African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos typically being more risk-averse. Further empirical theoretical implications are discussed.

Suicide is a public health problem and one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Research exploring the linkages between religion and spirituality has received intermittent attention. Data was derived from the Nashville Stress and Health Study (2011–2014), a cross-sectional probability survey of black and white adults from Davidson County, Tennessee (n = 1252). Results indicate that those with no perceived belief in divine control had a higher likelihood of suicidality. This study provides a fresh perspective on the links between religious factors and suicidality by (a) considering multiple religious and spiritual domains and (b) focusing on the association between irreligion and suicidality.

A growing body of work documents the relationship between criminal justice and health has emerged in recent years, including the association between unfair treatment by the police (UTBP) and violent/racialized policing and health outcomes. However, little is known about the resources that could reduce the harmful consequences to well-being of UTBP. Using data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study, we consider both depressive symptoms and allostatic load (a physiological marker of health) and several dimensions of religiosity as stress buffers. African Americans (but not Whites) who experienced personal police contact reported higher depressive symptoms relative to those who experienced no police contact and those reporting vicarious UTBP. Weekly religious attendance and higher church-based support (but not beliefs in divine control, a causal attribution of God’s influence in daily life) mitigated this relationship. African Americans with personal UTBP had higher allostatic load than those with no UTBP. Neither church attendance nor church-based social support attenuated the relationship between personal UTBP and allostatic load, nor did divine control. We discuss how the results of our study can help clarify the parameters of the effectiveness of religious/spiritual coping for African Americans and their implications for criminal justice reform.

Background: Depression is common among HIV-infected individuals and may contribute to suboptimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and subsequent inability to attain viral load (VL) suppression. We evaluated associations between depression, self-reported adherence, and longitudinal HIV treatment outcomes in US Military HIV Natural History Study (NHS) participants with and without depression. Methods: Male NHS participants with available ICD-9 data for mental health diagnoses, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) measures, and self-reported adherence (SRA) were included. ART use was defined as ART initiation between 2006 and 2010, with follow-up through 2015. SRA was defined as taking 95% of ART doses and continuous ART was defined as longitudinal ART use with gaps < 30 days. Continuous VL suppression was defined as maintaining VLs < 200 c/mL on ART. To analyse the association between depression and HIV treatment outcomes, latent class analysis was used to create classes of depression trajectories: low depression (LD), recent onset depression (ROD) and high Depression (HD). Results: Participants had a mean age of 32 (± 8.3) years at HIV diagnosis, and similar proportions were Caucasian (44.3%) or African American (40.8%). Overall, older participants at HIV diagnosis had greater odds of having 95% self-reported adherence (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02–1.12), and African Americans had lower odds (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.22–0.76) compared to Caucasians (OR 1.49, 95% CI 0.52–4.28). However, there was no difference in SRA by depression trajectory. Participants with HD had an increased odds of taking ART continuously (OR 1.75, 95% CI 0.99–3.09), and those with ROD had significantly higher odds of virologic failure (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.38–0.91). Conclusions: Although there was no observed association between depression and SRA, participants with ROD had lower odds of attaining the HIV treatment goal of VL suppression. Continued efforts to identify and aggressively manage mental health disorders is important to success along the HIV care continuum.