New Articles from Annals of Behavioral Medicine and Translational Behavioral Medicine

SBM's two journals, Annals of Behavioral Medicine and Translational Behavioral Medicine: Practice, Policy, Research (TBM), continuously publish online articles, many of which become available before issues are printed. Two recently published Annals and TBM articles are listed below.

SBM members who have paid their 2022 membership dues are able to access the full text of all Annals and TBM online articles via the SBM website by following the steps below.

1. Go to the Members Only section of the SBM website.
2. Log in with your username and password.
3. Click on the Journals link.
4. Click on the title of the journal which you would like to electronically access.

To check your membership status, or if you are having trouble accessing the journals online, please contact the SBM national office at info@sbm.org or (414) 918-3156.

Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Association Between Social Determinants of Health and Glycemic Control Among African American People with Type 2 diabetes: The Jackson Heart Study 

Jie Hu, PhD, RN, FAAN, David M Kline, PhD, Alai Tan, PhD, Songzhu Zhao, MS, Guy Brock, PhD, Lorraine C Mion, PhD, RN, FAAN, Jimmy T Efird, PhD, Danxin Wang, PhD, Mario Sims, PhD, Bei Wu, PhD, Morgana Mongraw-Chaffin, PhD, Joshua J Joseph, MD, MPH, FAHA

Background
Social determinants of health have a significant impact on health outcomes. However, the complexity and interaction of multiple factors influencing glycemic control remain understudied.

Purpose
This study examined associations of socioeconomic position (income, education, and occupation), environmental (physical activity facilities, neighborhood social cohesion, neighborhood problem, and violence), behavioral (physical activity, nutrition, and smoking), and psychological factors (depressive symptoms, stress, and discrimination) with glycemic control (hemoglobin A1c [A1c]) using the World Health Organization Social Determinants of Health framework in African American adults with type 2 diabetes.

Methods
A secondary data analysis was conducted using a longitudinal cohort of 1,240 African American adults with type 2 diabetes who participated in the community-based Jackson Heart Study. Socioeconomic position, environmental, behavioral, and psychological factors were measured using validated instruments in the Jackson Heart Study. Longitudinal structural equation modeling was used with glycemic control (A1c) collected over time (Exams 1–3) as the study outcome.

Results
Our study presents the complex interplay of socioeconomic determinants of health and glycemic control over time. Higher socioeconomic position (higher income, higher level of education, and professional occupation) was directly associated with improvement in glycemic control over time. An association of socioeconomic position on glycemic control mediated through health behavior factors was also observed.

Conclusions
In this analysis, socioeconomic position components were determinants of glycemic control in African American adults with type 2 diabetes. Future studies aimed at reducing health disparities and achieving equality of outcomes in this population will benefit from embedding socioeconomic position components into their design.

 

Highly Cited Article: Trajectories of Mental Distress Among U.S. Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kira E Riehm, MSc, Calliope Holingue, PhD, Emily J Smail, BSc, Arie Kapteyn, PhD, Daniel Bennett, PhD, Johannes Thrul, PhD, Frauke Kreuter, PhD, Emma E McGinty, PhD, Luther G Kalb, PhD, Cindy B Veldhuis, PhD, Renee M Johnson, PhD, M Daniele Fallin, PhD, Elizabeth A Stuart, PhD

Background
Cross-sectional studies have found that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has negatively affected population-level mental health. Longitudinal studies are necessary to examine trajectories of change in mental health over time and identify sociodemographic groups at risk for persistent distress.

Purpose
To examine the trajectories of mental distress between March 10 and August 4, 2020, a key period during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods
Participants included 6,901 adults from the nationally representative Understanding America Study, surveyed at baseline between March 10 and 31, 2020, with nine follow-up assessments between April 1 and August 4, 2020. Mixed-effects logistic regression was used to examine the association between date and self-reported mental distress (measured with the four-item Patient Health Questionnaire) among U.S. adults overall and among sociodemographic subgroups defined by sex, age, race/ethnicity, household structure, federal poverty line, and census region.​​​​​​​

Results
Compared to March 11, the odds of mental distress among U.S. adults overall were 1.84 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.65–2.07) times higher on April 1 and 1.92 (95% CI = 1.62–2.28) times higher on May 1; by August 1, the odds of mental distress had returned to levels comparable to March 11 (odds ratio [OR] = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.66–0.96). Females experienced a sharper increase in mental distress between March and May compared to males (females: OR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.85–2.82; males: OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.15–2.02).​​​​​​​

Conclusions
These findings highlight the trajectory of mental health symptoms during an unprecedented pandemic, including the identification of populations at risk for sustained mental distress.

Check out more highly cited articles here.

Translational Behavioral Medicine: Practice, Policy, Research (TBM)

Facility-level program components leading to population impact: a coincidence analysis of obesity treatment options within the Veterans Health Administration

Laura J Damschroder, Edward J Miech, Michelle B Freitag, Richard Evans, Jennifer A Burns, Susan D Raffa, Michael G Goldstein, Ann Annis, Stephanie A Spohr, Wyndy L Wiitala

Obesity can contribute to increased rates of ill health and earlier death. Proven treatments for obesity include programs that help people improve lifestyle behaviors (e.g., being physically active), medications, and/or bariatric surgery. In the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), all three types of treatments are offered, but not at every medical center—in practice, individual medical centers offer different combinations of treatment options to their patients. VHA medical centers also have a wide range of population impact. We identified high-impact medical centers (centers with the most patients participating in obesity treatment who would benefit from treatment AND that reported the most weight loss for their patients) and examined which treatment configurations led to better population-level outcomes (i.e., higher population impact). We used a novel analysis approach that allows us to compare combinations of treatment components, instead of analyzing them one-by-one. We found that optimal combinations are context-sensitive and depend on the type of center (e.g., large centers affiliated with a university vs. smaller rural centers). We list five different “recipes” of treatment combinations leading to higher population-level impact. This information can be used by clinical leaders to design treatment programs to maximize benefits for their patients.

 

It is time to Go All In: a call to action

Monica L Baskin, PhD, FSBM

Even though there have been numerous advances in medicine and technology in the past few decades, the length and quality of life vary significantly based on a person’s race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, geographic residence, and/or socioeconomic status. In fact, membership in one or more marginalized sociodemographic groups is particularly associated with worse healthcare access and health outcomes. Behavioral medicine is uniquely equipped to advance health equity through inclusive and innovative research and practice and exerted influence on policies and practices that contribute to health disparities.