Papers by Einar B Thorsteinsson
Journal of global health reports, Mar 9, 2024
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, nations around the world introduced a range of behavioural ... more In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, nations around the world introduced a range of behavioural interventions and restrictions in order to manage the spread of the virus. These included social distancing, lockdowns, and use of personal protective equipment, amongst others. The aim of the present paper is to examine some of the effects of these interventions on the psychological wellbeing and mental health of older adults, especially those with hearing loss. Methods The present review focused on published peer reviewed studies focusing on older adults. Search engines included Google Scholar, SpringerLink Journals, ProQuest Central, and PubMed employing different combinations of search terms such as "COVID-19", "older adults", and "isolation". Results Older adults were at risk of experiencing increased anxiety and depression and poorer wellbeing during lockdowns across nations, with those self-reporting loneliness reporting more severe symptomatology. Reductions in wellbeing were observed both amongst community-dwelling older adults and those living in residential care facilities. Use of personal protective equipment, especially masks, and social distancing requirements impacted communication amongst older adults with hearing loss, with this subgroup reporting increased depression, anxiety, and stress, with symptoms increasing with the severity of the hearing loss. Conclusions While technology can help to mitigate the impacts of lockdowns and restrictions, limited access to devices and a range of challenges in upskilling older adults has impacted the utility of these technologies for promoting wellbeing. Education and training in the use of technologies and digital devices for both older adults and families might assist in promoting wellbeing, with increased accessibility needed in aged care facilities to further support the wellbeing of residents.
Comorbidity, 2019
Overweight/obesity tends to co-occur with disturbed sleep and disordered eating (e.g. binge-eatin... more Overweight/obesity tends to co-occur with disturbed sleep and disordered eating (e.g. binge-eating, night-eating), although the precise mechanism/s underpinning the relationships is unclear. However, overweight/obese people are more likely to eat late at night than normal-weight people, thus, late night-eating (or binge-eating, which often occurs at night) may at least partly explain the observed relationship between overweight/obesity and impaired sleep in affected individuals. For example, night-eating and binge-eating are related to impaired sleep (e.g. longer sleep onset latency) and weight gain in obese people, and clinically, obese people are at an increased risk of a binge eating disorder and/or night eating syndrome diagnosis. A similar profile of sleep deficits is evident in overweight/obese people, binge-eaters, and night-eaters, and impaired sleep (e.g. longer sleep onset latency, shorter sleep duration) is associated with overweight/obesity, night-eating, and binge-eating. Thus, it is possible that the sleep problems experienced by overweight/obese people are at least in part due to the indirect effects of late night-eating and/or binge-eating on sleep, although it is less clear exactly how this might occur. Several psychological and biological mechanisms are examined as potential explanations of the relationship between disordered eating, overweight/obesity, and impaired sleep, including an elevated nocturnal body temperature.
Background: Of all the childhood vaccines, the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination has a uniq... more Background: Of all the childhood vaccines, the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination has a uniquely controversial history. The present study aimed to investigate whether attitudes to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and the ability to appropriately interpret scientific information impacts parental decisions regarding vaccination. Method: A sample of 132 parents and expectant parents (mean age 38.40 years; > 60% with university education) participated in a survey related to attitudes toward and knowledge about the MMR and ASD, and completed a standardized test of science (The American College Test). Results: Knowledge of ASD was related to attitudes towards ASD while attitudes towards ASD were related to scientific literacy and attitudes towards MMR. Only attitudes towards MMR predicted MMR vaccine status (i.e., vaccination decision). Conclusion: Factors other than scientific literacy seem to contribute towards MMR vaccine status.
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jun 21, 2018
A sample of 243 women completed an online self-report questionnaires for self-oriented and social... more A sample of 243 women completed an online self-report questionnaires for self-oriented and socially-prescribed perfectionism , locus of control, and postpartum depression.
An experiment was conducted to test for the presence of prejudice towards obesity and whether wei... more An experiment was conducted to test for the presence of prejudice towards obesity and whether weight controllability information reduces this prejudice and impacts on a person's own healthy weight management. The experiment randomly allocated 346 participants (49 males) into one of three conditions: controllable contributors toward obesity condition (e.g., information about personal control about diet and exercise); uncontrollable contributors toward obesity condition (e.g., information about genes, factors in society); and a control condition with no information given. Using randomised control trial design and pre- and post-measures, the present study addressed many methodological issues present in previous studies. Prejudice was present in 81% of the sample. Weight controllability information had no significant effect on prejudice levels or exercise or healthy eating self-efficacy levels. A negative relationship was found between prejudice towards obesity and level of exercise and healthy eating self-efficacy. Weight status was negatively related to level of prejudice towards obesity and positively related to exercise and healthy eating self-efficacy. These findings suggest that future studies modelling causal factors in obesity may need to incorporate measures of healthy eating self-efficacy and prejudice.
Data comprised of female partners of Australian combat veterans (N=282). <br>Identifying in... more Data comprised of female partners of Australian combat veterans (N=282). <br>Identifying information has been removed including the "number of deployments".
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jun 21, 2018
Learning outcomes After reading this chapter, you should be able to: • explain key benefits and r... more Learning outcomes After reading this chapter, you should be able to: • explain key benefits and risks associated with nutrition and different types of diet • critically analyse different types of nutritional and exercise recommendations and claimed health benefits • identify limitations in the existing scientific research and how that impacts on the generalisability of said research findings • understand issues surrounding eating disorders • evaluate barriers to increased physical activity levels. Introduction This chapter focuses on scientific findings and theory surrounding nutrition and exercise and how the right nutrition and exercise can improve health-related outcomes. Nutrition and diet will be examined synonymously, and this examination will cover controversial areas such as saturated fat, cholesterol, salt, alcohol, fibre, sugar, fast food and some of the diets on offer. This chapter should provide you with an understanding of diet, exercise, weight gain and eating disorders. This means that we will try to delve into the many complex motivators for food selection and consumption. If there was ever an area in science that has been regarded as difficult, contentious and full of ‘gurus’ who preach ‘the truth’, that might be the science of nutrition, and especially how the food we ingest has the power to affect our health. Given our current state of knowledge, it seems safe to say that anyone trying to sell you the perfect diet is really only selling the idea of a perfect diet and not the perfect diet per se. So how do we know what to eat, what not to eat and how much to eat? What can the research literature tell us? When we implement interventions to change the diet of a particular population, we need to base such interventions on scientific evidence and knowledge and we need to monitor what effects such changes have on the health of the population in question. We can also examine animal-based studies to see what extreme diets can do to our health. The question is: Can we improve our consumption patterns in Australia and, if so, how?
Australian journal of environmental education, Jun 27, 2022
Widespread tropical deforestation and biodiversity loss in Southeast Asia due to the oil palm ind... more Widespread tropical deforestation and biodiversity loss in Southeast Asia due to the oil palm industry can be addressed by encouraging consumers to purchase sustainable palm oil (SPO). An online experiment was conducted to assess whether addressing barriers relating to education, motivation and product availability would increase purchasing of SPO. Australian adults (n = 628) were randomly assigned to either: (1) a newly developed interactive educational website on palm oil and SPO; (2) an existing educational video on SPO; or (3) an interactive website on differentiating between real and fake news (an attentional control condition). All participants completed pre-intervention and immediate post-intervention measures. Most participants (n = 403) completed follow-up measures two weeks later. Multivariate analysis revealed that the interactive website and educational video increased both knowledge and the intention to purchase SPO (compared to the attentional control), but neither significantly impacted follow-up self-reported SPO purchasing behaviour. Low perceived product availability might help explain the intention-behaviour gap. Our results suggest that, in addition to increasing consumer knowledge and motivation, promoting sustainable consumption requires creating opportunities for people to engage in the desired behaviour.
Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, Jun 1, 2005
Nutrients
Breakfast is often considered the most important meal of the day and can benefit adolescent healt... more Breakfast is often considered the most important meal of the day and can benefit adolescent health in several ways. The aims of the present study were (1) to identify adolescents’ socio-demographic (sex, family affluence and family structure) determinants of daily breakfast consumption (DBC) and (2) to describe trends in DBC among adolescents across 23 countries. Cross-sectional surveys of nationally representative samples of adolescents (aged 11, 13, and 15 years) (n = 589,737) participating in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey from 2002 to 2018 were used. Multilevel logistic regression analyses modeled DBC over time, adjusted for family affluence, family structure and year of survey. Four countries showed an increased trend in DBC (the Netherlands, Macedonia, Slovenia, and England). A significant decrease in DBC was observed in 15 countries (Belgium-Fr, France, Germany, Croatia, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Denmark, Finlan...
Objective: There is a growing body of research showing that birth related posttraumatic stress di... more Objective: There is a growing body of research showing that birth related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms may impact the mother-infant relationship. The present study assessed the strength of the association between birth related PTSD symptoms and the mother-infant relationship. Method: A total of twelve studies (5,572 participants) were included based on database searches using PubMed, EBSCO and ProQuest. Results: The findings showed that greater levels of birth related PTSD symptoms were associated with poorer mother-infant relationship, r = -.36, 95% CI: [-.43 - -.28], random effects model. The outcomes appeared to be heterogeneous (Q(11) = 81.63, p < .001, tau² = .0123, I² = 80.73%), despite all outcomes being in the same direction as the overall outcome. Conclusions: The results indicated that birth related PTSD symptoms negatively impact the mother-infant relationship. Further investigation into the prevention of birth related trauma is suggested. Improving bi...
Purpose: An increasing body of evidence indicates that people with cancer experience psychosocial... more Purpose: An increasing body of evidence indicates that people with cancer experience psychosocial concerns across the entirety of their cancer experience from pre-diagnosis to survivorship. These concerns have not just a deleterious effect on their medical journey, but impact more broadly across well-being and, importantly, the well-being of the people that love and care for them. Whilst most oncology research focuses on patients, the role and experiences of families and carers is increasingly recognised as a core component of health service delivery. Methods: This paper outlines an evaluation of the psychosocial experiences of 125 rural people accessing cancer services through three health services in rural NSW. Results: Despite an increasing and improved focus on rural heath equity, and the funding of high-quality rural cancer services over the past decade, the findings of this study suggest that cancer patient and carer populations in rural NSW experience concerning levels of psy...
BioPsychoSocial Medicine
Background Evidence suggests that up to 30% of cancer patients may meet the criteria for adjustme... more Background Evidence suggests that up to 30% of cancer patients may meet the criteria for adjustment disorder. However, no assessment instruments have been validated for use with cancer patients. The Adjustment Disorder New Module (ADNM)-8 and ADNM-4 are brief screening tools for adjustment disorder mapped directly to the new ICD-11 criteria. The aim of this study was to investigate the factor structure and validity of both instruments in an Australian sample of adult oncology patients. Methods A total of 405 participants with a cancer diagnosis were recruited online from across Australia. Participants reported cancer-specific information, such as time since diagnosis, treatment stage, cancer stage, type of cancer, and the following questionnaires: 8-item Adjustment Disorder New Module (ADNM-8), the World Health Organisation Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and the short form Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). The predictiveness of stressors was assessed using multiple regressi...
PeerJ
Background Cancer is a long-term condition with biopsychosocial components. People with cancer li... more Background Cancer is a long-term condition with biopsychosocial components. People with cancer living in rural areas can have poorer treatment outcomes and higher rates of unmet psychosocial needs than those in urban areas. Cancer, as opposed to other chronic conditions, poses a unique challenge in this current COVID-19 pandemic context, given immunocompromised states of patients and long-term survivor treatment effects. The disaggregated impact of psychosocial issues potentiated by the pandemic on rural vs. urban cancer populations is yet to be quantified. This rapid review investigates whether (i) people with cancer are experiencing pandemic-related psychosocial impacts, (ii) these impacts are equivalent in urban and rural locations, and (iii) whether the rapid uptake of telehealth mitigates or reinforces any identified impacts. Method A rapid review was conducted for literature published between December 2019 and 13 August 2021. Results Fifteen papers were included, incorporating...
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Papers by Einar B Thorsteinsson
Objective(s): The main objective was to examine changes to various health and social indicators over time by sexual orientation.
Method: Various health and social indicators from the different surveys were examined such as liking school, life satisfaction, bullying, general health, drug use, and support from family and friends.
Results: Changes over time show that the situation for LGB adolescents, as compared with heterosexual adolescents, was generally worse in 2010 than in 2006. However, it has improved from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2014 to 2018. With the 2018 levels generally being much better than in 2006.
Conclusions: Life for LGB adolescents in Iceland appears to be improving over time across various health and social indicators.
Objective(s): The objective was to examine changes to various health and social indicators over time according to an individual’s sexual orientation.
Method: Questions relating to each of the health and social indicators of interest from the Icelandic HBSC survey were examined.
Results: Changes over time indicate that the situation for LGB adolescents, compared to heterosexual adolescents, was generally worse in 2010 than in 2006. However, some improvements in wellbeing from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2014 to 2018 has since been seen. The 2018 levels are generally much better than those seen in 2006.
Conclusions: Life for sexual minority adolescents in Iceland appears to be improving across various health and social indicators.