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ObjectivesThis study investigated the association between perceived ethnic discrimination and depressive symptoms among biethnic adolescents in South Korea.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study of 4141 biethnic adolescents using data from the 2012 National Survey of Multicultural Families. Perceived ethnic discrimination was measured using the question “Have you ever been discriminated against or ignored because either of your parents is not a Korean?” with an assessment of depressive symptoms over the past 12 months. Logistic regression was applied to examine potential associations between perceived ethnic discrimination and depressive symptoms.ResultsAmong 4141 biethnic adolescents, 558 (13.5%) reported having experienced ethnic discrimination. The most common discriminatory perpetrators were friends (n=241, 5.8%), followed by strangers (n=67, 1.6%). Depressive symptoms were related to experience of ethnic discrimination (odds ratio [OR], 3.80; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.89 to 4.98) after adjusting for potential confounders. In an analysis focusing on the perpetrators of discrimination, depressive symptoms were found to be associated with perceived ethnic discrimination from friends (OR, 3.95; 95% CI, 2.75 to 5.68), teachers (OR, 4.53; 95% CI, 2.16 to 9.51), family members and relatives (OR, 3.89; 95% CI, 1.59 to 9.48), neighbors (OR, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.14 to 5.38), and strangers (OR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.30 to 4.79). Furthermore, the OR for depressive symptoms among those exposed to 1, 2, or 3 or more discriminatory perpetrators were 3.61 (95% CI, 2.49 to 5.24), 3.61 (95% CI, 1.68 to 7.74), and 6.69 (95% CI, 2.94 to 15.22), respectively.ConclusionsAccording to our findings, friends were the most common perpetrators of discrimination and the experience of ethnic discrimination was associated with depressive symptoms among biethnic adolescents in South Korea.

Young adults are prone to psychological stress and anxiety induced by major transitions to adulthood. While employment has predominated in previous research on the social determinants of young people’s mental health, this study examines the association between young people’s housing problems and mental health in the context of an unaffordable housing market. Using the Survey on the Living Conditions and Welfare Needs of Youths (n = 1308) in Korea, the study found that perceived poor housing quality and material hardship are negatively associated with the mental health of young adults living independently. Specifically, while poor housing quality and material hardship induced by housing cost burden were negatively associated with single-person households’ mental health, only poor housing quality was associated with non-single-person households’ mental health. This study is one of the few studies examining the linkage between housing problems and mental health of young adults and informs the interventions aimed at promoting the psychological well-being of young adults in the transition from parents’ homes to independent living.

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Objective: This article aims to investigate how older adults’ income and housing tenure are concurrently associated with depression in Korea. Methods: Using the 2017 Survey of Living Conditions and Welfare Needs of Korean Older Persons, logistic regression was implemented to examine the association of housing tenure and income status with depression among 6,624 older adults. Also, the older adults’ satisfaction with their economic conditions was added to examine its mediation effects on this association. Results: Homeownership lowered the likelihood of depression, whereas lower income increased the likelihood of depression among older adults. Also, lack of income security was associated with depression even among older homeowners, being partially mediated through their satisfaction with economic conditions. Conclusion: This study contributes to articulating the mechanisms linking housing tenure, income insecurity, and mental health of the older population in Korea. Future studies are needed to investigate the social determinants of health among older adults.

Objective: Despite the well-established link between sleep patterns and physical health, less is known about whether sleep duration during adolescence is related to physical health in adulthood. This study examines: (a) whether there is an association between sleep duration in adolescence and cardiometabolic risk in adulthood, and (b) whether this association differs by sex. Method: Using data from the National Longitudinal study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study estimates sibling fixed effects models to account for unobservable family-specific heterogeneity. This study investigates whether sleep duration in adolescence is associated with cardiometabolic risk in adulthood, independently of sleep duration in adulthood. Results: Conventional OLS regression models showed that, compared with individuals who slept 8-9 hr per night during adolescence, those who slept 6 or fewer hours had higher cardiometabolic risk in adulthood (about 13 years later). This was the case for both females and males. Controlling for unobserved family heterogeneity, however, substantially attenuated the association among females, rendering it statistically insignificant. The association for males was robust to controlling for sibling fixed effects. This study also found that the observed association for males is not explained by sleep duration in adulthood. Conclusions: Adolescent sleep duration is associated with cardiometabolic risk in adulthood among males, but not females. A life course approach should be adopted in interventions aiming to reduce cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In particular, this study suggests that a fruitful approach to preventing cardiovascular issues in adulthood includes public health interventions that promote healthy sleeping patterns during adolescence.

Housing is a fundamental social determinant of health (Dunn, Hayes, Hulchanski, Hwang, & Potvin, 2004; Shaw, 2004). Most health research has focused on three key aspects of housing: physical housing conditions, housing affordability and housing tenure. Specifically, substandard dwelling conditions, such as overcrowding and poor ventilation, are the well-known primary risk factors of infectious and respiratory disease. Also, housing problems may cause family disruption and deprivation (Chung et al., 2020; Singh, Aitken, Baker, & Bentley, 2019). While homeownership gives homeowners a greater sense of comfort derived from favourable economic status (Baker, Bentley, & Mason, 2013; Rohe & Stegman, 1994), inadequate housing conditions tend to cause anxiety and depression (Shaw, 2004), and difficulties in affording adequate housing are likely to cause mental health problems (Mason, Baker, Blakely, & Bentely, 2013). However, the association between housing and health outcomes requires a more in-depth and comprehensive analysis in view of the complicated relationship among the housing factors, themselves. For example, homeownership and affordable housing do not necessarily accompany decent dwelling conditions, particularly among low-income households (Pollack, Griffin, & Lynch, 2010). Although higher-income households are more likely to be homeowners, some of the low-income households might also be homeowners (Baker et al., 2013; Macintyre et al., 2003). Moreover, higher-income households tend to pay higher housing costs, but this is often because of their willingness to pay for decent housing, rather than financial hardship (Bentley, Baker,