A decade of socioeconomic inequality in type 2 diabetes area-level prevalence: an unshakeable status quo?

Aims: It is well known that there is a socioeconomic gradient in the prevalence of many chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes (T2DM). We present a simple assessment of the macro-level association between area socioeconomic disadvantage and the area-level prevalence of T2DM in Danish municipalities and the development in this relationship over the last decade. Methods: We used readily available public data on the socioeconomic composition of municipalities and T2DM prevalence to illustrate this association and report the absolute and relative summary measures of socioeconomic inequality over the time period 2008–2018. Results: The results show a persistent relationship between municipality socioeconomic disadvantage and T2DM prevalence across all analyses, with a modelled gap in T2DM prevalence between the most and least disadvantaged municipalities, the slope index of inequality, of 1.23 [0.97;1.49] in 2018. Conclusions: These results may be used to indicate areas with specific needs, to encourage systematic monitoring of socioeconomic gradients in health, and to provide a descriptive backdrop for a discussion of how to tackle these socioeconomic and geographic inequalities, which seem to persist even in the context of the comprehensive welfare systems in Scandinavia.

Corpus stylistics and colour symbolism in The Great Gatsby and its Thai translations

The present study adopts a corpus stylistic approach to: (1) examine a relationship between textual patterns of colour words in The Great Gatsby and their symbolic interpretations and (2) investigate the ways those patterns are handled in Thai translations. Distribution and co-occurrence patterns were analysed for colour words that are key in the novel: white, grey, yellow and lavender. The density and frequent patterns of each word are argued to foreground an association between the colour word and particular concepts, pointing to symbolic meaning potentials related to the novel’s themes of socioeconomic inequality and destructive wealth. The textual patterns are compared with what occurs in three Thai translations of the novel. While most of the colour images are directly translated, non-equivalents tend to be applied to figurative uses of the colour terms. This results in some changes in textual patterns of the colour words in the translated texts, which can in turn affect readers’ interpretations of colour symbolism in the novel.

A estratégia hegemônica do realismo na narrativa venezuelana e haitiana no início do século XXI / The Hegemonic Strategy of Realism in the Venezuelan and Haitian Narrative in the Beginning of the 21st Century

Resumo: O trabalho analisa dois textos realistas latino-americanos, Bicentenaire (2004) do escritor haitiano Lyonel Trouillot e Yo maté a Simón Bolívar (2010) do venezuelano Vicente Ulive-Schnell, como produtos simbólicos em circulação num campo comunicacional amplo no qual o sentido das obras como mensagens interage com o horizonte ideológico de época. A leitura literária da identidade dos personagens se fará tomando em conta o conceito de articulação de Gramsci (2011). A relação complementar entre obra e mercado se fará partindo do conceito gramsciano de hegemonia, revisado em sentido pós-estrutural por Laclau e Mouffe (2001), e também da leitura política da literatura proposta por Jameson (1994) e Rancière (2000; 2007). A tensão nas identidades marginalizadas e classes sociais articuladas nos romances aponta para uma exibição crítica da vida nacional e a desigualdade socioeconômica e, além disso, para a construção de uma nova hegemonia cultural. Porém, as obras e seus autores lidam com a frustração de observar os limites do mercado literário no debate nacional ao se deparar com o baixo índice de leitura de sociedades dominadas hegemonicamente por outros horizontes, mercados e suportes comunicacionais.Palavras-chave: romance; Haiti; Venezuela; articulação identitária; hegemonia cultural.Abstract: The article analyzes two realist Latin American texts, Bicentenaire (2004) by Haitian writer Lyonel Trouillot and Yo maté a Simón Bolívar (2010) by the Venezuelan Vicente Ulive-Schnell, as symbolic products in circulation in a broad communicational field in which the meaning of the works as messages interacts with the ideological horizon of the time. The literary reading of the characters’ identities will be done taking into account the concept of articulation by Gramsci (2011). The complementary relationship between literary work and market will be based on his concept of hegemony, reviewed in a post-structural sense by Laclau and Mouffe (2001), and also on the political reading of literature proposed by Jameson (1994) and Rancière (2000; 2007). The tension in marginalized identities and social classes articulated in the novels points to a critical exhibition of national life and socioeconomic inequality and, moreover, to the construction of a new cultural hegemony. However, the works and their authors deal with the frustration of observing the limits of the literary market in the national debate when faced with the low reading rate of societies dominated hegemonically by other horizons, markets and communicational supports.Keywords: novel; Haiti; Venezuela; identitary articulation; cultural hegemony.

A systematic review protocol of quantitative instruments of income inequality in studies of children and adolescents

Background: Income inequality is an important indicator of socioeconomic position which is a determinant of social, psychological, and physical health outcomes from childhood to adulthood. Different income inequality instruments (metrics) are used to investigate associations between income inequality and health outcomes (e.g. Gini coefficient, Theil Index). Income inequality instruments provide unique information on the construct of socioeconomic inequality. Albeit there is variation in studies as to the type and rationale for using a particular quantitative instrument of income inequality. The aim of this systematic review will investigate and identify the most used quantitative income inequality instrument in studies of children and adolescents Methods: The PRISMA-P framework will be applied to identify high quality articles (PROSPERO: CRD42021259114). A search will be conducted in PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO. The search will include studies concerned with income inequality and/or socioeconomic inequality in children and adolescents. All articles will be independently reviewed, data extracted, and quality appraised by two reviewers and a third to arbitrate disputes. Articles will be initially reviewed by title and abstract using inclusion criteria. A data extraction form will be used. Three questions will be answered on the quality of the rationale for using a particular income inequality instrument and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale will be used to assess bias and quality. The primary outcome of interest is the type and frequency of quantitative income inequality instrument used and the study outcome associated with that income inequality instrument. Conclusions: This systematic review will aim to explore and provide a summary of the different types of quantitative income inequality instruments used in studies of child and adolescent populations. This will help to guide researchers and policy makers on the inclusion and use of income inequality metrics in future studies aimed at understanding associations with health and social outcomes in children and adolescents.

Construction and Validation of the Legitimizing Income Inequality Scale

Although income inequality has become a focus of political and social discourse, counseling psychology research examining correlates and consequences of legitimizing income inequality remains sparse. A significant barrier to the study of income inequality is the lack of available measures to assess attitudes toward socioeconomic inequality. The purpose of this study was to develop and provide initial validity evidence for the Legitimizing Income Inequality Scale (LIIS). Results supported a bifactor structure for the LIIS with a general factor (ω = .95) and subfactors measuring Social Welfare Beliefs (ω = .92), Economic Fatalism (ω = .87), and Economic Meritocracy Beliefs (ω = .90). The LIIS significantly correlated in theoretically consistent directions with scores on measures of classist attitudes, socioeconomic conservatism, impression management, and colorblind racial attitudes. Implications for future research and training using the LIIS are provided.

Social Status Differences in Altruism, Fairness and Retaliatory Defection in an Unequal Country

Previous research has claimed that higher-status individuals tend to be less prosocial than lower-status individuals, especially under conditions of inequality. It is also argued that lower-status individuals have more hostile reactions and more retaliatory defection to non-cooperators. Thus, low-status individuals are expected to be both prosocial and antisocial. Using simple behavioral games, we study the relationship of the objective and subjective socioeconomic status of individuals with altruism, fairness, and retaliatory defection in Chile, a country characterized by deeply entrenched socioeconomic inequality and segregation. Study 1 shows that under manipulated economic inequality conditions, higher objective status participants are more altruistic when enjoying a slight financial advantage. In contrast, lower objective status participants did not condition their altruistic behavior to their relative economic rank. Study 2 shows that manipulated economic inequality did not moderate the relationship between social status (either objective or subjective) and fairness. Finally, Study 3 indicates that participants of lower subjective status retaliated more strongly against non-cooperative peers. These results qualify the allegedly negative effect of social status on prosocial and antisocial behavior under conditions of socioeconomic inequality.

Socioeconomic inequality in congenital heart diseases in Iran

Introduction Social-economic factors have an important role in shaping inequality in congenital heart diseases. The current study aimed to assess and decompose the socio-economic inequality in Congenital Heart Diseases (CHDs) in Iran. Methods This is a cross-sectional research conducted at Shahid Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center in Tehran, Iran, as one of the largest referral heart hospitals in Asia. Data were collected primarily from 600 mothers who attended in pediatric cardiology department in 2020. The polychoric principal component analysis (PCA) and Errygers corrected CI (ECI) were used to construct household socioeconomic status and to assess inequality in CHDs, respectively. A regression-based decomposition analysis was also applied to explain socioeconomic-related inequalities. To select the explanatory social, medical/biological, and lifestyle variables, the chi-square test was first used. Results There was a significant pro-rich inequality in CHDs (ECI = -0.65, 95% CI, − 0.72 to − 0.58). The social, medical/biological, and lifestyle variables accounted for 51.47, 43.25, and 3.92% of inequality in CHDs, respectively. Among the social variables, family SES (about 50%) and mother’s occupation (21.05%) contributed the most to CHDs’ inequality. Besides, in the medical/biological group, receiving pregnancy care (22.06%) and using acid folic (15.70%) had the highest contribution. Conclusion We concluded that Iran suffers from substantial socioeconomic inequality in CHDs that can be predominantly explained by social and medical/biological variables. It seems that distributional policies aim to reduce income inequality while increasing access of prenatal care and folic acid for disadvantaged mothers could address this inequality much more strongly in Iran.