This study aimed to examine the effect of volunteers’ health behaviors and disaster preparedness on disaster attitudes.

The sample comprised 378 volunteers aged 18 to 30 who were affiliated with the largest volunteer network in a non-governmental organization in Turkey. In the study, data were collected with Descriptive Information Form, the Disaster Preparedness Scale, and the Disaster Attitude Scale.

The mean total score of the participants in the Disaster Attitude Scale was 3.06 ± 0.73 (1-5). The mean total scale score of the participants in the Disaster Preparedness Scale was 33.21 ± 8.02 (13-54). Notably, factors such as using alcohol, the status of general health checkups status, and scores on the physical protection and assistance subscales the Disaster Preparedness Scale were significantly associated with the Disaster Attitude Scale total score (P < 0.05).

In this study, regular general health check-ups, alcohol use in general, and physical protection and assistance sub-scales are critical determinants of volunteers’ attitudes toward disasters. The disaster volunteers, health professionals particularly nurses, should develop training programs to enhance volunteers’ disaster attitudes focusing on promoting disaster preparedness and positive health behaviors in both governmental and non-governmental organizations.

A large and accumulating body of evidence shows that loneliness is detrimental for various health and well-being outcomes. However, less is known about potentially modifiable factors that lead to decreased loneliness.

We used data from the Health and Retirement Study to prospectively evaluate a wide array of candidate predictors of subsequent loneliness. Importantly, we examined if changes in 69 physical-, behavioral-, and psychosocial-health factors (from t0;2006/2008 to t1;2010/2012) were associated with subsequent loneliness 4 years later (t2;2014/2016).

Adjusting for a large range of covariates, changes in certain health behaviors (e.g. increased physical activity), physical health factors (e.g. fewer functioning limitations), psychological factors (e.g. increased purpose in life, decreased depression), and social factors (e.g. greater number of close friends) were associated with less subsequent loneliness.

Our findings suggest that subjective ratings of physical and psychological health and perceived social environment (e.g. chronic pain, self-rated health, purpose in life, anxiety, neighborhood cohesion) are more strongly associated with subsequent loneliness. Yet, objective ratings (e.g. specific chronic health conditions, living status) show less evidence of associations with subsequent loneliness. The current study identified potentially modifiable predictors of subsequent loneliness that may be important targets for interventions aimed at reducing loneliness.

To determine associations of alcohol use with cognitive aging among middle-aged men.

1,608 male twins (mean 57 years at baseline) participated in up to three visits over 12 years, from 2003–2007 to 2016–2019. Participants were classified into six groups based on current and past self-reported alcohol use: lifetime abstainers, former drinkers, very light (1–4 drinks in past 14 days), light (5–14 drinks), moderate (15–28 drinks), and at-risk drinkers (>28 drinks in past 14 days). Linear mixed-effects regressions modeled cognitive trajectories by alcohol group, with time-based models evaluating rate of decline as a function of baseline alcohol use, and age-based models evaluating age-related differences in performance by current alcohol use. Analyses used standardized cognitive domain factor scores and adjusted for sociodemographic and health-related factors.

Performance decreased over time in all domains. Relative to very light drinkers, former drinkers showed worse verbal fluency performance, by –0.21 SD (95% CI –0.35, –0.07), and at-risk drinkers showed faster working memory decline, by 0.14 SD (95% CI 0.02, –0.20) per decade. There was no evidence of protective associations of light/moderate drinking on rate of decline. In age-based models, light drinkers displayed better memory performance at advanced ages than very light drinkers (+0.14 SD; 95% CI 0.02, 0.20 per 10-years older age); likely attributable to residual confounding or reverse association.

Alcohol consumption showed minimal associations with cognitive aging among middle-aged men. Stronger associations of alcohol with cognitive aging may become apparent at older ages, when cognitive abilities decline more rapidly.

Health behavior was conducive to control the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic. This study aimed to determine the differences in health behaviors and related factors among rural and urban residents in China.

From February 14 to 22, 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic in China, a total of 2449 participants (1783 (72.81%) urban residents and 666 (27.19%) rural residents) were recruited by snowball sampling on WeChat and QQ social platforms, both owned by Tencent. Data were collected through the Web-questionnaire guided by an information–motivation–behavioral skills model. The multiple-group structural equation model was applied to analyze the factors.

Rural residents had lower health behavior scores than urban residents, even after adjusting demographic characteristics (33.86 vs 34.29, P = 0.042; total score was 40). Motivational, behavioral skills, and stress had direct positive and negative influences on health behaviors of urban and rural residents. Information and positive perception of interventions had direct effects on health behaviors in rural residents, but not in urban residents. All the factors were mediated by behavioral skills in rural and urban residents.

This study suggests that the government should pay attention to substantial rural and urban disparities and implement different COVID-19 prevention and intervention policies for health behaviors targeting rural and urban residents.