Helsinki Institute for Demography and Population Health

A new study providing a comprehensive assesment of different behavioral, psychological and social polygenic indices on mortality by @pophel.bsky.social researchers @hlaht.bsky.social, Kaarina Korhonen, Karri Silventoinen and Pekka Martikainen, among others, out in @elife.bsky.social .

Read more: www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...

PopHel Talks: Next Monday, 2nd of February, @xuzong.bsky.social presents with title: AI in Health Inequality Research - Promises, Challenges, and an Agenda.

2nd of February, 02:00-02:45 PM (UTC+2)
Please register for a Zoom link: elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/13...

Parental socioeconomic composition of birth cohorts changed during the COVID-19 pandemic - Nature Communications The authors show that babies conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic have a different parental socioeconomic composition than expected had the pandemic not occurred.

We led an international effort to analyse changes in the parental socioeconomic composition of babies conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic across 15 countries. The results may have long-term implications for these birth cohorts. Read more here ->
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Read more: www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...

PopHel Talks: Next Monday, Elina Einiö will be presenting with title: Gendered housing consequences of divorce - An analysis of marital dyads from different-sex and female same-sex couples 🌈

8th December, 02:00-02:45 PM (UTC+2)
Please register for a Zoom link: elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/13...

🎓🎓🎓Congratulations, @philippdierker.bsky.social🎉🎉🎉

He successfully defended his doctoral thesis “Partnership Dynamics and Changes in Health and Well-Being: A Bidirectional Relationship”. His findings are relevant to family sociology, public health, social policy.
www.demogr.mpg.de/en/news_even...

A new pre-print from @soc-misc.bsky.social project!

We compare the number of self-reported miscarriages to healthcare records in Finland to better understand the quality of #miscarriage data.

More info 👇

My co-authors: Hanna Remes, Lara Lehtoranta, @mccompans.bsky.social, Pekka Martikainen

♻️🧠Thrilled to publish my first sole-authored paper in Socail Science & Medicine. This study revealed the link of childhood indoor air pollution with later-life cognitive health and its mechanisms, using national data and a machine learning approach. @pophel.bsky.social @helsinki.fi

Our new study finds a strong association between voting in elections and subsequent mortality risk.

Not formally open access, unfortunately but the publisher has generously made this (temporarily?) free to read!

doi.org/10.1136/jech...

Voting is a stronger determinant of mortality than education: a full-electorate survival analysis with 21-year follow-up Background Although voting is recognised as a social determinant of health, the association between electoral participation and subsequent mortality at an individual level has not been established. O...

@pophel.bsky.social members @hlaht.bsky.social, Isa Yang, Lasse Tarkiainen and Pekka Martikainen published apparently the first population-based individual-level survival analysis assessing to what extent voting in an election predicts future mortality.

It strongly does.

doi.org/10.1136/jech...

Religious upbringing linked to better physical health in old age | University of Helsinki Could a religious upbringing offer a path to healthier ageing? While religion may help those raised in difficult family environments to cope, it cannot fully offset the health risks associated with po...

✝️ Our study found: While religion may help those raised in difficult family environments to cope, it cannot fully offset the health risks associated with childhood adversity (e.g,parental mental health issues). @pophel.bsky.social @helsinki.fi @share-eric.bsky.social
www.helsinki.fi/en/news/fair...

📣Excited to share that our paper on widowhood, its gender and educational inequalities, and evolution over time in Finland is out now in @readdemography.bsky.social !✨

In “Evolution of Widowhood Lifespan," @morettimarg.bsky.social K Korhonen, @alysonvanraalte.bsky.social @timriffe1.bsky.social & P Martikainen find widowhood is less common & occurs later in life. @pophel.bsky.social @mpidr.bsky.social @opik-ikerketa.bsky.social read.dukeupress.edu/demography/a...

Research professor Seppo Koskinen, THL, will serve as the opponent, and Pekka Martikainen as the custos.

The dissertation is also available in electronic form in Helda: helda.helsinki.fi/items/0e872e...

📢Doctoral Defence:

Ulla Suulamo - "Long-term trends in mortality differences - Register-based studies in Finland, 1970–2020"

16 October 2025 at 12:00

Address: Porthania, PIII, Yliopistonkatu 3, Helsinki

Research professor Seppo Koskinen, THL, will serve as the opponent, and Pekka Martikainen as the custos.

The dissertation is also available in electronic form in Helda: helda.helsinki.fi/items/0e872e...

News & Events | Helsinki Institute for Demography and Population Health | University of Helsinki Stay updated with the latest news from the Helsinki Institute for Demography & Population Health and join our PopHel Talks, an online seminar where we share our latest research. We explore a wide rang...

Read more: www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...

PopHel Talks: Next Monday, 13th October, Joonas Pitkänen will be presenting at PopHel Talks on family-based designs in childhood adversity research.

13th October, 02:00-02:45 PM (UTC+2)
Please register for a Zoom link:
elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/13...

Machine Learning to Investigate Life-Course Social Determinants of Loneliness among Older Adults in the US, England, Israel, and 27 European Countries during the Pandemic Background: Loneliness in later life is common and shaped by social determinants, with the COVID-19 pandemic and regional contexts further influencing disparities. Yet the role of life-course social d...

📣 Our new preprint used machine learning across 30 countries to reveal key life-course social determinants of loneliness among older adults. We also developed a Streamlined Loneliness Predictive Model for future applications.
@pophel.bsky.social @share-eric.bsky.social doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Two Postdoctoral Researchers on Health Inequalities Two Postdoctoral Researchers on Health Inequalities

🚨Job alert!🚨

Helsinki Institute for Demography and Population Health is recruiting 2 postdocs. Join our team and investigate social inequalities in health!

jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...

#postdoc #demography #socialsciences #socialdata

PopHel Newsletter | Helsinki Institute for Demography and Population Health | University of Helsinki This newsletter shares our research activities at the Helsinki Institute for Demography and Population Health (PopHel).

📢 PopHel Newsletter for March - September 2025 is out!! 📰
To receive our newsletter you can subscribe to our mailing list by sending an email to mila.lyytinen@helsinki.fi 📩
You will also receive information on upcoming public talks 👩‍🏫 and open positions at PopHel‼️

www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...

🚆🚀 Thrilled to share our paper has been published in Social Science & Medicine, as well as my second paper in this journal. We first reveal the olders' cognitive health externalities of high-speed rail and related mechanisms using ML causal approach and national data. @pophel.bsky.social

FIRE-hanke tehostaa suomalaista rekisteritutkimusta vahvistaen sen kansainvälistä asemaa - INVEST Suomeen rakennetaan uusi FIRE-infrastruktuuri vauhdittamaan ihmisten elämästä kertovien rekistereiden käyttöä tutkimuksessa. FIRE kehittää rekisteriaineistoja, kouluttaa tutkijoita rekisteriaineistoje...

🔥Suomi rakentaa maailman parasta rekisteritutkimuksen
alustaa!

#FIRE syntyy #FIONA juurille yhteistyössä @utu.fi @stat.fi @aalto.fi i @uniuef.bsky.social @uniofjyvaskyla.bsky.social @vatt-tutkimus.bsky.social @helsinki.fi #Tampereenyliopisto

👉 invest.utu.fi/fi/news/fire...

#rekisteritutkimus

Associate Professor Mauricio Avendano, University of Lausanne, will serve as the opponent, and Pekka Martikainen as the custos.

The dissertation is also available in electronic form in Helda. helda.helsinki.fi/items/a8641e...

📢Doctoral Defence:

Juha Luukkonen: Alcohol Reforms and Health - Register studies about exposure to changing alcohol policies in adolescence and pregnancy

26 September 2025 at 12:00

University Main Building, room 3003 (Tekla Hultin), Fabianinkatu 33.

Nuoruudessa koettu alkoholipolitiikka yhteydessä myöhempään terveyteen | Helsingin yliopisto Vapaammalle alkoholipolitiikalle nuoruudessaan altistuneet henkilöt olivat keski-ikään mennessä sairastuneet ja kuolleet alkoholiperäisiin sairauksiin useammin kuin tiukemmalle alkoholipolitiikalle nu...

Nuorempana alkoholia laillisesti ostaneet henkilöt ovat sairastuneet ja kuolleet kroonisiin alkoholiperäisiin sairauksiin useammin kuin henkilöt, jotka saivat laillisesti ostaa alkoholia 21–vuotiaana.

New study in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry by Lotta Volotinen, Hanna Remes, Pekka Martikainen and Niina Metsä-Simola found that low parental education is more strongly associated with increased ADHD diagnosis only in families without identified history of ADHD.

Read more: rdcu.be/eG9eY

Co-convenor of my first symposium at #SLLS2025 @sllshome.bsky.social "Leveraging Nordic Register Data to Study Health Inequalities" with my colleagues at @pophel.bsky.social and presented forthcoming research on peer influence on substance use, which uses the biological linking within registry data.

Our symposium from #SLLS2025 @sllshome.bsky.social consisted of research from Shubh Sharma @eugeniopaglino.bsky.social @olivia-mcevoy.bsky.social mcevoy.bsky.social @moberndorfer.bsky.social orfer.bsky.social Lauren Bishop and registry data expertise from Hanna Remes.
Thanks to all who attended!