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Lifestyle choices and mental health: a longitudinal survey with German and Chinese students.

ABSTRACT: A healthy lifestyle can be beneficial for one's mental health. Thus, identifying healthy lifestyle choices that promote psychological well-being and reduce mental problems is useful to prevent mental disorders. The aim of this longitudinal study was to evaluate the predictive values of a broad range of lifestyle choices for positive mental health (PMH) and mental health problems (MHP) in German and Chinese students.Data were assessed at baseline and at 1-year follow-up. Samples included 2991 German (Mage?=?21.69, SD?=?4.07) and 12,405 Chinese (Mage?=?20.59, SD?=?1.58) university students. Lifestyle choices were body mass index, frequency of physical and mental activities, frequency of alcohol consumption, smoking, vegetarian diet, and social rhythm irregularity. PMH and MHP were measured with the Positive Mental Health Scale and a 21-item version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. The predictive values of lifestyle choices for PMH and MHP at baseline and follow-up were assessed with single-group and multi-group path analyses.Better mental health (higher PMH and fewer MHP) at baseline was predicted by a lower body mass index, a higher frequency of physical and mental activities, non-smoking, a non-vegetarian diet, and a more regular social rhythm. When controlling for baseline mental health, age, and gender, physical activity was a positive predictor of PMH, smoking was a positive predictor of MHP, and a more irregular social rhythm was a positive predictor of PMH and a negative predictor of MHP at follow-up. The good fit of a multi-group model indicated that most lifestyle choices predict mental health comparably across samples. Some country-specific effects emerged: frequency of alcohol consumption, for example, predicted better mental health in German and poorer mental health in Chinese students.Our findings underline the importance of healthy lifestyle choices for improved psychological well-being and fewer mental health difficulties. Effects of lifestyle on mental health are comparable in German and Chinese students. Some healthy lifestyle choices (i.e., more frequent physical activity, non-smoking, regular social rhythm) are related to improvements in mental health over a 1-year period.

SUBMITTER: Velten J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5956886 | biostudies-other | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Lifestyle choices and mental health: a longitudinal survey with German and Chinese students.

Velten Julia J Bieda Angela A Scholten Saskia S Wannemüller André A Margraf Jürgen J

BMC public health 20180516 1

<h4>Background</h4>A healthy lifestyle can be beneficial for one's mental health. Thus, identifying healthy lifestyle choices that promote psychological well-being and reduce mental problems is useful to prevent mental disorders. The aim of this longitudinal study was to evaluate the predictive values of a broad range of lifestyle choices for positive mental health (PMH) and mental health problems (MHP) in German and Chinese students.<h4>Method</h4>Data were assessed at baseline and at 1-year fo ...[more]

PMID: 29769115

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Project description:BackgroundStatistics show that the number of received psychosocial counselling sessions remains at a constantly high level or has even increased since the COVID-19 pandemic situation in 2020. The objective of this work is to identify factors associated with students' mental health to improve prevention and promotion in mental health at universities.MethodsThe analyses were based on a cross-sectional data set collected by an online survey among 1,842 students from a German University of Applied Sciences in 2014. Descriptive statistics as well as nine different multiple linear regression models were calculated with IBM® SPSS® Statistics software. Mental health indicators used were mental health-related quality of life (mental HRQOL), depression, and anxiety, which were analysed in a gender-specific manner.ResultsThe analyses showed that the mean of the mental HRQOL score of the SF-36 for the student sample (46.68) was lower than the values for German (48.76) or American (51.34) norm samples. A key finding was the differences in mental health indicators between male and female students. Women reported worse mental health status in comparison to men. Female gender (ß of -.09; p < 0.01), age (ß of -1.05; p < 0.01), underweight (ß of -.09; p < 0.05), smoking (ß of -.10; p < 0.05) and drug consumption (ß of -.15; p < 0.001) were negatively associated with mental health indicators. In our sample, a moderate consumption of alcohol within the female population (ß of .12; p < 0.01) and physical activity within the male sample (ß of .09; p < 0.05) were positively associated with mental health indicators.ConclusionThe gender-specific differences of students' mental health and its associations could be an important result for counselling services at universities to adjust methods according to gender. Contrary to the general societal perception, students have lower mental health than a norm sample even before the pandemic. Due to the additional mental stress caused by the pandemic, it can be assumed that mental health problems have increased even more. Universities should therefore pay more attention to the mental health of their students.

Project description:BackgroundLifestyle choices reflect the beliefs that individuals attribute to aspects of life. This construct can be assessed with the Individual Lifestyle Profile (PEVI) questionnaire, which measures elements of Nutrition, Physical Activity, Preventive Behaviors, Social Relationships and Stress Management.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to estimate the psychometric properties of the PEVI applied to a sample of Brazilian university students, identifying the prevalence of each lifestyle component according to participants' age, sex, weight status, course area/field and economic stratum and to estimate the contribution of these characteristics on physical and psychological lifestyle.MethodsThe PEVI data was analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis, using the indexes chi-square per degrees of freedom ratio (χ2/df), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA). First-order and second-order models (physical and psychological lifestyle) were tested. Prevalences of lifestyle components were calculated and compared by participants' age, sex, weight status, course area/field and economic stratum. A hypothetical causal structural model was elaborated to investigate the impact of sample characteristics on physical and psychological lifestyles. This model was evaluated considering the global fit to the data (χ2/df, CFI, TLI and RMSEA) and the hypothetical causal trajectories (β) (α = 5%).ResultsA sample of 1,303 students was used. The mean age was 20.9 (standard deviation = 2.8) years, 66.8% of participants were females, 63.4% had weights in the normal range and 73.7% were students of the social and exact sciences. The PEVI data showed an adequate fit for both the first- (χ2/df = 2.03, CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.97; RMSEA = 0.04) and second-order (χ2/df = 2.25; CFI = 0.97; TLI = 0.97; RMSEA = 0.04) models. There was a higher prevalence of unfavorable physical and psychological lifestyle choices among females, among underweight and obese individuals, in older students and in those with lower economic strata. Moreover, negative behaviors in physical lifestyle were more prevalent in students from human/social/exact sciences and worse psychological lifestyle was observed among health sciences students. These results were confirmed by a structural model.ConclusionThe PEVI data presented validity and reliability. Negative lifestyle choices had high prevalence among students. Moreover, individual characteristics had different impact on physical and psychological lifestyle choices.

Project description:BackgroundOver 30% of university students from 8 countries were afflicted with mental distress according to a World Health Organization survey. Undergraduate students in increasing numbers in China have also been reported to suffer from different mental problems. Various psychological distresses significantly impact their academic and daily life, thereby causing role impairments and unsatisfactory academic achievements. While the prevalence of, diverse underlying factors for, and interventions of social support in college students' mental health have extensively been investigated in China, there is no study exclusively focusing on the impact of interventions on their psychological well-being.ObjectiveThe aim of this review was to identify and synthesize the interventions in the mental health concerns of Chinese undergraduate students studying in China reported in the literature to inform educational authorities, college and university management, students' affairs counselors, and mental health providers.MethodsWe performed a systematic review and reported the research findings of previous studies according to the protocol of the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) 2020 statement. First, based on the predefined search strategy, keyword searches were performed in the PubMed and ProQuest databases to retrieve relevant studies. Subsequently, we screened the candidate articles based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Finally, we analyzed the included papers for qualitative synthesis.ResultsWe retrieved a total of 675 studies from the PubMed and ProQuest databases using the search strategy on March 15, 2022. Among these candidate studies, 15 that were not written in English, 76 duplicates, and 149 studies of other document types were removed before screening. An additional 313 studies were excluded in the screening process, with 73 articles ruled out for being not relevant to interventions, not related to mental health, or not focused on undergraduate students in the full-text review. As a result, 49 papers were eligible and included in this systematic review. In the qualitative synthesis, we divided the interventions reported in the selected studies into two categories: (1) social support from government authorities, university authorities, students' affairs counselors and teachers, family members, health care authorities and professionals, and the media (various online platforms), and (2) various coping strategies adopted by undergraduate students themselves. We identified further research on mental health interventions that may be delivered by digital medical platforms, conversational agents (eg, chatbots), and researchers.ConclusionsThis was the first systematic review of interventions to address the mental health concerns of Chinese undergraduate students studying in China. The categorization of reported interventions and the identification of new intervention channels can effectively inform stakeholders. Interventions for undergraduate students' mental health is a research topic worth further investigation.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Smoking is a major risk factor for cancer and cardiovascular disease. However, mental stress leads to smoking in dental students. We believe that dentists, as health professionals, should set an example for the public. Therefore, this study determined the prevalence of and factors associated with regular smoking among Japanese dental students. We also surveyed their attitudes regarding smoking cessation and how to counsel smokers about quitting. METHODS:We collected demographic and behavioral data from 453 students at Kyushu Dental University, and evaluated their mental health with the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ 12). We also asked them nine questions related to their intentions to counsel smokers about quitting. A multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with smoking. RESULTS:Fifty-two (11.5%) of the dental students smoked. Univariate analyses indicated that male gender, higher academic year, greater number of times eating out per day, alcohol consumption, prevalence of skipping breakfast, poor health, and poor sleep habits were significantly associated with regular smoking. Regular smokers were less likely to have GHQ 12 scores ?4. On multivariate analysis, male gender (OR?=?5.449, 95% CI?=?1.851-16.040), sixth year students (OR?=?21.971, 95% CI?=?1.686-286.290), eating out two or more times a day (OR?=?2.492, 95% CI?=?1.165-5.331), drinking alcohol three or more times per week (OR?=?9.484, 95% CI?=?3.335-26.970), and GHQ 12 score???4 (OR?=?0.339, 95% CI?=?0.136-0.845) were significantly associated with regular smoking. Overall, 50.1% of the non-smokers and 71.2% of the regular smokers responded that patients' chances of quitting smoking are not increased when a dentist advises them to quit. CONCLUSIONS:Regular smoking was strongly associated with male gender, higher academic year, alcohol consumption, and higher frequency of eating out per day. Mental health status among regular smokers was better than that among non-current smokers. Furthermore, we found that more than half of dental students have inadequate attitudes to advise their patients to quit smoking. It is necessary to develop educational programs regarding smoking for dental students.

Dataset Information

Lifestyle choices and mental health: a longitudinal survey with German and Chinese students.

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Lifestyle choices and mental health: a longitudinal survey with German and Chinese students.

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