The role of mindfulness and dysexecutive functioning in the association between depression and COVID-19-related stress: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses

Mental health problems in university students were highlighted during the Covid-19 pandemic, showing the need to pay greater attention to psychological, emotional and social conditions. Since confinement and isolation, diseases and disorders have increased in school environments. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to analyze empirical evidence on mental health in students of higher education through a systematic review of scientific literature, which allows recognizing effects on training and academic performance. The methodology adapted to the study is qualitative cut, based on the systematic review of scientific literature, which consists of three phases, the first consisted of the exploration of 17,649 materials including scientific articles and degree theses; the second phase consisted of a more detailed exploration based on the implementation of filters such as keywords, reading abstracts and reading the full text; The third phase was the processing of materials that met with methodological quality and contribute to knowledge about mental health in university students, in an analysis matrix that allowed identifying categories of analysis, concepts, debates, among others. The systematic literature review identified lines of analysis, the first contributing to the debate on mental health in university students; the next consisted in identifying the most common sufferings in students that compromise their mental health; and third, the effects of mental health on training and academic performance of university students are presented. As a conclusion, it is identified that mental health in university students is an issue that became relevant in the pandemic by Covid-19 and that prevails as a problem that affects training and academic performance.

<span>Since the appearance of signed social networks (SSNs), their use has increased steadily among young people, not only in terms of the number of users but also in terms of the time they devote to managing the platforms, a situation that may be influencing their behavior. This study aimed to analyze the influence of the use of social networks (SNs) on the mental health of young university students. For this purpose, a quantitative, basic, and correlational study was carried out. We worked with a sample of 361 undergraduate students in health careers at a university in Huancayo. The PERMA-Profiler scale for mental health and the brief social network addiction questionnaire were used as data collection instruments to evaluate the use of SNs. The results indicate that there is a statistically significant influence of the use of SNs on the mental health of students, which explains a variability of 53.5% to 79.9%, according to the values of the Nagelkerke Pseudo X2 calculation for SNs. This suggests that the use of SNs hurts students’ mental health.</span>

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many problems for university students, there are several research gaps in the study of psychological well-being of Hong Kong university students. First, few studies have examined different ecological correlates of mental health in a single study. Second, few studies have used both psychological morbidity and positive well-being as indicators of mental health. Third, we know little about the relationships between university students’ perceived need satisfaction, difficulties, service utilization, and their mental health. Hence, we conducted a study (N = 1,020 university students) in the later stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. For mental health, we included measures of negative mental health (psychological morbidity) and positive mental health. We addressed several research questions in this study: (1) what is the mental health status of Hong Kong university students? (2) what is the relationship between COVID-19 stress and student mental health? (3) what are the intrapersonal correlates of student mental health? (4) are interpersonal factors related to student mental health? (5) are need satisfaction, difficulties encountered, and service utilization related to students’ mental health? (6) are there gender differences in the effects of correlates in different ecological systems? Analyses using structural equation modeling showed several observations. First, the prevalence of mental health symptoms among university students was alarming. Second, COVID-19 related socio-economic stress positively predicted psychological morbidity but negatively predicted well-being. Third, beliefs about adversity, resilience, and emotional competence predicted mental health. Fourth, family functioning was related to psychological morbidity negatively but connected with well-being positively. Fifth, while need satisfaction predicted psychological morbidity negatively, difficulties encountered showed the opposite direction. Besides, the perceived usefulness of university services positively predicted mental health. Finally, there were no gender differences in the effects of different predictors. The present findings enable public health researchers to formulate theoretical models on different ecological determinants of university students’ mental health under the pandemic. For public health practitioners, the study highlights the importance of reducing COVID-19 associated stress, strengthening internal and external developmental assets, and meeting the psychosocial needs of university students as strategies to promote their mental health under the pandemic.

Expressing gratitude via instant communication technology: A randomized controlled trial targeting college students’ mental health

College sports is an important part of college education, has the important function of fitness and heart health, and is an important way to cultivate the mental health of college students. This paper selects a representative number of colleges and universities from a certain region as the object of investigation, measures the organic integration of college sports and aesthetic education, and proposes the whole-process teaching design for the organic integration of college sports and aesthetic education after digging into the implementation of aesthetic education in college sports courses. On this basis, two natural classes in a college are taken as experimental objects to carry out intervention experiments on the integration of physical education and aesthetic education, diagnose the mental health level of college students by using the symptom self-assessment scale, and compare the mental health level of college students before and after the experiment by using the mathematical statistics method. The current teaching methods of physical education and aesthetic education are relatively traditional, focusing on the lecture-question-and-answer method (84.8%), the movement demonstration method (77.6%), and the movement decomposition and overall practice method (64.8%). After the teaching experiment, the mental health of the students in the two classes showed significant differences in each factor item (p < 0.05). The mental health level of the students in the class that used the integration of sports and aesthetic education for teaching was reduced by 16.83% and 13.77% compared with the pre experimentation and the control class, respectively. The organic integration of sports and aesthetic education has a certain promotion effect on the mental health of college students.

IntroductionDuring COVID-19, the mental health of Chinese university students has been a pressing concern. But the internal mechanism of perceived campus outdoor environment and learning engagement affecting college students’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been fully discussed.MethodsThe current study used cross-sectional data from 45 Chinese universities to explore the relationship among perceptions of campus outdoor environments, learning engagement, and college student mental health, and focused on differences among college students in different grades.ResultsOur study revealed the mental health problems of Chinese college students during the COVID-19 pandemic were more severe. The mental health of postgraduates was generally poor, and their risk of depression was higher than that of undergraduates. More importantly, for postgraduates, the direct impact of the perceived campus outdoor environment on their mental health was stronger. For undergraduates, the indirect impact of learning engagement on the effect of the perceived campus outdoor environment on their mental health was stronger.ConclusionThe results of the study have implications for campus planners, landscape architects, and university planners to pay particular attention to the needs of postgraduates for campus outdoor environments, which is of great significance to improve the overall mental health of students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The physical and mental health of college students tends to continuously decline worldwide. Thus, improving their health is necessary. Jazz dance may be one of the effective exercises to improve one's health. However, the effect of jazz dance exercise on different physical fitness level and whether the intensity of jazz dance exercises can improve physical and mental health simultaneously and efficiently need to be investigated. In this study, we systematically assessed the effect of jazz dance on physical and mental health of college students by a rigorous randomized, parallel-controlled design. An experimental study including 90 Chinese female college students (junior and senior) was performed. They completed an 8-week jazz dance class (two times/week for 70 min per session). Data on psychological status were obtained using the Subjective Exercise Experiences Scale after every class. Based on the Japanese national physical fitness test method, we identified the body weight and Body Mass Index and the students performed 30-s sit ups, standing long jump, 20s repeated across the body, and seated forward flexion to determine their physical fitness at baseline and after 8 weeks. Repeated measures analyses of variance and paired samples t-tests were used to compare the means of the participants' data. Differences in the mean of mental health scores over time were significant and showed an increasing trend (P<0.005) in all groups. Physical fitness showed an increasing trend in the low fitness level group. Most of the variables decreased slightly in the high fitness level group; however, flexibility significantly decreased. Among the participants with different physical fitness, a similar training has different training effects. This study demonstrates that appropriate training intensity and content are vital to improve physical and mental health.

Background and Aims: The research on contract teaching mode is a reflection on the distribution of learning responsibilities between teachers and students in physical education classroom teaching. Give full play to the students' subjective position in learning, stimulate students' subjective initiative, and encourage students to participate in teaching. The objective of this study is to develop a physical education program based on contractual learning to enhance the physical health and mental health of students at the University of Chinese Medicine (GZUCM). Methodology: Among 1500 college males and females aged between 18-19 years old students in the second year of the public physical education course at Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, a sample size of 30 subjects was determined by GPOWER calculations to carry out a teaching experiment. Using the Delphi questionnaire to formulate the content of the physical education curriculum, signing a contract with students to execute the training plan, starting an 8-week experimental implementation, testing students' physical health before the experiment and after every 2 weeks of training, and testing their mental health before and after the experiment, collating and analyzing the results by software package use the one-way repeated-measures ANOVA for analyze the results, and deriving the effects of the physical education curriculum on the change factors of physical health and mental health of college students. Conclusion: the curriculum developed by the contractual learning method can improve the physical health as well as the mental health of college students. The contractual learning approach to physical education is practical and effective and can be promoted and used.

To investigate the impact of middle- and long-distance running on mental health of students in a college in Guangzhou during the COVID-19 outbreak. We collected data using online questionnaires from the college students selected via snowball sampling. After exclusion of invalid questionnaires and matching the data of running exercise with physical test scores of the participants, 1022 questionnaires were deemed valid for analysis. Of the 1022 students, 869 completed at least a 60-km running distance each semester as required and 153 students did not complete the task. The mental health status of the students was evaluated using PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C), Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). The scale scores were compared between the students who completed the running task and those who did not, and the factors affecting anxiety and depression were analyzed using univariate analysis and binary logistic regression. The students who completed the running task had significantly higher physical test scores than those who did not complete the task (P < 0.05). The PCL-C, SDS, SAS scale scores or the conditions of PTSD, anxiety, and depression did not differ significantly between two groups (P>0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that completing the running task or not did not affect the condition of PTSD, anxiety, or depression of the students; a higher physical test score was associated with a decreased risk of PTSD (OR=0.98, 95%CI: 0.97-0.99) and depression (OR=0.99, 95%CI: 0.97-1.00) but an increased risk of anxiety (OR=1.02, 95%CI: 1.01-1.04) during COVID-19 outbreak. Regular middleand long-distance running exercise may enhance the physical health to indirectly promote the mental health of the college students during COVID-19 outbreak.

Increasing Mental Health of University Students through Life Skills Training (LST)

Introduction Student burnout has been reported from 10.3% to 71.0% and mental health symptoms have worsened for young adults in recent years. Disturbed sleep has been linked with burnout and mental health issues (e.g. reduced engagement, poor academic achievement, low self-efficacy, low self-esteem, sleep disorders, and suicidal ideation) and may increase vulnerability. Sleep hygiene, behaviors related to quality and quantity of sleep (e.g. consistent bedtimes, comfortable sleeping conditions, and technology use during and before bed), may provide an avenue to treat or protect from burnout, depression, anxiety, and stress. We assessed the relationship between sleep hygiene, sleepiness, sleep quality, and mental health in college students and examined specific modifiable sleep hygiene behaviors as potential targets for intervention. Methods 104 undergraduate students (M = 20.4 years, SD = 1.32, 77 females, 23 males) completed online questionnaires: Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Sleep Hygiene Index-Technology, Copenhagen Burnout Personal Subscale, School Burnout Inventory, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and Mental Toughness Questionnaire. Results Sleep Quality and Sleepiness: Greater sleep disturbance was significantly related to greater personal burnout, school burnout, depression, anxiety, and stress, rs (59)=.233 to.537, all ps &amp;lt;.05. Greater sleepiness was significantly related to more personal burnout, r(73)=0.338, p=.002, anxiety, r(76)=0.396, p&amp;lt;.001, and stress, r(74)=0.349, p=.001. Sleep Hygiene: Poor sleep hygiene was related to greater personal burnout, r(72)=.365; p&amp;lt;.001, school burnout, r(71)=.336; p=.002, and lower mental toughness, r(72)= -.237; p=.021. Poorer mental health was significantly related to the specific sleep hygiene behaviors of long naps, irregular bedtimes, extended time in bed, negative emotions before bed, and anxiety in bed. Frequent technology use in bed predicted all negative mental health measures, rs (72)=.202 to.334, all ps&amp;lt;.05. Conclusion We found a relationship between sleep, sleep hygiene, burnout, and mental health. Sleep disturbance and maladaptive sleep hygiene were significantly related to poorer mental health in these students. The sleep hygiene behaviors identified here (especially technology use during bedtime) are modifiable with cognitive and behavioral interventions and could be avenues for reducing mental health vulnerability in this student population. Support (if any) Virginia A. McCormick Pittman Distinguished Professorship

Student's mental health problem has been more prevalent in recent years. The common method for predicting mental health involves using machine learning algorithms to dig student's psychological traits based on their network behavior. However, there is a risk that data about network behavior could be exposed. In this paper, we propose a prediction method for college student's mental health based on association rules, whereby, following the privacy calculation of psychological assessment data, the internal and external factors affecting student's mental health are digged with the aid of the improved FP-growth algorithm, and the prediction model of mental health status is constructed. The experimental results show that under the premise of satisfying the privacy protection, the model constructed by the improved association rules algorithm can predict the student's mental health state more accurate.

Statistics at the college level is one of the most technical subjects that needs to have good mental health so that the students can perform well. This study focused on the investigation of the level of anxiety and mental health of college students in learning statistics. A total of 120 engineering students participated in the survey selected as complete enumeration. Data collection was done through a modified students' statistics anxiety questionnaire and level of mental health. Descriptive measures were computed to describe the data, and regression and correlation analysis to explain its relationship. Results depicted that engineering students have moderate anxiety and they have moderate mental health in learning statistics. This suggests that these students are somewhat anxious but still have a positive learning experience. The correlation and regression analysis revealed that the level of anxiety and mental health of students are negatively but weakly associated, however not statistically significant. This implies that students' anxiety level has somehow adversely affected the mental health of students but its likelihood is negligible. The study strongly suggests that statistics teachers must manage the class well and apply teaching strategies that boost student confidence as well as improve academic achievement. Moreover, teachers should be trained to recognize signs of anxiety and mental health issues and equipped with strategies to support student learning and well-being needs.

With the rapid development of science and technology, internet technology has become mature increasingly. It has become an important part of people's work, life and study. At the same time, the network environment has also brought an impact on the physical and mental health of college students. Nowadays, the quality and level of college students' mental health education has become society topics. College psychological health education work should keep pace with the network environment development and the students' physical and mental development. It is the effective innovation of psychological health education work. The new model of college students' psychological health education development is constructed. It is improve the level of students' physical and mental health development, and the psychological quality of college students is strengthen. Based on this, this paper analyzes the existing problems on the college students' mental health development. Under the network environment, it proposes an effective method to construct a new mode of college students' mental health education.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented stress to students and educational institutions across the world. We aimed to estimate the effect of the pandemic on the mental health of college students. We used data on 419 first-year students (ages 18-20) at a large public university in North Carolina both before (October 2019-February 2020) and after (June/July 2020) the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. After evaluating descriptive data on mental health and stressors by students' demographic characteristics, we estimated the associations between Covid-19 stressors (including work reductions, health, distanced learning difficulties and social isolation) and mental health symptoms and severity controlling for students' pre-pandemic mental health, psychosocial resources, and demographic characteristics. We found that the prevalence of moderate-severe anxiety increased from 18.1% before the pandemic to 25.3% within four months after the pandemic began; and the prevalence of moderate-severe depression increased from 21.5% to 31.7%. White, female and sexual/gender minority (SGM) students were at highest risk of increases in anxiety symptoms. Non-Hispanic (NH) Black, female, and SGM students were at highest risk of increases in depression symptoms. General difficulties associated with distanced learning and social isolation contributed to the increases in both depression and anxiety symptoms. However, work reductions as well as Covid-19 diagnosis and hospitalization of oneself, family members or friends were not associated with increases in depression or anxiety symptoms. Colleges may be able to reduce the mental health consequences of Covid-19 by investing in resources to reduce difficulties with distance learning and reduce social isolation during the pandemic.