The impact of adverse childhood experiences and recent life events on anxiety and quality of life in university students

Pathways between Child Maltreatment, Psychological Symptoms, and Life Satisfaction: A Network Analysis in Adolescent Inpatients

Child maltreatment is a risk factor for mental disorders and decreased life satisfaction during adolescence. We investigated whether child maltreatment would link to life satisfaction both directly and through psychological symptoms, whether these relations would change from admission to discharge after treatment, and which types of maltreatment, symptoms and facets of life satisfaction would be most influential in adolescent inpatients with internalizing mental disorders. N = 896 adolescent receiving inpatient psychotherapeutic treatment completed questionnaires on child maltreatment experiences, current psychopathology and subjective life satisfaction at admission and discharge (n = 765). Main diagnoses were affective (n = 322), eating (n = 447), obsessive-compulsive (n = 70) and anxiety disorders (n = 57). Network models of child maltreatment, psychopathology and life satisfaction nodes were estimated at admission and discharge and compared using network comparison tests. Potential causal shortest pathways were investigated using directed acyclic graphs.Network models were stable with no significant differences between admission and discharge. Strongest nodes of each cluster were "emotional abuse" (child maltreatment), "worthlessness", "thinking about dying" and "feeling lonely" (psychopathology) and "satisfied with life" (life satisfaction) at both admission and discharge. Emotional neglect showed direct connections to life satisfaction, indicating its relevance for therapeutic interventions. At both admission and discharge, "sexual abuse" indirectly predicted lower life satisfaction through psychological symptoms. In conclusion, child maltreatment is directly and indirectly connected to life satisfaction in adolescents with mental disorders. Emotional abuse and neglect were especially important in linking child maltreatment to life satisfaction and psychopathology.

The effect of event impact on fear of missing out: the chain mediation effect of coping styles and anxiety

The fear of missing out is a generalized anxiety stemming from the possibility of not being present at new events or advantageous situations of others. To explore potential mechanisms, a survey measuring the impact of event, coping style, anxiety, and fear of missing out was conducted with 1,014 college students (367 males and 647 females, aged 19-24 years). In addition, the study delved deeper into the dimensions of intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal concerning the impact of event, examining their roles in coping style, anxiety, and fear of missing out. Results showed that: (1) The impact of event could predict the fear of missing out positively. (2) A more positive coping style is negatively associated with anxiety. (3) A chain mediation effect of coping style and anxiety is observed in the path from hyperarousal and avoidance to the fear of missing out. (4) In contrast to the hyperarousal or avoidance, the path from intrusion to the fear of missing out is mediated by anxiety but not coping style. These findings motivate us to implement different intervention tactics for varying impacts of events.

Prevalence of fibromyalgia among university students and its impact on their health-related quality of life: a survey-based study from Egypt

BACKGROUND

University students are more likely to experience stress, anxiety, and depression. All these factors are regarded as psychological contributors to fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).

AIM

To investigate the prevalence and determinants of FMS among university students and its impact on their health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

METHODS

This online survey-based study involved 2146 university students who were recruited from various faculties at several Egyptian universities. The participants' demographics, medical history, academic pursuits, and sleep data were collected. To identify the existence of FMS, the 2016 updates to the 2010/2011 FMS diagnostic criteria were used. Additionally, the participants completed the Short-Form Health Survey-36 (SF-36).

RESULTS

The mean age was 21.26 ± 2.015 years and 76% were females. Of 2146 students, 266 (12.4%) fulfilled the criteria of FMS. FMS group had a significantly lower age (p < 0.001) with predominant female gender (89.5% vs. 74.1%, p < 0.001), positive family history of FMS (8.6% vs. 3.7%, p < 0.001), previous history of traffic accident (10.2% vs. 6.8%, p = 0.045), lower level of physical activity (p = 0.002),higher time spent in study per week (p = 0.002), lower sleep time (p = 0.002), with frequent walk up (p < 0.001) and snoring (p < 0.001) during sleep. Regarding HRQoL, students with FMS had significantly lower scores than students without in all domains.

CONCLUSION

FMS is prevalent among Egyptian university students and is linked to female gender, positive family history, lower levels of physical activity, and more time spent studying each week. FMS has a negative impact on HRQoL. Therefore, early detection and treatment are recommended.

Adverse childhood experiences and mental health among incarcerated women: Self-esteem as a mediating mechanism

BACKGROUND

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and mental health problems are interrelated. However, less is known about this relationship in incarcerated women and how self-esteem impacts this relationship.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relationship between ACEs and mental health problems (traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety) in incarcerated women with opioid use disorder (OUD) and, the possible role of self-esteem as a mediator of the relationship.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Incarcerated women (N = 500) were randomly selected from eight Kentucky jails, screened for OUD, and interviewed by research staff.

METHODS

Regression analyses and mediation models were used to examine the relationship between ACEs, mental health, and self-esteem.

RESULTS

ACEs were positively correlated with present mental health problems (traumatic stress, r = 0.407, p < .001; depression, r = 0.177, p < .001; and anxiety, r = 0.213, p < .001) and negatively correlated with current self-esteem (r = -0.241, p < .001). Linear regression analyses established that ACEs and self-esteem were significantly related to all three mental health variables of interest. Additionally, self-esteem mediated the relationship between ACEs and mental health.

CONCLUSION

This study shows that incarcerated women's experiences with ACEs are significantly related to poor mental health. Self-esteem plays a critical role in this relationship.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mental Health among Students Seeking Psychological Counseling Services

Recent years have seen a marked rise in the number of students accessing University Psychological Counseling (UPC) services, and their concerns have been increasingly severe. This study aimed to examine the impact of cumulative adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on mental health in students who had approached counseling services (N = 121) and students who had no experience with counseling services (N = 255). Participants completed an anonymous online self-report questionnaire measuring exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACE-Q), psychological distress (General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), personality traits (PID-5), and coping strategies. We found that students who approached UPC services scored higher on cumulative ACEs than the non-counseling group. While ACE-Q score was a direct positive predictor of PHQ-9 (p < 0.001), it did not predict GAD-7. Moreover, the results supported the existence of a mediation effect of avoidance coping, detachment, and psychoticism on the indirect effects of ACE-Q score on PHQ-9 or GAD-7. These results underlined the importance of screening for ACEs in a UPC setting because it can help identify students at higher risk for developing mental and physical health problems and provide them with early interventions and support.

Gender-based differences in interaction effects between childhood maltreatment and problematic mobile phone use on college students' depression and anxiety symptoms

BACKGROUND

Childhood maltreatment and problematic mobile phone use are risk factors for depression and anxiety symptoms among college students. However, how the interaction between the two factors affects depression and anxiety has yet to be validated. This study aimed to investigate the independent and interaction effects of childhood maltreatment and problematic mobile phone use on depression and anxiety among college students and explored gender-based differences in these associations.

METHOD

A cross-sectional study was conducted from October to December 2019. We collected data from 7623 students at two colleges in Hefei and Anqing cities in Anhui Province, China. Multinomial logistic regression models were performed to explore the associations of childhood maltreatment and problematic mobile phone use with depression and anxiety symptoms and their interaction effects on depression and anxiety symptoms.

RESULTS

Childhood maltreatment and problematic mobile phone use were significantly associated with increased risk of depression and anxiety symptoms (P < 0.001). Moreover, following adjustments for covariates, there was a multiplicative interaction between childhood maltreatment and problematic mobile phone use on depression and anxiety symptoms (P < 0.001). Gender-based differences were also observed in the associations. For instance, depression was more common in males and male students with childhood maltreatment were at higher risk of depression-only symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Focusing on childhood maltreatment and problematic mobile phone use could facilitate a reduction in the occurrence of depression and anxiety symptoms in college students. Furthermore, it is necessary to develop gender-targeted intervention strategies.