Associations between insecurity and stress among Chinese university students: The mediating effects of hope and self-efficacy

Practical and psychological challenges faced by Wuhan graduates after COVID-19 was controlled

Introduction: This study seeks to understand the reality and psychological difficulties faced by university graduates in Wuhan after the COVID-19 epidemic was controlled. Methods: A total of 6,417 graduate students were surveyed through an online questionnaire from late May to early June 2020. The questionnaire asked questions on depression, anxiety, insomnia, and suicidal behavior. In addition, self-administered epidemic-related questionnaires consisting of eight items were collected from university graduates. Results: Participants' positive detection rates for depression, anxiety, insomnia, and suicidal behavior are 13.4%, 8.3%, 4.4%, and 12.1%, respectively. The three biggest challenges faced by graduates are future development, economic difficulties, and employment problems. Conclusion: The detectable rate of depression, anxiety, and insomnia is low, and the detectable rate of suicide symptoms should be given more attention. The biggest problem of this group is their future development, and what they want to solve the most is the economic difficulty.

The association between family adaptability and adolescent depression: the chain mediating role of social support and self-efficacy

Objective

Previous research has shown a correlation between family adaptability and adolescent depression. However, there is a lack of studies that have investigated the underlying mechanism between family adaptability and adolescent depression. Based on the Ecological Systems Theory, this study aims to investigate the link between family adaptability and depression in adolescents, mediated by the sequential roles of social support and self-efficacy.

Methods

The sample consisted of 1086 students randomly selected from seven public middle schools in Shandong Province, Eastern China. All the participants filled in the structured self-report questionnaires on family adaptability, social support, self-efficacy, and depression. The data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in AMOS 24.0.

Results

The findings of this study are as follows: (1) Family adaptability is negatively associated with adolescent depression; (2) Social support plays a mediating role between family adaptability and adolescent depression; (3) Self-efficacy plays a mediating role between family adaptability and adolescent depression; (4) Social support and self-efficacy play a chain mediation role between family adaptability and adolescent depression.

Conclusion

It is suggested that early interventions and support should be provided to facilitate adolescents' family adaptability, social support, and self-efficacy, thus reducing their depression and improving mental health of adolescents.

The Fully Mediating Role of Psychological Resilience between Self-Efficacy and Mental Health: Evidence from the Study of College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Student populations are susceptible to the COVID-19 pandemic and may easy develop mental health problems related to their immaturity of psychological development and fluctuation of mood. However, little has been known about the effects of the pandemic on college students and the associated influencing factors. This study aimed to explore the role of psychological resilience as a mediator between general self-efficacy and mental health. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 480 Chinese college students from 12 universities in Hunan province of China. The participants responded anonymously to the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), the Chinese version of the Resilience Scale for College Students (RSCS), and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Hierarchical linear regression and structural equation modeling were used in this study. The average of GSES and RSCS scores of college students were 25.00 ± 4.68 and 137.97 ± 15.50, which were at a medium level. The average score for the GHQ-12 was 1.59 ± 1.59, and 22.03% of the college students scored ≥ 3 on the GHQ-12, indicating that they were at risk of developing mental disorders. According to the analyses of mediation effect, psychological resilience played a fully mediating role in the relationship between general self-efficacy and mental health. In conclusion, Chinese college students were at high risk of developing mental disorders during the COVID-19 period. General self-efficacy was positively associated with psychological resilience, and psychological resilience played a fully mediating role in the relationship between general self-efficacy and mental health. Future studies and interventions should aim to promote psychological resilience and general self-efficacy.

Need Satisfaction and Depressive Symptoms Among University Students in Hong Kong During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Moderating Effects of Positive Youth Development Attributes

As studies on the mental health status of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic are almost non-existent in Hong Kong, we examined four research questions in this paper: What is the prevalence of depressive symptoms in university students in Hong Kong? What are the socio-demographic correlates of depressive symptoms? Do need satisfaction and positive youth development (PYD) attributes, including beliefs about adversity, psychosocial competence (resilience and emotional competence) and family functioning predict depression? Do PYD attributes moderate the predictive effect of need satisfaction on depression? We examined the above research questions using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R) in 1,648 university students in Hong Kong. For PYD attributes, we utilized validated measures of Chinese beliefs about adversity, psychosocial competence (resilience and emotional competence), and family functioning. For need satisfaction, we used a measure derived from two focus group interviews involving university students. Results showed that 48.4% of the respondents (95% confidence interval = [45.9%, 51.1%]) scored 16 or above (i.e., "at-risk" for clinical depression). As predicted, age, gender, student status (local vs. international), and family financial hardship were significant socio-demographic correlates of depressive symptoms. Besides, need satisfaction and PYD attributes negatively predicted depression scores. Finally, multiple regression analyses controlling for gender, age, and student status as covariates showed that all PYD attributes moderated the impact of need satisfaction on depression. The findings reinforce the theoretical proposition that PYD attributes serve as important factors in protecting the mental health of university students during the pandemic.

Resilience and Prosocial Behavior Among Chinese University Students During COVID-19 Mitigation: Testing Mediation and Moderation Models of Social Support

Purpose

Suffering during events such as the COVID-19 pandemic threatens university students’ physical and psychological health. Given the literature indicating the protective role of resilience and social support, the current study explored the mediating and moderating roles of social support in the association between resilience and prosocial behavior among university students in mainland China during COVID-19 mitigation.

Methods

We conducted an online survey using convenience sampling from 23rd February to 3rd March 2020 among Chinese university students who had encountered home-quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-report scales were used to measure levels of resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), social support (the Social Support Scale), and prosocial behavior (Prosocial Tendencies Measure). A total of 313 university students participated in this online survey. Hayes PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to test the hypothesized mediating and moderating effects of social support in the relationship between resilience and prosocial behavior.

Results

Pearson’s correlations analysis showed that all outcomes of interest were positively associated. Importantly, social support (subjective support, objective support, and support utilization) mediated the indirect link of resilience with prosocial behavior. Furthermore, moderation analyses indicated that support utilization played a moderating role in this link. Support utilization may reduce the negative influence of COVID-19 on university students’ prosocial behavior and serve as a protective factor between resilience and prosocial behavior in highly stressful contexts.

Conclusion

Our findings enrich research on prosocial behavior by investigating the potential internal and external variables that influence such behavior during periods of suffering. Findings also provide evidence for the need to promote university students’ prosocial behavior.

Interventions in Chinese Undergraduate Students' Mental Health: Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Over 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.

OBJECTIVE

The 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.

METHODS

We 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.

RESULTS

We 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.

CONCLUSIONS

This 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.

Living with COVID-19: emotions and health during the pandemic

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 has led and still leads all nations to adopt virus containment plans, considering possible strategies that help to live with the virus. The present study aimed to investigate the practical, psychological and emotional aspects of living with COVID-19.

PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE

A total of 250 young adults (86% female), who lived in north-western Italy, took part in an online photovoice study, in respect of social distancing. They participated in a group discussion following the method SHOWeD. The researchers analyzed the photographs along with comments and transcripts from the SHOWeD group discussions using the triangulation process of visual and textual data. The collected data were analyzed on the basis of grounded theory, with the support of the NVivo 12 software.

RESULTS

From the analysis of the emotions concerning the psychological health of participants, 4 categories were identified. The results reveal benefits and emotional aspects that have stimulated the increase of individual and community empowerment. COVID-19 has led and still leads all nations to adopt virus containment plans, considering possible strategies that help to live with the virus.

CONCLUSIONS

From the analysis of the results it emerged how the online photovoice was a tool that allowed on the one hand the sharing of experiences and emotions related to living with COVID-19 and on the other hand to maintain social ties despite physical distance.

The association between insecurity and subjective well-being among youth during the COVID-19 outbreak: A moderated mediation model

BACKGROUND

Sudden and unpredictable changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have profoundly threatened the psychological well-being and increased insecurity among adolescents worldwide. At a critical developmental stage, the well-being of the youth is more vulnerable to adverse environments. This study constructed a moderated mediation model to explore the buffering factors between insecurity and subjective well-being of the youth during the pandemic.

METHODS

During the COVID-19 outbreak in June 2020, data of 5,503 Chinese youth (15-29 years old) were collected via an online questionnaire. Subjective well-being, insecurity, self-control, and hope were measured, and the moderated mediation model was analyzed.

RESULTS

Findings from this study showed that with the mediating effect of self-control, insecurity negatively predicted subjective well-being, and hope moderated the association between insecurity and self-control. Specifically, the link between insecurity and self-control was stronger when hope was low but weaker when hope was high.

LIMITATIONS

Since this study was mainly conducted in China, and considering the continuous change of the pandemic on a global scale, it is of great significance to conduct cross-cultural and cross-time studies in the future.

CONCLUSIONS

The results demonstrate that self-control and hope play important roles in buffering the negative effects of insecurity on the subjective well-being of adolescents and young adults. The findings provide implications for reducing the negative impact of insecurity from a positive psychology perspective and for youth mental health interventions during public health crises.

Depression and Self-Efficacy Among Iranian Children During the Prevalence of COVID-19 Disease

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has quickly endangered the physical and mental health of people in the community, particularly vulnerable people such as children. This study was carried out to investigate the depression and self-efficacy of Iranian children during the COVID-19 outbreak. This cross-sectional research was conducted on 321 students aged 8 to 17 in southeast Iran. A social media-based online questionnaire was used to collect data. The information was gathered using demographic and COVID-related items, the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), and the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C). No significant correlation was observed between depression and self-efficacy of children (P = 0.23). However, in subscale of CDI, negative mood, ineffectiveness and negative self-esteem had a significant correlation with self-efficacy (<0.001). Depression had a significant correlation with family income (p = 0.017), being at risk of coronavirus infection (p = 0.036), effectiveness of preventive measures (p = 0.015) and how information about the coronavirus disease was obtained (p = 0.018). According to the results, the mean score of depression was higher than the midpoint of the questionnaire in Iranian children, therefore, it is needed to take the necessary measures and treatment plans to reduce the rate of depression in children. Further research is needed to assess and prevent childhood depression.

Health concerns among waste collectors during pandemic crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the economic, social, and psychological aspects globally. COVID-19 can possibly spread through municipal solid waste (MSW) if it is collected, bagged, transported, and disposed inappropriately. Such situation has posed significant challenges to MSW management (MSWM), which has led waste personnel under massive pressure. This study aims to examine the health-protective behavior of sanitation workers/MSW collectors (MSWCs) during the COVID-19 crisis. Quantitative data were collected by using a self-administered survey from 418 MSWCs working in Mainland China. The study extended the traditional health-belief model and proposed education and training as a facet of the behavioral model. Result showed that education and training were a significant predictor of health-protective behavior. Moreover, the moderating incremental influence of regulative assistance significantly affected the behavioral mapping of MSWCs. This study contributes to the literature by mapping the concerns, risks, and challenges experienced by MSWCs in times of a health crisis. Policymakers should specially consider the safety and hygiene concerns of frontline workforce in the whole chain of waste management (including the outsourced operations of MSWM). Lastly, the adoption of smart communication with the frontline workforce (i.e., MSWCs) is in dire need to maintain trust and avoid rumors and misconceptions during the time of a pandemic situation.

Emotional Intelligence and Academic Self-Efficacy in Relation to the Psychological Well-Being of University Students During COVID-19 in Venezuela

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, educational centers and universities in Venezuela have closed their physical plants and are migrating to emergency remote education to continue with academic programs. This empirical study aimed to analyze the predictive capacity of academic self-efficacy and emotional intelligence skills on each of the dimensions of psychological well-being. We employed a cross-sectional predictive design. The sample comprised 277 university students, of which 252 were female (91.00%). Their ages ranged from 18 to 45 years, with a mean of 20.35 (SD = 2.29). Non-probabilistic chance sampling was used. For data collection, we used an anonymous online form, contacted students by mail, and invited them to participate in the study. Questionnaires were available between 217 and 227 days of decreed quarantine in Venezuela. The results indicated average levels of academic self-efficacy (Me = 4; IQR = 2), emotional intelligence: clarity (Me = 27; IQR = 10), attention (Me = 25; IQR = 10) y repair (Me = 25; IQR = 12), and psychological well-being (Me = 35; IQR = 5). We found differences according to sex and age, specifically in emotional regulation (z = 3.73, p < 0.001, d = 0.438) and in bonds of psychological well-being (z = 2.51, p = 0.012, d = 0.276) favoring men (Me = 33, IQR = 9; Me = 8, IQR = 1), respectively. Regarding age, statistically significant differences were found in the group of students older than 21 years with higher perception of psychological well-being (z = 3.69, p < 0.001, d = 0.43) and in each of its dimensions. Emotional intelligence and academic self-efficacy were found to be significant predictors of psychological well-being and its dimensions, specifically on control (R 2-Cox = 0.25, R 2-Nagelkerke = 0.34, 69.90% of total correct classification), links (R 2-Cox = 0.09, R 2-Nagelkerke = 0.12, 65.07% of total correct classification), projects (R 2-Cox = 0.32, R 2-Nagelkerke = 0.46, 78.40% of total correct classification), acceptance (R 2-Cox = 0.17, R 2-Nagelkerke = 0.23, 68.28% of total correct classification), and total well-being (R 2-Cox = 0.52, R 2-Nagelkerke = 0.71, 87.16% of total correct classification). It was concluded that emotional intelligence and academic self-efficacy are protective psychological resources of psychological well-being that should be promoted at university to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on the mental health of young people.

Job Insecurity in the COVID-19 Pandemic on Counterproductive Work Behavior of Millennials: A Time-Lagged Mediated and Moderated Model

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the market environment for the information technology (IT) industry changed dramatically, presenting companies with numerous obstacles in day-to-day management activities and changing business needs. Previous studies found that job insecurity due to COVID-19 significantly impacted millennials. Our research explored the effect of job insecurity on counterproductive work behavior among millennial employees during the COVID-19 period, using moral disengagement as a mediating variable, and psychological capital and negative emotions as moderating variables. In this study, 298 employees working in Chinese IT companies completed the questionnaire survey. We collected data from employees over three different time intervals (baseline, three weeks later, and six weeks later) to mitigate the issues of common method bias and single-source data. We analyzed the collected data using SPSS25.0 and Amos24.0 for structural modeling. Our research results indicate that job insecurity is positively associated with counterproductive work behavior, and moral disengagement plays a mediating role. In addition, psychological capital moderates the relationship between job insecurity, moral disengagement, and counterproductive work behavior. Negative emotions also moderate the mediating effect of moral disengagement between job insecurity and CWB.

Impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the health of university students

The Covid-19 pandemic caused by the novel Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus, has resulted in millions of deaths and disruption to daily life across the globe. University students have been additionally affected by a sudden move to online learning, the closure of campuses and dramatic societal changes that have upended their experiences of higher education. Here we focus on the physical and mental health consequences of the pandemic for this population sector during 2020, and the interdependencies of these impacts. We survey the challenges for infection control on campuses and for monitoring the disease dynamics in student communities. Finally, we explore the psychological and mental health problems that have been exacerbated by the pandemic and evaluate the underlying factors that are most relevant to students.