The effect of pilates and a WhatsApp-based health intervention program on symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS): A randomized controlled study

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) reduces the quality of life of young women and negatively affects their mental health and productivity. Regular physical activity and lifestyle changes are effective in alleviating and eliminating PMS symptoms. Accordingly, this randomized controlled study aims to investigate the effect of pilates and a WhatsApp-based support program on reducing PMS symptoms. A support program including pilates exercises and sending text messages was applied for 8 weeks to the students in the intervention group, and no attempt was made to the students in the control group. In this study, it was found that a support program including pilates exercise and Whatsapp text messages significantly reduced PMS symptoms.

Technology-Enhanced Health Promotion for College Students: A Seed Development Project

Obesity is an issue for young adults in the U.S. This population is particularly vulnerable to weight gain as they move from adolescence to young adulthood, especially as they transition from high school to college. Adopting a health promotion approach, a university-based cluster of researchers, community advocates, and a technology partner embarked on a two-year seed development project that focused on development, implementation, and evaluation of a web-based healthy lifestyle intervention for college students. Using a mixed-method design, two convenience samples of residential university students were recruited to participate in a 4-week intervention called Eat, Move, Live, in which they interacted with a newly-created comprehensive website about management of a healthy lifestyle. Participants' post-intervention readiness for change increased by 15% (eating and life balance behaviors) to 23% (moving behaviors). Participants reported increased awareness of eating behaviors, and feelings of engagement in tracking their fruit and vegetable consumption. Findings suggest that technology may be utilized to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of achieving students' individual goals related to healthy living. These preliminary findings have implications for increasing the development and implementation of technological approaches to health promotion for young adult students.

College Student Perspectives of Telemental Health: a Review of the Recent Literature

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

We review the recent literature regarding college student experiences with and attitudes toward telemental health (TMH). We examine their perspectives of the advantages and drawbacks to this form of mental healthcare and their willingness to engage in TMH.

RECENT FINDINGS

College students view TMH as convenient, accessible, easy to use, and helpful. TMH helps to overcome the barrier of stigma associated with seeking mental health treatment. Despite positive reviews, many students find a lack of customization or connection to the provider to be drawbacks to some forms of TMH. Willingness to engage in TMH varies based on prior experience with mental health treatment, ethnicity, and severity of symptoms. The recent literature highlights the potential for TMH to play a key role in mental health services for college students. It also highlights some of its shortcomings, which are indicative of the continued need for in-person services. Future studies should continue to track college student perspectives toward and utilization of TMH.

Tailored texts: An application of regulatory fit to text messages designed to reduce high-risk drinking

This study used the regulatory focus/fit framework to compare the impact of text message wording on college students' drinking behaviors. In this 2 × 3 × 2 pre-test/post-test experiment, participants (N = 279) were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: messages matching regulatory focus (congruent group), messages mismatching regulatory focus (incongruent group), and general health messages (control group). Messages were tailored by regulatory fit (prevention-oriented or promotion-oriented). Mixed factorial analyses of covariance revealed that prevention-oriented individuals who received text messages incongruent with their regulatory focus reported drinking alcohol for more hours and were more likely to consume a higher quantity of drinks than participants in the congruent or control group. These findings suggest that health messages mismatched to a receiver's regulatory focus might exacerbate unhealthy behavior.