Mind Over Matter: Mindfulness, Income, Resilience, and Life Quality of Vocational High School Students in China

Stress events and stress symptoms in Chinese secondary school students: gender and academic year characteristics of the relationship

Objective

To explore the relationship between stress events and stress symptoms and their gender and academic year characteristics in Chinese secondary school students.

Methods

4,995 secondary school students were investigated by the Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Checklist (ASLEC) and the Calgary Symptoms of Stress Inventory (C-SOSI).

Results

First, there were significant differences in all dimensions and total scores of stress events and stress symptoms between boys and girls in secondary school and between junior high school students and senior high school students. Second, the dimensions and total scores of stress events in secondary school students are positively correlated with the dimensions and total scores of stress symptoms. Third, the influence of punishment on the stress symptoms of secondary school boys is the most obvious, and the influence of punishment, adaption, relationship stress, and learning stress on the stress symptoms of secondary school girls is the most obvious. The influence of punishment on the stress symptoms of junior high school students is the most obvious, and the influence of punishment and relationship on the stress symptoms of senior high school students is the most obvious.

Conclusion

Stress events and stress symptoms of Chinese secondary school students have significant differences in gender and academic year. The same stress event has different influence mechanisms on the stress symptoms of Chinese secondary school students of different genders and different academic years.

Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study to investigate how mental health, lifestyle, and socio-demographic factors shape students' quality of life

PURPOSE

The high prevalence of COVID-19 has had an impact on the Quality of Life (QOL) of people across the world, particularly students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the social, lifestyle, and mental health aspects that are associated with QOL among university students in Lebanon.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study design was implemented using a convenience sampling approach. Data collection took place between November 2021 and February 2022, involving 329 undergraduate and graduate students from private and public universities. Quality of life was assessed using the Quality-of-Life Scale (QOLS). Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, and linear regression-based methods were used to analyze the association between QOL and socio-demographic, health-related, lifestyle, and mental health factors. The significance level for statistical analysis was predetermined at α = 0.05.

RESULTS

The study participants' average (SD) QOL score was 76.03 (15.6) with a Cronbach alpha of 0.911. QOL was positively associated with importance of religion in daily decisions (β = 6.40, p = 0.006), household income (β = 5.25, p = 0.017), general health ratings (β Excellent/poor = 23.52, p <0.001), access to private counseling (β = 4.05, p = 0.020), physical exercise (β = 6.67, p <0.001), and a healthy diet (β = 4.62, p = 0.026); and negatively associated with cigarette smoking (β increased = -6.25, p = 0.030), internet use (β ≥4 hours = -7.01, p = 0.005), depression (β = -0.56, p = 0.002) and stress (β = -0.93, p <0.001).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this study reveals the key factors that positively and negatively influence students' quality of life (QOL). Factors such as religion, higher income, and a healthy diet improve QOL, while depression, stress, excessive internet use, and cigarette smoking negatively impact it. Universities should prioritize initiatives like physical activity promotion, affordable nutritious options, destigmatizing mental health, counseling services, and self-help interventions to support student well-being and enhance their QOL.

Exploring the associations among perceived teacher emotional support, resilience, Covid-19 anxiety, and mental well-being: evidence from Chinese vocational college students

This study aimed to examine the relations between perceived teacher emotional support, Covid-19 anxiety, resilience, and mental well-being among Chinese vocational college students during Covid-19 pandemic. A sample of Chinese vocational college students (n = 1469) were surveyed with an online questionnaire composed of Teacher Emotional Support, Covid-19 Anxiety Scale, Brief Resilience Scale and Mental Well-being in Chinese version. Path analysis was employed in the study and the results showed that teacher emotional support was an important promoter for building up mental well-being but not a buffer for Covid-19 within Chinese cultural context, and the Covid-19 anxiety was significantly and negatively related to mental well-being. Resilience hindered the incidences of Covid-19 anxiety and was a significant protector for mental well-being. Covid-19 anxiety mediated the both relations between teacher emotional support and mental well-being, and resilience and mental well-being. These findings provided practical implications for coping with psychological problems and flourishing mental well-being among Chinese vocational college students.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-04112-9.

Adverse Childhood Experiences, Mindfulness, and Grit in College Students in China

This study investigated the effect of ACEs and COVID-19 on grit and whether this effect is mediated by mindfulness. Although current scholarship has found that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have harmful consequences to individuals across the life span, less is known about the relationship between ACEs and grit. Grit is predictive of educational success and subjective wellbeing. A cross-sectional online survey administered to junior and senior students from 12 universities spread across China was conducted from September 20, 2020 to October 5, 2020. The universities were selected from geographically diverse regions of China to ensure a diverse sample. We received 1,871 completed responses from 2,229 invited students. The survey response rate was 83.9%. The results indicated that ACEs had significantly negative effects on grit, while mindfulness had significantly positive effects on grit. Once controlling for level of mindfulness, the effects of ACEs on grit largely reduced and became insignificant. The findings of this research indicate that mindfulness has a significant mediational effect on the relation between ACEs and grit and call for mindfulness-based interventions for enhancing grit for the population at risks.

The Quality of Life and Its Relationship With Systemic Family Dynamics and Mental Health in Senior High School Students From Shaanxi, China

Objective

To explore the quality of life (QoL) status of senior high school students in the Shaanxi Province and the relationship of the QoL with systemic family dynamics and mental health.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional observational study in a sample of 1,402 senior high school students; students were asked to complete a questionnaire which comprised the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) to assess the QoL, the Self-rating Scale of Systemic Family Dynamics (SSFD) for assessing family functioning, the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) for assessing mental health and general demographic variables.

Results

Grades of senior high school students were defined as Grade 1 (first year), Grade 2 (second year), and Grade 3 (third year). Compared to Grade 3 students, Grade 1 students had higher scores in physical functioning, role-emotional, bodily pain, and reported health transition of the QoL over the last 1 year (P < 0.05). Multiple linear regression showed that the place of residence, subscales of systemic family dynamics, somatization, and depression significantly affected the total QoL score. The results of SEM show that the SCL-90-R score fully mediated the association between the SSFD score and SF-36 score (indirect effect coefficient 0.055; 95% CI, 0.012–0.106; P = 0.042).

Conclusion

The QoL score of senior high school students was low, particularly that of Grade 3 students, who consequently need more emotional support. By improving and enhancing systemic family dynamics, the QOL of high school students will improve and discovering and addressing their mental health problems will be easier.

Adverse childhood experiences, mindfulness and happiness in Chinese college students during the COVID-19 pandemic

The rise of literature on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has indicated a strong relationship between ACEs and negative life outcomes, leading to important implications for services to the population. However, less is known about the effects of ACEs on happiness and the role of mindfulness in this relation. This study examined the relationships between ACEs and happiness and whether mindfulness mediated the effects of ACEs on happiness in a sample of Chinese college students. The data were collected from 1871 college students from 12 colleges across China in September 2020. The findings of this study show that ACEs had significant negative effects on students' happiness and that mindfulness helped to substantially reduce the negative effects of ACEs on happiness. Students who experienced emotional neglect and abuse in childhood were affected the most. By contrast, this group is not the primary focus of mindfulness-based interventions in existing literature; thus, this study calls for specific mindfulness-based interventions for this vulnerable population.

Ecological Momentary Mood, Resilience, and Mental Health Status as Predictors of Quality of Life Among Young Adults Under Stress: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis

Multiple internal factors, such as psychological resilience and mental health status, have been shown to contribute to overall quality of life (QoL). However, very few studies to date have examined how these factors contribute to QoL of youth and young adults in a stressful situation. Here, we studied the contribution of these factors, as well as of ecological momentary mood assessment, to QoL of young army recruits during their Basic Training Combat (BCT). To this end, we collected data from 156 male and female soldiers in a mixed-gender unit in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Using a mobile app installed on participants' phones, participants provided self-reports regarding their mental health status and psychological resilience at baseline, and QoL 2 weeks later. Momentary mood reporting was further collected during the 2-week interval period using a daily self-report mood scale (IMS-12). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the interrelationships among the study variables based on a hypothesized model. We found that a model with all factors (gender, resilience, mental health status and momentary mood) provided a good fit for the data based on its fit indices [χ2(38) = 47.506, p = 0.139, CFI = 0.979, NFI = 0.910, RMSEA = 0.040, TLI = 0.964]. However, the only direct contributors to QoL were gender and momentary mood, accounting together for 61.5% of the variance of QoL. Psychological resilience and mental health status contributed to QoL only indirectly, through their associations with momentary mood. Collectively, these results highlight the importance of ecological momentary assessment of mental-health related factors such as mood to the prediction of QoL in young adults under stress. These findings may have broader implications for monitoring and improvement of well-being in young healthy populations as well as in clinical ones.

Passion and Persistence: Investigating the Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Grit in College Students in China

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known to have deleterious effects on individuals across the life span, but less is known about how they affect grit, a strong predictor of achievements and well-being. This study seeks to investigate the effect of ACEs on grit in a sample of Chinese college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from 1,871 students across 12 universities in China. Findings indicated a significant effect of ACEs on grit, particularly abuse and neglect dimensions of ACE. Since grit is particularly important for professional success, those who have experienced abuse and neglect victimization may struggle throughout their education, and subsequently, in their careers. This calls for interventions to buffer the effects of ACEs on grit.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Psychological Well-Being in Chinese College Students: Mediation Effect of Mindfulness

Literature on the antecedents of psychological well-being (PWB) has found that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and mindfulness are associated with PWB; less is known, however, about the role of mindfulness, a type of emotional and self-regulation, in the pathway between ACEs and PWB. This study used data from 1871 college students across China to examine the relation between ACEs and PWB, and whether the relation was mediated by mindfulness. The findings from structural equation modelling indicate a statistically significant negative association between ACEs and PWB, while mindfulness was strongly and positively associated with PWB. The effect of ACEs on PWB was reduced once mindfulness was controlled for in the analysis. This provides evidence that mindfulness was able to partially mediate the effects of negative life experiences on psychological well-being. This calls for mindfulness interventions targeted toward students with a history of ACEs to buffer the effects of ACEs on PWB.

Testing Interdependent Self-Construal as a Moderator between Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, and Psychological Health among Emerging Adults

This study examines the moderating role of interdependent self-construal between mindfulness, emotion regulation, and psychological health, with emotion regulation as a mediator. A total of 187 Chinese emerging adults completed self-reported measures, including mindfulness, cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and interdependent self-construal. Our findings indicate moderation effects of interdependent self-construal between (i) mindfulness and cognitive reappraisal, (ii) cognitive reappraisal and life satisfaction, (iii) expressive suppression and life satisfaction, and (iv) expressive suppression and depressive symptoms. Based on bootstrapping and path analyses, cognitive reappraisal mediated the relation between mindfulness and psychological health, including depressive symptoms and life satisfaction, regardless of the level of interdependent self-construal. In addition, mindfulness was not related to expressive suppression, regardless of the level of interdependent self-construal. Based on these findings, researchers and practitioners should pay attention to the differential associations between mindfulness, emotion regulation strategies, and psychological outcomes as a function of interdependent self-construal during emerging adulthood.

Associations between Mindfulness, Executive Function, Social-Emotional Skills, and Quality of Life among Hispanic Children

Hispanic children constitute the largest ethnic minority in the United States of America, and yet few studies examine the relationship between mindfulness and Hispanic children's quality of life. This 2018 study seeks to gain insight into how mindfulness is associated with Hispanic children's quality of life. We surveyed 96 children in 5th- and 6th-grade classes in three Northern New Jersey elementary schools in 2018. Structure Equation Modeling was used to examine the associations between mindfulness, executive function, social-emotional skills, and quality of life. The results indicate that mindfulness is significantly and directly associated with executive function (β = 0.53), and that executive function is positively associated with social-emotional skills (β = 0.54) and quality of life (β = 0.51) of the sampled Hispanic children. The total effects on quality of life are significant for mindfulness (β = 0.33), executive function (β = 0.62), and social-emotional skills (β = 0.20). The findings shed light upon factors that can affect Hispanic children's quality of life and call for interventions related to these factors in order to improve their well-being.