Examining the Dose-Response Relationship between Outdoor Jogging and Physical Health of Youths: A Long-Term Experimental Study in Campus Green Space

Association between Physical Fitness Index and Psychological Symptoms in Chinese Children and Adolescents

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between different physical fitness indices (PFIs) and psychological symptoms and each dimension (emotional symptoms, behavioral symptoms, social adaptation difficulties) of Chinese children and adolescents. Methods: A total of 7199 children and adolescents aged 13−18 in Jiangxi Province, China, were tested for grip strength, standing long jump, sit-ups, sit and reach, repeated straddling, 50 m run, 20 m shuttle run test (20 m SRT) items. The physical fitness indicators were standardized, converted to Z score and added up to obtain the PFI, and the self-assessment of the psychological section of the multidimensional sub-health questionnaire of adolescents (MSQA) to test the psychological symptoms, using the chi-square test to determine the psychological symptoms of different types of children and adolescents and binary logistic regression analysis to determine the association between psychological symptoms and different PFI grades. Results: The higher the PFI of Chinese children and adolescents, the lower the detection rate of psychological symptoms, emotional symptoms and social adaptation difficulties, from 25.0% to 18.4%, 31.3% to 25.7% and 20.1% to 14.4%, respectively. These results were statistically significant (χ2 = 14.073, 9.332, 12.183, p < 0.05). Taking the high-grade PFI as a reference, binary logistic regression analysis was performed. Generally, compared with the high-grade PFI, children and adolescents with a low-grade PFI (OR = 1.476, 95% CI: 1.200−1.814) or medium-grade PFI (OR = 1.195, 95% CI: 1.010−1.413) had a higher risk of psychological symptoms (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The lower the PFI of Chinese children and adolescents, the higher the detection rate of psychological symptoms, showing a negative correlation. In the future, measures should be taken to improve the physical fitness level of children and adolescents in order to reduce the incidence of psychological symptoms and promote the healthy development of children and adolescents.

Association between Sleep Quality and Depression Symptoms in Chinese College Students during the COVID-19 Lockdown Period

Background: The outbreak of COVID-19 has seriously threatened the health of people around the world. To prevent the spread of the epidemic, Chinese universities have implemented closed management of campuses. The implementation of restrictive measures has gradually caused changes in the quality of sleep and the psychological state of college students. In addition, college students are faced with the dual pressure of employment and study, and the psychological pressure is huge. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate sleep and depressive symptoms among college students. Methods: Using the method of stratified cluster sampling, 6695 college students were selected from three universities in Jiangxi, Anhui, and Xinjiang provinces from April to May 2022. The Chinese version of the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and the self-rating depression scale (SDS) were used for the survey. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between the PSQI and the SDS. Results: Overall, during the outbreak of COVID-19, 69.0% of males and 73.5% of females had poor sleep quality among Chinese college students and the detection rate of depressive symptoms was 43.6% for males and 47.8% for females, respectively. Taking students with good sleep quality as references, after controlling for covariates, hierarchical logistic regression shows that Chinese college students with poor sleep quality have a higher OR value (OR = 12.0, 95%CI: 10.2~14.1, p < 0.001), especially in males (OR = 43.8, 95%CI:30.2~63.6, p < 0.001). For both males and females, the OR value of college students with the following characteristics was higher: rural college students (males, OR = 50.32, 95%CI: 32.50−77.93; females, OR = 8.03, 95%CI: 6.45−9.99), overweight college students (males, OR = 62.17, 95%CI: 19.47−198.53; females, OR = 16.67, 95%CI: 6.48−42.88), and college students drinking sugar-sweetened beverages (males, OR = 59.00, 95%CI: 36.96−94.18; females, OR = 8.16, 95%CI: 6.63−10.05) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Poor sleep quality is associated with depressive symptoms among Chinese college students, especially college males. Our research suggests that it is necessary to consider the improvement of sleep quality and depressive symptoms among college students during the COVID-19 epidemic.

The Sense of Safety and Active Leisure in Gated Enclaves: Evidence from Fuzhou University Campus

Scientific interest in how residential patterns affect both people’s subjective sense of safety and their behavior is increasing. The surge of gated communities in the world has changed the way we live to a great extent. Research on the gated development trend in postmodern cities is still limited; therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between residents’ attitudes toward gated enclaves and their sense of safety. At the same time, the relationship between a sense of security and active leisure behavior was also investigated. Using data collected from 350 college students in Fuzhou University Town, this study introduces a conceptual model to test the relationship between closed enclaves, campus security, and active leisure behavior while controlling population and community characteristics. The results of structural equation model analysis show that gated enclaves positively correlate with campus safety and positively correlate with active leisure behavior, and a safe campus positively correlates with active leisure behavior. The results of this study focus on the importance of gated enclaves as a living environment, and the discovery of functional characteristics of gated enclaves supports future interventions. In other words, when promoting active leisure behavior and increasing the sense of safety in the neighborhood environment, attention must be paid to the characteristics of these gated enclaves. In addition, the simultaneous measurement of these structures provides a dynamic observation of the existing environment, as well as information for future research and construction. Decision makers and urban planners can use these results to promote interaction and healthy behavior in the community under the multi-angle development of the existing access control, thereby improving residents’ sense of security, and increasing leisure participation.