During emerging adulthood (EA), higher education medical students undergo a higher risk of anxiety and depression compared to the general population. The aim of this comparative cross-sectional study was to compare the proportions of three mental disorders, namely anxiety, depression and somatisation in terms of their symptoms and self-reported physical activity (PA) levels across the cohorts of biomedical and non-biomedical female students as well as to assess the association between the mental health outcomes and PA use. Between September 2021 and January 2022, a total of 1231 female higher education students aged between 18 and 29 years old were recruited for the study. Severe symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as unexplained somatic complaints, were suffered by 51.9%, 11% and 23% of female students, respectively. Non-biomedical female students, compared to medicine and health sciences students, were more vulnerable due to the increased prevalence of negative mental health outcomes. The relationship between increased sports activity as a potential trigger for mental well-being and decreased severity of depressive symptoms was identified in the cohorts of both biomedical (adjusted odd ratio (ORadj) 0.4; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1–1.0) and non-biomedical (ORadj 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2–0.9) female students. The current research highlights the importance of increasing sports activity by involving students in regular physical exercise of specific types for decreasing the severity of depressive symptoms in student-aged female populations.
Nowadays, eating disorders (ED) among individuals during emerging adulthood have become a crucial challenge to public health, taking into account the fact that the global prevalence of the ED risk in student-aged populations already stands at 10.4% and has been sharply increasing during the COVID-19 pandemic. In all, from 50% to 80% of all the ED cases go undetected or are not correctly diagnosed; moreover, these individuals do not receive specialized treatment. Therefore, early diagnosis detected via screening questionnaires for ED is highly recommended. This study aimed to identify the triggers for ED risk development in emerging-adulthood individuals and to reveal the factors significant not only for ED prevention but also for assessing individuals with subthreshold symptoms. This cross-sectional study provides the results for the ED symptom screening in 1716 Lithuanian higher-education students aged 21.2 ± 3.9, during emerging adulthood. According to the results of this study, 19.2% of students were at risk for ED. Potential risk factors such as sex (odds ratio (OR): 3.1, 95% CI: 1.9–4.9), body weight (self-reported body mass index) (adjusted (A) OR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.2–1.7) and comorbidities such as smoking (AOR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.6–2.8), and perceived stress during the pandemic (AOR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.1–1.8) are involved in anticipating the symptomatology of ED during emerging adulthood. Regular initial screenings with universally adopted questionnaires and further referral to a psychiatrist must be applied to promote both the diagnosis of early-onset symptomatology and the treatment of these ED in student-aged populations. Preventive programs for reducing the prevalence of overweight or obesity among students during emerging adulthood should focus on integration directions for the development of a positive body image.
Mental health refers to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being. However, significant research gaps are still found in disclosing the disparities in mental health outcomes between heterosexual and sexual minority (SM) individuals during the period of 20–24 years of age. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the association between the prevalence of psychoactive substance use and the severity of anxiety or depressive symptoms, and well-being across SM and non-SM student-aged populations (N = 1330). This cross-sectional study was conducted in Lithuania over the period of fifteen months following the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study concentrated on the mental health symptomatology, well-being status, and the prevalence of the psychoactive substance use, which were measured by three screening instruments. In terms of negative well-being, mental health problems, and health-risk behaviors, it was found that the SMs were potentially more exposed than the non-SMs. The current study also revealed a significant impact of substance use (alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking) on the symptoms of anxiety (adjusted odds ratios (AOR) 1.6 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.0–2.6), AOR 1.5 (95% CI: 1.0–2.2)), and negative well-being (AOR 1.7 (95% CI: 1.0–2.8), AOR 1.7 (95% CI: 1.1–2.5)) across the SM student-aged group. The association between the increased self-administration of cannabis and positive mental health outcomes appertained to milder anxiety symptoms amid SMs has been identified (AOR 0.5 (95% CI: 0.2–0.9)). Given that minority stressors could play an important part in mediating between the sexual orientation and negative outcomes of mental and behavioral health in student-aged populations, health strategies should focus on the development of effective substance abuse and drug prevention programs, both student-centered and SMs-centered, aimed to reduce health-risk behaviors in emerging adulthood.
Sergantiems išsėtine skleroze (IS) pažeidžiamos neurologinės sistemos, dėl kurių atsiranda pusiausvyros ir eisenos sutrikimai. Darbo tikslas – nustatyti videožaidimų poveikį mobilumui ir pusiausvyrai pacientams, sergantiems IS. Tyrimo medžiaga ir metodai. Tyrime dalyvavo (n=20) IS sergančių tiriamųjų, kurių amžius buvo 54,3±8 m., moterų amžius 52,4±7,2 m., vyrų amžius 59,3±8,2 m. Visų tiriamųjų ligos trukmė 24,9 ± 12,9 m. IS sergantys tiriamieji į tyrimą įtraukti pagal Kurtzke išplėstinę negalios vertinimo skalę (EDSS) < 4. Tiriamieji buvo suskirstyti į grupes: I grupė (n=10) – tiriamieji, kuriems buvo taikyti pusiausvyrą ir eiseną lavinantys pratimai, II grupė (n=10) – taikyti videožaidimai GAMMA dinamografinės platformos pagrindu. Abi tiriamųjų grupės šešias savaites, du kartus per savaitę po 30 min. atliko 12 individualių kineziterapijos užsiėmimų. Abiejų grupių tiriamiesiems tyrimo pradžioje, po 2, 4 ir 6 savaičių buvo atliekamas statinės pusiausvyros ir griuvimų rizikos vertinimas Berg‘o testu ir mobilumo vertinimas Stotis ir eiti testu. Tyrimo rezultatai. Prieš tyrimą, po 2, 4 ir 6 savaičių Berg‘o skalės duomenys ir Stotis ir eiti testo rezultatai tarp I ir II grupės statistiškai reikšmingai nesiskyrė (P>0,05). I grupės tiriamųjų Berg’o skalės duomenys po 4 ir 6 savaičių statistiškai reikšmingai padidėjo (P<0,001), o II grupės šis rodiklis statistiškai reikšmingai padidėjo tik po 6 savaičių (P<0,05). Stotis ir eiti testo rezultatai po 6 savaičių abiejose grupėse statistiškai reikšmingai sumažėjo (P<0,001). Išvados. Videožaidimai reikšmingai pagerino su pusiausvyra susijusius judesius bei mobilumą. Videožaidimai yra tokia pat efektyvi priemonė pusiausvyrai ir mobilumui didinti pacientams, sergantiems IS, kaip ir specializuoti pusiausvyrą lavinantys pratimai.
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