As a new type of addictive behaviors and distinct from traditional internet game addiction on desktop computers, mobile game addiction has attracted researchers' attention due to its possible negative effects on mental health issues. However, very few studies have particularly examined the relationship between mobile game addiction and mental health outcomes, due to a lack of specified instrument for measuring this new type of behavioral addiction. In this study, we examined the relationship between mobile game addition and social anxiety, depression, and loneliness among adolescents. We found that mobile game addiction was positively associated with social anxiety, depression, and loneliness. A further analysis on gender difference in the paths from mobile game addiction to these mental health outcomes was examined, and results revealed that male adolescents tend to report more social anxiety when they use mobile game addictively. We also discussed limitations and implications for mental health practice.
Over the past 20 years, resilience theory has attracted great attention from both researchers and mental health practitioners. Resilience is defined as a process of overcoming the negative effects of risk exposure, coping successfully with traumatic experiences, or avoiding the negative trajectories associated with risks. Three basic models of resilience have been proposed to account for the mechanism whereby promotive factors operate to alter the trajectory from risk exposure to negative consequences: compensatory model, protective model, and inoculation model. Assets and resources are two types of promotive factors found to be effective in decreasing internalizing and externalizing problems. Considering the protective or compensatory role of assets and resources in helping youth be resilient against negative effects of adversity, resilience could be applied to Chinese migrant and left-behind children who are at risk for internalizing (e.g., depression, anxiety) and externalizing problems (e.g., delinquent behaviors, cigarette and alcohol use). Additionally, psychological suzhi-based interventions, a mental health construct for individuals that focuses on a strengths-based approach, can be integrated with resilience-based approach to develop more balanced programs for positive youth development.
The present meta-analysis reviews English-language studies from 2005 to 2016 to investigate the relationship between social networking sites (SNSs) usage and mental health and to explore whether cultural background, measurement of usage, gender and age influence this relationship. A total of 63 studies and 144 effect sizes (positive indicators of mental health k = 62, negative indicators of mental health k = 82) were analyzed. We found that (1) SNSs usage was positively correlated with both positive and negative indicators of mental health, and no significant difference between these two mean correlations was found; (2) age did not moderate the relationship between SNSs usage and mental health; (3) SNSs usage was positively related to positive indicators for measures of social network size, while general use was positively related to negative indicators; (4) stronger correlations were found between SNSs usage and positive indicators of mental health in collectivist cultures than in individualistic cultures; (5) as percentage of female participants increased, a stronger relationship between social network sites and negative indicators of mental health was observed. This meta-analysis allows for integration of conclusions of past studies and establishes a clearer understanding of the relations between SNSs usage and mental health, including recognizing that complex factors (such as cultural background and gender) moderate these relations.
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a member of the Coronaviridae family, is the causative pathogen for MERS that is characterized by high fever, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), as well as extrapulmonary manifestations. Currently, there are no approved treatment regimens or vaccines for MERS. Here, we generated recombinant nonvirulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV) LaSota strain expressing MERS-CoV S protein (designated as rLa-MERS-S), and evaluated its immunogenicity in mice and Bactrian camels. The results revealed that rLa-MERS-S showed similar growth properties to those of LaSota in embryonated chicken eggs, while animal immunization studies showed that rLa-MERS-S induced MERS-CoV neutralizing antibodies in mice and camels. Our findings suggest that recombinant rLa-MERS-S may be a potential MERS-CoV veterinary vaccine candidate for camels and other animals affected by MERS.
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