An outbreak in Wuhan, China in late 2019 of a highly infectious new coronary pneumonia (COVID-19) led to the imposition of countrywide confinement measures from January to March 2020. This is a longitudinal study on changes in the mental health status of a college population before and after their COVID-19 confinement for the first two weeks, focusing on states of psychological distress, depression, anxiety and affectivity. The influence of possible stressors on their mental health were investigated, including inadequate supplies and fears of infection. Five hundred and fifty-five undergraduate students were recruited from Hebei Agricultural University in Baoding, China. The participants completed two online surveys—on anxiety and depression, and on positive and negative affect. One survey was conducted before the confinement and the other was conducted 15–17 days after the start of the confinement. Increases in negative affect and symptoms of anxiety and depression (p-values < 0.001) were observed after 2 weeks of confinement. Inadequate supplies of hand sanitizers, a higher year of study, and higher scores on anxiety and depression were common predictors of increased negative affect, anxiety, and depression across the confinement period. The results suggest that healthcare policymakers should carefully consider the appropriate confinement duration, and ensure adequate supplies of basic infection-control materials.

Proactive telephone counselling is an effective aid to promote smoking cessation among parents of young children.

This review identified that female spousal caregivers for cancer patients had higher levels of negative experience in caregiving. A better understanding of the spousal caregiving experience will provide healthcare professionals with the information needed to develop interventions to support and prepare spousal caregivers to care for their loved ones with cancer.

Introduction The nine‐item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ‐9) is widely used to determine the severity of depression in adult populations, but its psychometric properties with regard to adolescents has been poorly explored. The present study aims to identify the factor structure and examine the measurement invariance of this instrument across genders and age groups in a Chinese adolescent sample. Methods A large sample of Chinese schoolchildren completed the PHQ‐9 in a cross‐sectional survey in Hong Kong (N = 10 933). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the factor structure and a multiple group CFA to test the gender and age invariances of the PHQ‐9 in adolescents were conducted. Cronbach alpha was used to assess the reliability of the questionnaire, and Pearson correlations with anxiety, self‐esteem, and perceived control were used to assess its construct validity. Results The CFA results indicate that a one‐factor model with three pairs of item correlations fitted the PHQ‐9 data well, and measurement invariances by age and gender were supported. The PHQ‐9 also possesses adequate internal consistency (>.84) and is strongly correlated with anxiety (>.77), self‐esteem (<−.57), and perceived control (<−.56) in the expected directions in the overall sample and in the gender and age subsamples. Discussion The results support the claim that the PHQ‐9 is a reliable and valid scale and can be used to assess and compare depressive severity across ages and genders during the period of adolescence.

Aim: This study aimed to examine the relationships between socio-economic status, healthpromoting lifestyles, and quality of life among Chinese nursing students. Background: Nursing students will be future health promoters, but they may not always adopt the recommended healthy lifestyle. Currently, there are insufficient studies examining the health-promoting lifestyles of Chinese nursing students, and the impact of socio-economic status and healthpromoting lifestyle on their health. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected from nursing students studying in pre-registration nursing programs of a university in Hong Kong. The survey was conducted through a self-administered questionnaire that solicited information regarding their socio-economic status, health-promoting lifestyle, quality of life, and perceptions of the barriers to adopting a health-promoting lifestyle. Findings: A total of 538 students returned completed questionnaires for analysis. Among the health-promoting lifestyle subscales, the participants performed best in interpersonal relations and worst in physical activity, and the vast majority of them did not actively engage in health-risk behaviors. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that only 5% of the variance in quality of life was explained by socio-economic variables, whereas a total of 24% of the variance was explained when health-promoting lifestyle variables were added. In particular, health responsibility, physical activity, spiritual growth, and stress management were statistically significant predictors of quality of life. Conclusions: Early concerns about how prepared nurses are to take on the role of promoting health still apply today. School administrators should plan the nursing curriculum to include activities that encourage student nurses to participate in healthpromoting lifestyles. Future studies are needed to explore the barriers that prevent students from practicing health-promoting behavior.