Prospective Association between Smartphone Addiction and Perceived Stress and Moderation of Boredom during COVID-19 in China.

Smartphone addiction (SPA) is prevalent in college students and harms their healthy development, and perceived stress (PS) has been a well-documented risk factor of SPA. People often experienced boredom during COVID-19; however, its effect on behavioral/mental health during the pandemic has been rarely tested. We investigated the prospective association between SPA and PS before and during COVID-19, as well as the moderation of boredom. A total of 197 college students participated in four-wave surveys from December 2018 to June 2020 in China. The cross-lagged model was developed to investigate the prospective association between SPA and PS from T1 to T4. Boredom was added to the model at T4 as a moderator to explore the moderating role of boredom during COVID-19. The results showed that the pandemic changed PS's prediction on SPA. During COVID-19, boredom significantly affected SPA and PS and moderated the link from PS at T3 to PS at T4. The results suggest that the prospective associations between SPA and PS varied before and during COVID-19. Prevention of SPA should be conducted for new students and should be used to enhance their stress coping capacity. Intervention programs for eliminating boredom may be effective for reducing stress and SPA during COVID-19.

Trends of childhood obesity in China and associated factors.

Childhood obesity is worsening at dramatic rates and has become a public health crisis. This study investigated these trends in childhood obesity and examined parental factors that may contribute to overweight and obesity. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from height and weight measurements taken annually from 2004 to 2007 in a subsample of 136 children (2-4 years old), from the Jintan Child Health Project in China. Parental factors were assessed through a self-administered questionnaire. Prevalence rates of overweight and obesity rose from 6.6% and 2.2% in 2004 to 15.4% and 6.6% in 2007 (p < .05). Overweight was significantly associated with maternal employment (p < .05), but not with parental education level, maternal age at birth, or breast-feeding. To counter this rapid increase of obesity and overweight prevalence, nurses should regularly monitor children's weight and advise parents, especially working mothers, on the nutritional benefits of home-cooked meals.