The link between unhealthy lifestyle behaviors and emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents: a latent class analysis.

Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors (ULBs) in children and adolescents are relatively common. Previous studies have shown an association between a single ULBs and emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs); however, few studies have explored the connection between multiple behavioral patterns and EBPs in children and adolescents. Hence, we aimed to investigate the link between ULBs clusters and EBPs among Chinese children and adolescents. From April to May 2019, we used cluster sampling to investigate children and adolescents in grades 1-12 from 14 schools located across six streets of Bao'an District in the city of Shenzhen. We measured emotional and behavioral problems using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). ULBs included the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, takeaway and fast food consumption, lack of sleep, low outdoor activity, and excessive screen time. We performed clustering of ULBs using the regression hybrid modeling method of latent class analysis (LCA). We analyzed the association between ULBs and EBPs using logistic regression. In total, 30188 children and adolescents remained for analysis, with an average age of 12.44 ± 3.47 years. The LCA revealed four distinct patterns of ULBs: (1) lowest risk; (2) high-risk unhealthy lifestyle behaviors; (3) high-risk dietary unhealthy lifestyle behaviors; and (4) highest risk. Compared to ULBs with the lowest risk, high-risk ULBs, high-risk dietary ULBs, and highest risk ULBs were positively correlated with EBPs, with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) (95% confidence interval [CI]) of 1.27, 1.34 and 2.05, respectively. Children and adolescents who reported engaging in multiple ULBs were also more likely to have poorer EBPs status. This implies that school administrations should pay more attention to the management of dietary and lifestyle behaviors to prevent EBPs in children and adolescents. Our findings highlight the need to focus on multiple clusters of ULBs among adolescents in a preventive care system and to validate EBP that may occur in children who are exposed to ULBs.

Reversible stability of colloids switched by CO2 based on polyhexamethylene guanidine.

The stability of a colloid, including emulsion and polymer latex, can be destroyed irreversibly by the addition of salt. Using the CO2 stimulus, amines can be converted into organic ammonium salts reversibly, which can access the switching of colloids. Polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG), was chosen as a switchable amine. The conductivity of PHMG aqueous solution switched by adding and removing CO2. Surface tension measurements verified that, under CO2, the critical micelle concentration of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) decreased from 1.0 × 10-3 to 5.0 × 10-4 M with the addition of PHMG. The crude oil emulsion containing SDBS and PHMG was destroyed and restored reversibly by the treatment with CO2 and N2. The polystyrene latex also occurred an obvious stratification after sparging with CO2 and returned a homogeneous phase upon bubbling N2. This study is intended to pave the way for colloids which has reversible stability in response to CO2 stimulation.

Lifestyle behaviors and mental health during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic among college students: a web-based study.

BACKGROUND: After emerging in China, the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) quickly spread to all parts of the country and became a global public health emergency. The Chinese government immediately took a series of protective and quarantine measures to prevent the spread of the virus, and these measures may have negative effects on behavior and psychological health. This study aimed to examine the associations between factors related to COVID-19 measures and mental health symptoms among Chinese college students in different pandemic areas. METHODS: An online survey was administered to 14,789 college students from February 4 to 12, 2020. After excluding the participants who did not complete the questionnaire, the quality of the questionnaire was checked. Finally, the sample included 11,787 college students from 16 cities and 21 universities in China. The areas included the city of Wuhan (Area 1), the neighboring province of Hubei (Area 2), first-tier cities (Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou [Area 3]), and other provinces (Area 4). RESULTS: The average age of the participants was 20.51 ± 1.88 years. One-third of the participants were men. In total, 25.9 and 17.8% reported depression and anxiety, respectively. We also explored COVID-19-related factors, such as infection risk, perceived resistance to COVID-19 (or susceptibility to COVID-19 infection), perceived physical symptoms, family or friends, direct or indirect contact with confirmed cases, and having sought psychological counseling, which were significantly associated with anxiety and depression symptoms. Higher screen time, lower physical activity, higher soda and tea beverages (also called sugar sweetened beverages intake), use of alternative medicines or food supplements (including Chinese herbal medicines and vitamins), and decreased meal frequency were all correlated with higher depression and anxiety symptoms (depression: χ2 = 25.57 and anxiety: χ2 = 39.42). Coping with COVID-19 partially mediated the associations between some related lifestyle behaviors, anxiety, and depression. The conditional process model analysis results supported our hypotheses that lifestyle health behaviors and coping style were both predictors of anxiety and depression symptoms, and their direct and indirect effects were moderated by sex. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the city of Wuhan, other epidemic areas had a lower risk of mental health problems. Lifestyle health behaviors and coping styles alleviated mental health symptoms. COVID-19-related social stressors were positively associated with mental health symptoms.

The correlation between lifestyle health behaviors, coping style, and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic among college students: Two rounds of a web-based study.

Background: During the last months of 2019, worldwide attention has focused on a pandemic of COVID-19, and the pandemic spread rapidly, becoming a public health emergency of international concern. The Chinese government has quickly taken quarantine measures and the drastic measures incurred to curtail it, which could have harmful consequences for everyone's behavior and mental health. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the correlation of influencing factors and mental health symptoms among Chinese college students according to two rounds of surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: This study was divided into two stages of cross-sectional investigation. In February 2020 and May 2020, two cross-sectional surveys were conducted on college students in the above areas by means of cluster sampling. From February 4 to February 12, 2020, 14,789 college students completed the first round of online study from 16 cities and universities in 21 in China, excluding participants who completed the questionnaire, and finally included 11,787 college students. After 3 months, we also conducted a large-scale questionnaire survey based on the first study area to observe the behavioral changes and psychological symptoms of college students within 3 months. Using the convenience sampling method, a survey on the cognitive and psychological status of COVID-19 among college students was conducted in 21 universities in 16 regions in May 2020. The regions among the two surveys are divided into Wuhan (District 1), neighboring Hubei (District 2), first-tier cities, namely, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou (District 3), and other provinces (District 4). Results: (1) In the first survey, the average age of the participants was 20.51 ± 1.88 years. One-third of the college students were male. In total, 25.9 and 17.8% of college students reported depression and anxiety symptoms, respectively. College students, who reported higher ST, lower PA, higher soda beverage and tea beverage intake, have Chinese herbal medicine and vitamin drinking, and decreased frequency of diet had higher depression and anxiety symptoms. Moreover, infection risk, perceived resistance to COVID-19, concerns about physical symptoms, family/friends directly/indirectly contacted with confirmed cases, and seeking psychological counseling had significant associations with anxiety and depression symptoms. (2) In the second round of surveys, 6803 males (41.7%) and 9502 females (58.3%) had a mean age of 20.58 ± 1.81 years. The prevalence of depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms during COVID-19 was 30.7 and 23.9%, respectively. (3) In both surveys, college students who reported having higher ST, lower PA, higher soda beverage and tea beverage intake, Chinese herbal medicine and vitamin drinking, and decreased frequency of diet also had higher depression and anxiety symptoms. Coping styles with COVID-19 partially mediate the association between some related lifestyle behaviors and anxiety and depression. The results of the conditional process model analysis support our hypothesis that lifestyle behaviors, and coping styles are both predictors of anxiety and depression symptoms, with both direct and indirect effects moderated by gender level. In logistic regression analysis, the correlation of depression and anxiety in the second rounds of the survey was higher than that in the first survey. In two surveys, there was a correlation between lifestyle health behaviors and coping style, gender and mental health. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that the prevalence of anxiety and depression in the two rounds of surveys was different, and the prevalence in the second round was higher than that in the first round, as well as that in the two rounds of surveys. All survey identified that unhealthy lifestyle behaviors were positively associated with depression and anxiety symptoms. Compared with the emerged city of risk areas, other pandemic regions have a lower risk of mental health problems. The survey findings complement each other. Lifestyle health behaviors and coping style alleviated mental health symptoms. COVID-19-related social stressors were positively associated with mental health symptoms. The study also suggests that at the beginning of the pandemic, the effective management of college students' mental health problems, corresponding coping measures and maintaining a good lifestyle play a key role in the prevention and control of other cities. Understanding the college students' lifestyle behaviors during COVID-19 lockdown will help public health authorities reshape future policies on their nutritional recommendations, in preparation for future pandemics.