Mindfulness-based interventions to reduce anxiety among Chinese college students: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Mindfulness-based interventions are found to have a positive effect on an individual's mental health. Using a meta-analysis method, this study examined the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on alleviating anxiety among Chinese college students. Using six international and two Chinese electronic databases, we comprehensively researched literature published between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2021. The literature was then carefully selected and classified. The literature selection, data extraction, and quality assessment were all independently conducted by two members of the research team; any disagreements were resolved through consultation with a third researcher. A total of 11 original articles met all the eligibility criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis revealed that mindfulness-based interventions have a positive effect on the remission of anxiety among Chinese college students. This confirms the need to generalize mindfulness-based interventions as a form of treatment and prevention for anxiety among Chinese college students.

Online health information-seeking behaviors and skills of Chinese college students.

BACKGROUND: Seeking online health information (OHI) has become a common practice globally. The information seekers could face health risks if they are not proficient in OHI literacy. The OHI-seeking behaviors and skills of Chinese college students, the largest proportion of college students in the world, are understudied. This study was aimed to describe OHI-seeking behaviors and skills of college students in Guangdong, China. METHODS: College students in the Guangdong province with OHI-seeking experience were invited via WeChat, QQ, and Sina Weibo using QR code posters and flyers for participation in this online anonymized questionnaire-based study. Data on demographics, OHI literacy, information resources, search approaches, and behaviors were collected. The relationship between perceived OHI literacy and high-risk behaviors was investigated by bivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Respondents were 1203 college students with a mean age of 20.6 years, females (60.2%), and undergraduates (97.2%). They sought health information via websites (20.3%), WeChat (2.6%), or both (77.1%). Baidu was the main search engine, and baike.baidu.com (80.3%), Zhihu.com (48.4%), and Zhidao.baidu.com (35.8%) were top three among 20 searched websites for information about self-care (80.7%), general health (79.5%), disease prevention (77.7%), self-medication (61.2%), family treatment (40.9%), drugs (37.7%), western medications (26.6%), hospitals (22.7%), physicians (21.4%), and Traditional Chinese Medicine (15.6%). Despite most respondents (78%) lacked confidence in the evidence quality and satisfaction with the results, only 32.4% further consulted doctors. Many (> 50%) would recommend the retrieved information to others. About 20% experienced hacking/Internet fraud. Cronbach's alpha for the internal consistency of OHI literacy was 0.786. Bivariate logistic regression analysis showed that students who believed they can judge the evidence level of OHI were more likely to self-diagnose (OR = 2.2, 95%CI, 1.6-3.1) and look for drug usage (OR = 3.1, 95%CI, 1.9-5.0). CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals Chinese college students' heavy reliance on OHI to manage their own and others' health without sufficient knowledge/skills to identify misinformation and disinformation. The apparent risky information-seeking behaviors of Chinese college students warrant the provision of regulated, accurate, and actionable health information; assurance of cybersecurity; and health information literacy promotion in colleges by concerned authorities.

Help-seeking preferences among Chinese college students exposed to a natural disaster: a person-centered approach.

BACKGROUND: Direct exposure to natural disasters is associated with increased mental disorders. Help-seeking behaviour among Chinese adults is low and the barriers and facilitators of help-seeking among Chinese adults exposed to natural disasters is understudied. OBJECTIVE: Using a person-centred approach, this study describes help-seeking preferences and their correlates in a sample of Chinese college students after experiencing Typhoon Hato, the strongest storm to affect Macao, China in the past 50 years. METHOD: The baseline sample was collected one month following exposure to the Typhoon (September 2017). Six months following the baseline study (April, 2018), a total of 815 students (females = 71.5%) completed follow-up and were included in the data analysis. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) and Multinomial Logistic Regression were used to analyse the data via Mplus 7.4 and Stata 15.0. RESULTS: Three latent classes of help-seeking preferences were identified in this study, including: 'mental health professionals and close people' (MHPCP, 52%), non-seekers (31%), and 'multiple sources' (17%). The results of multinomial logistic regression showed that region of origin (mainland versus Macao, China), self-stigma, perceived helpfulness of professional mental health help, previous professional help-seeking behaviour, and perceived social support, were significantly associated with MHPCP help-seeking preferences. CONCLUSION: A large proportion of students preferred to seek support from loved ones and professionals. However, over 30% of the sample preferred not seeking help for mental health concerns. Further research is needed to enhance mental health treatment seeking preferences among Chinese college students.

Antecedentes: La exposición directa a los desastres naturales se asocia con un aumento de los trastornos mentales. El comportamiento de búsqueda de ayuda entre los adultos chinos es bajo y las barreras y los facilitadores de la búsqueda de ayuda entre los adultos chinos expuestos a desastres naturales están poco estudiadas.Objetivo: Utilizando un enfoque centrado en la persona, este estudio describe las preferencias de búsqueda de ayuda y sus correlatos en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios chinos después de experimentar el tifón Hato, la tormenta más fuerte que ha afectado a Macao, China en los últimos 50 años.Método: Se incluyeron en el análisis de datos un total de 815 estudiantes (mujeres = 71,5%) que completaron la línea de base (del 21 de septiembre al 6 de diciembre de 2017) y un seguimiento de 6 meses (del 3 de abril al 3 de mayo de 2018). Se utilizaron el análisis de clase latente (LCA en su sigla en inglés) y la regresión logística multinomial para analizar los datos a través de Mplus 7.4 y STATA 14.0.Resultados: Se identificaron tres clases latentes de preferencias de búsqueda de ayuda en este estudio, que incluyen: "profesionales de la salud mental y personas cercanas" (PSMPC, 52%), no buscadores (31%), y "múltiples fuentes" (17%). Los resultados de la regresión logística multinomial mostraron que la región de origen (continental versus Macao, China), el autoestigma, la utilidad percibida de la ayuda profesional de salud mental, el comportamiento previo de búsqueda de ayuda profesional, y el apoyo social percibido, se asociaron significativamente con la preferencia de búsqueda de ayuda de PSMPC.Conclusión: Una gran proporción de estudiantes prefirió buscar el apoyo de sus seres queridos y profesionales. Sin embargo, más del 30% de la muestra prefirió no buscar ayuda por problemas de salud mental. Se necesita más investigación para mejorar las preferencias de búsqueda de tratamiento de salud mental entre los estudiantes universitarios chinos.