Bullying victimization and suicide attempts among adolescents in 41 low- and middle-income countries: Roles of sleep deprivation and body mass.

Background: Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for adolescents, and globally, over 75% of completed suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Bullying has been proven to be closely related to suicide attempts. However, further understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship between bullying and adolescents' suicide attempts is urgently needed. Methods: We used data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) (2010-2017) from 41 LMICs or regions. This study was based on questions assessing bullying victimization, suicide attempts, sleep deprivation, and body mass. Chi-square tests were used to explore the correlations among the main variables. The mediating role of sleep deprivation and the moderating role of body mass index (BMI) were analyzed using PROCESS. Results: The results showed a positive association between bullying victimization and suicide attempts. Sleep deprivation partially mediated the relationship between the frequency of being bullied and suicide attempts. In addition, sleep deprivation played a full or partial mediating role in the relationship between different types of bullying and suicide attempts. BMI moderated the relationships between the frequency of being bullied and suicide attempts, between being made fun of about one's body and sleep deprivation, and between sleep deprivation and suicide attempts. Conclusion: Being bullied has a positive effect on suicide attempts, which is mediated by sleep deprivation and moderated by body mass. The results of this study are consistent with the stress-diathesis model of suicide, suggesting that being bullied is one of the stressors of suicide in adolescents, while sleep deprivation and body mass are susceptibility diatheses of suicide. The results are conducive to identifying adolescents at a high risk of suicide, suggesting that there is a need to pay more attention to bullied adolescents, especially their sleep quality and body mass, and design effective intervention measures to improve the current situation of adolescent suicide in LMICs.

Parental care and depressive symptoms among Chinese medical students: roles of empathy and gender.

BACKGROUND: Medical students in China who face the dual pressure of study and employment tend to experience subclinical depressive symptoms. Parental care plays an important direct and indirect role in the psychological development of medical students, and the extent and mechanism of this role urgently need to be studied and discussed. METHODS: After simple random sampling and screening of valid questionnaires, data from a total of 924 people were used. The participants completed the parental bonding instrument, self-rating depression scale, Chinese version of the Jefferson empathy scale-medical student edition and self-rating anxiety scale to evaluate parental care, empathy, depressive symptoms and anxiety. The data were statistically processed using a descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and test of moderated mediation. RESULTS: Maternal care had a significant negative predictive effect on depressive symptoms among medical students. Strong maternal care can reduce the occurrence of depressive symptoms in medical students. Empathy played a positive mediating role such that both types of empathy could alleviate the effect of weak maternal care on the depressive symptoms of medical students. However, neither cognitive empathy nor affective empathy played a mediating role in the relationship between paternal care and depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, the relationship between maternal care and empathy was moderated by the medical students' gender. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of this relationship on female medical students deserves special attention. The results of this study provide a reference and basis for the adjustment of medical education. This study could also help in the design of effective psychological intervention measures to reduce the degree of depressive symptoms and enhance personal empathy.

Paeoniflorin Inhibits ASK1-TF Axis by Up-Regulating SOCS3 to Alleviate Radiation Enteritis.

Radiation enteritis is one of the main adverse effects of radiotherapy, presenting with a poorly understood etiology and limited options for therapy. Intestinal inflammation and ischemia are the core mechanisms of radiation enteritis. Suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) is an endogenous "inflammation brake." We hypothesized that paeoniflorin, a pinane monoterpene bitter glycoside, could increase SOCS3 expression to reduce inflammation and ischemia and improve enteritis in mice. Laser Doppler flowmetry was used to detect changes in intestinal blood flow. RAW264.7 and human umbilical vein endothelial cells were used to investigate the mechanism of action of paeoniflorin. It was observed that radiation caused high mortality, intestinal inflammatory responses, and low blood flow in mice. Paeoniflorin effectively alleviated intestinal atrophy, prevented thrombosis, improved radiation enteritis, and reduced mortality in mice undergoing radiotherapy. In addition, paeoniflorin increased the release of growth arrest-specific gene 6 (Gas6) and phosphorylation of the Axl receptor, subsequently inducing the expression of SOCS3 and inhibiting the expression of p-apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 and tissue factor in vivo and in vitro. Based on our findings, we suggest that paeoniflorin is potentially effective in alleviating radiation enteritis via the activation of the Gas6/Axl/SOCS3 axis and subsequent reduction in intestinal inflammation and ischemia.

Intermittent hypoxia mimicking obstructive sleep apnea aggravates early brain injury following ICH via neuroinflammation and apoptosis.

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a subtype of stroke associated with high mortality and morbidity due to the lack of effective therapy. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been reported to aggravate early brain injury (EBI) and worsen the overall outcome of patients with ICH. However, the precise role of OSA­mediated neuroinflammation and apoptosis following ICH has not been confirmed. The present study aimed to investigate the neuronal damage induced by OSA and the potential molecular mechanisms by which ICH­induced EBI regulates neural apoptosis in a C57BL/6 mouse ICH model. Mortality, neurological score, brain water content and neuronal death were evaluated by Evans blue extravasation, TUNEL staining, ELISA, analysis of reactive oxygen species/lipid peroxidation and western blotting. The results showed that OSA induction decreased survival rate, neurological score and neuron survival and upregulated the protein expression levels of Caspase­3, Bax, cytokines IL­1ß, IL­6 and TNF­α and NF­κB, which indicated that OSA­mediated induction of apoptosis and neuroinflammation aggravated neuronal death following ICH. The molecular mechanism was partly dependent on the activating transcription factor/CHOP pathway. Taken together, the results demonstrated that OSA worsens neurological outcomes in mice and increases neuronal death by enhancing neural apoptosis and neuroinflammation.

Associations of affective and cognitive empathy with depressive symptoms among a sample of Chinese college freshmen.

BACKGROUND: College freshmen are at high risk for mental and socioemotional problems after entering a new environment. However, few investigators have evaluated the associations between empathy and depressive symptoms among college freshmen. The present study examined the presence and associations of affective and cognitive empathy with depressive symptoms among college freshmen in China. METHODS: In total, 4297 college freshmen completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index as an assessment of empathy and the University Personality Inventory to evaluate the prevalence of depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The empathy scores of females were higher than that of males, and approximately 18.4% of freshmen had high-depressive symptoms (HDS). Freshmen with a higher positive component of affective empathy (empathic concern (EC)) experienced fewer HDS. In contrast, freshmen with a higher negative component of affective empathy (personal distress (PD)) and lower cognitive empathy (perspective taking (PT)) experienced more HDS. EC was negatively associated with depressive symptoms, PD was positively related to depressive symptoms, and PT was negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Males with a higher degree of PT experienced fewer HDS, while females with a higher degree of PT experienced more HDS. CONCLUSION: Affective empathy was positively associated with depressive symptoms, while cognitive empathy was negatively related to depressive symptoms. The association between affective and cognitive empathy with depressive symptoms may add some support to the detection of clinical depressive symptoms. These findings call for the necessity of considering the characteristics of affective and cognitive empathy as a crucial concern in the prevention of depressive symptoms.

Association between parental control and subclinical depressive symptoms in a sample of college freshmen: Roles of empathy and gender.

BACKGROUND: College freshmen are at high-risk for depressive symptoms after experiencing drastic transitions in a new environment. Perceived parental control has proved as a prominent role in an adolescent's mental health. However, the further understandings of the mechanisms underlying the relation between perceived parental control and freshmen's depressive symptoms are urgent. METHODS: A total of 4,297 Chinese freshmen (57% female) were recruited. They completed the self-report Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and University Personality Inventory (UPI), which assess parental control, empathy and depressive symptoms, respectively. The data were analysed using correlation analysis and a test of moderated mediation. RESULTS: The results showed positive association between parental control and depressive symptoms, partially mediated by empathy. The relation between parental control and affective empathy, was moderated by gender. Specifically, maternal control had a more significant positive effect on males' personal distress. Moreover, the influence of paternal control was also greater for males, with a negative effect on empathic concern and positive on personal distress. CONCLUSIONS: Parental control significantly positively predicted college freshmen's depressive symptoms, and empathy played a partially mediating role. In addition, the relations between parental control and affective empathy were moderated by freshmen's gender. The findings of this study provide a better understanding of how parental control is related to freshmen's depressive symptoms, offering a theoretical basis for promoting the development of adolescents' mental health and supporting the design of effective psychological interventions to relieve their depressive symptoms.