Being ghosted online and non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents: The role of social avoidance and depression.

The advancement of science and technology has facilitated the emergence of relationship dissolution strategies mediated by electronic communication, such as ghosting on social media. This study aims to investigate how the frequency of being ghosted online affects Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) in adolescents, exploring the mediating roles of social avoidance and depression. A structural equation model was employed to assess 887 Chinese adolescents. The results reveal a significant positive impact of being ghosted online on NSSI. Depression alone was identified as the mediator between being ghosted online and NSSI. Social avoidance and depression demonstrated a sequential mediating effect on the relationship between being ghosted online and NSSI. The findings underscore the mental health implications of being ghosted and emphasize the importance of interventions addressing both social avoidance and depression to mitigate the adverse impacts of being ghosted online on NSSI behaviors.

Data for developing computerized adaptive testing of problematic mobile phone use.

With the popularity of smart terminals and mobile Internet, mobile phone had been a necessity in everyone's daily life. Problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) also needs attention. Although there were multiple measurements to assess the PMPU, most of the tools were in traditional forms with fixed items. Therefore, the current study aimed to develop a computerized adaptive testing for problematic mobile phone use (CAT-PMPU) based on the Item Response Theory, which might help to provide an optimal solution to psychological assessments with long-scale and heterogeneous samples. The data in this article provided results of PMPU with different measurements. The dataset provided in this article includes 1619 participants, encompassing middle school students, undergraduate students, and graduate students recruited from various grades in China. The sample consists of 628 males and 991 females. Self-report measures were administrated including the Chinese version of the Nomophobia Questionnaire, Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale, Smartphone Addiction Inventory, Mobile Phone Addiction Scale, Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale, Smartphone Addiction Scale for College Students, and the Smartphone Addiction Scale for Chinese Adults. All the measurements were in the Chinese version. A .csv file consists of major variables we used was included as supplementary material on the Zenodo Repository. The discussion of the findings based on the dataset could be found in two articles: Development of a Computerized Adaptive Test for Problematic Mobile Phone Use & Generalizing computerized adaptive testing for problematic mobile phone use from Chinese adults to adolescents.

[Mechanism of Yupingfeng Powder on hepatic insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus rats by regulating IRS/PI3K/Akt pathway].

Based on the insulin receptor substrate(IRS)/phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(Akt) pathway, the intervention effect of Yupingfeng Powder on type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) rats was studied, and the potential mechanism of improving T2DM hepatic insulin resistance was explored. A T2DM rat model was established by feeding with high-fat and high-sugar feed combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. Successfully modeled rats were selected and divided into a model group, a positive control group(MET), and a Yupingfeng Powder group. At the same time, a blank group was set up, and corresponding drugs were given by gavage. The model group and blank group were given an equal amount of physiological saline by gavage. During the experiment, body mass and fasting blood glucose were regularly measured, and glucose tolerance and insulin tolerance were measured at the end of the experiment. After the experiment, the levels of blood glucose, insulin, blood lipids, and related liver function indicators were measured; changes in liver pathological damage were observed, levels of liver monoamine oxidase were detected, and qRT-PCR was used to detect mRNA expression levels of IRS/PI3K/Akt pathway related genes. Compared with the model group, the Yupingfeng Powder group had an increase in body weight, a decrease in fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, and steady-state model evaluation index, a decrease in the area under the curve of glucose tolerance and insulin tolerance tests, a decrease in serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol content, and an increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol content. Compared with the model group, the Yupingfeng Powder group showed a decrease in liver monoamine oxidase levels, a decrease in serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and total bilirubin levels, and an increase in total protein and albumin levels. Hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining showed a reduction in pathological liver cell damage. Compared with the model group, the Yupingfeng Powder group showed a significant increase in the mRNA expression levels of IRS1, PI3K, and Akt in the liver of rats, as well as a significant decrease in the mRNA expression levels of interleukin-6(IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α). This indicates that Yupingfeng Powder can regulate the IRS/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and glucose and lipid metabolism disorders, increase insulin sensitivity, improve hepatic insulin resistance, and thus play a therapeutic role in T2DM.

TikTok use and psychosocial factors among adolescents: Comparisons of non-users, moderate users, and addictive users.

Short-video applications like TikTok are increasingly popular. This study examines the association between short-video application use (SVU) and psychosocial factors in 1,346 adolescents (Mage = 14.97, 51.8% female). 199 non-users and 1147 users (686 moderate users, 461 addictive users) were identified. Results revealed a high prevalence of addictive SVU in the sample. Addictive users exhibited worse mental health conditions than non-users and moderate users, including higher levels of depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, social anxiety, attention problems, and lower life satisfaction and sleep quality. Addictive users also faced higher academic stress, poorer academic performance, more bullying victimization, worse parental relationships, more negative parenting styles, and lower parental education levels. Moderate users had different family environments than non-users, but no differences in mental health or school performance. Together, these findings suggest that addictive users experience a more disadvantageous situation across mental health, family, and school conditions, while non-users have advantageous family environments. Moderate SVU may not be associated with negative mental health condition or poor school performance. Moderate and addictive SVU should be considered distinct phenomena. Given the psychiatric symptoms present in addictive users of TikTok and similar apps, targeted interventions and treatments are urgently needed.

What Are the Differences in Psychological Outcomes Between People Who Posted COVID-19-Related Content on Social Media and Those Who Did Not?

OBJECTIVE: During the lockdown of cities and home quarantine, media became the only way for people to conveniently get coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19)-related information. And media engagement was closely related to psychological outcomes. But fewer researchers took COVID-19-related posting behaviors into consideration. Therefore, the present study aimed at examining the differences in psychological outcomes between people who posted COVID-19-related content on social media and those who did not. METHODS: The present study included 917 participants (304 males, 613 females) who had answered the questionnaires of media engagement, positive affect, negative affect, depression, anxiety, stress, satisfaction with life, death anxiety, and meaning in life. RESULTS: Results of t-tests showed that the Post group had lower levels of negative affect, anxiety, stress, and death anxiety than the Not Post (Npost) group. Network comparison tests indicated that the Npost group's network and the Post group's network differed in global strength, two edge-weights, and node centrality indices. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that more attention should be paid to people who did not post any COVID-19-related content, especially when they have higher levels of stress and depression to prevent comorbidities. And for people who posted content, more attention should be paid when they have a higher level of negative affect.

Development of a Computerized Adaptive Test for Problematic Mobile Phone Use.

The great number of mobile phone users in the world has increased in recent years. More time spent on a phone, more negative effects such as problematic mobile phone use. Many researchers have devoted themselves to revise tools to measure problematic mobile phone use better and more precisely. Previous studies have shown that these tools have good reliability and validity, but that most of them have some shortcomings because they were traditional paper-and-pencil tests based on Classical Test Theory (CTT). This study, based on Item Response Theory (IRT) in order to solve these shortcomings, developed Computerized Adaptive Test for problematic mobile phone use (CAT-PMPU) and discussed the performance of CAT-PMPU. Then, we used real data to simulate CAT, and the measurement accuracy and reliability between a paper-and-pencil test and CAT-PMPU were compared under the same test length. The results showed that CAT-PMPU was better than the paper-and-pencil test in all aspects, and that it can reduce the number of items and improve measurement efficiency effectively. In conclusion, the CAT-PMPU was developed in this study has good reliability, and it provided novel technical support for the measurement of problematic mobile phone use. It had a good application prospect.

Network Analysis of Media Exposure and Psychological Outcomes During the Initial Outbreak of COVID-19 in China.

During the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in China, people spent a lot of time viewing or listening to COVID-19-related media content. And according to the conservation of resources theory, COVID-19-related media exposure would be related to multiple psychological outcomes, and different contents would have different associations with different psychological outcomes. Therefore, the present study aimed to clarify these relationships and find out the most important psychological outcome correlated with COVID-19-related media exposure. An online survey was conducted to collect information about individuals' media use behaviors and mental health status. A total of 917 participants were included in further analyses. The results proved that different kinds of content had different relationships with different psychological outcomes. To be more specific, the content about people being heroic and speeches from experts and the authorities were related to increases of positive affect, while reports from hospitals were correlated with increases of death anxiety. Moreover, positive affect was central nodes of the network. The current findings indicated viewing objective and positive content was associated with positive psychological outcomes while viewing negative one was correlated with negative psychological outcomes. Furthermore, positive affect was the most important psychological outcome related to COVID-19-related media exposure.

The Relationship Between Media Involvement and Death Anxiety of Self-Quarantined People in the COVID-19 Outbreak in China: The Mediating Roles of Empathy and Sympathy.

The COVID-19 outbreak put health threat to people globally, and self-quarantine was suggested by the Chinese government to contain the outbreak. In self-quarantine, media was the most important way to get information about the outbreak. However, the relationship between media involvement and death anxiety, and the underlying mechanism are poorly understood. We conducted an online survey of 917 participants to assess the media involvement and other potential factors (empathy, sympathy and affect) which might affect death anxiety. Correlation analysis and mediation models were conducted to examine the relationship between media involvement and death anxiety, and the possible mediating roles of empathy, sympathy, and affect. It was found that media involvement was positively associated with death anxiety. Empathy, sympathy, and negative affect played mediating roles between them. However, empathy and sympathy act differently in the association, as empathy could lead to the increase of negative affect, while sympathy did not.

Data on media use and mental health during the outbreak of COVID-19 in China.

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread rapidly in China in beginning of 2020. Self-quarantine was suggested by Chinese government to block the spread of the COVID-19. During the self-quarantine, the media played an indispensable role in acquisition of information about the disease. And it could also impact on people's mental health. Therefore, it is necessary to study the psychological outcome resulted from media use during the outbreak of COVID-19. The data in this article could help researchers to explore the mechanism between media use and mental health, and to have a deeper comprehension of the impact of media use on mental health during a public health emergency. The dataset provided in this article included 917 participants recruited from different provinces all over China. Among the participants, there were 304 males and 613 females, with an average age of 28.6 and a standard deviation of 9.5. They took Media Use Questionnaire (MUQ), Empathy-Sympathy Questionnaire (ESQ), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Death Anxiety Questionnaire (DAQ), Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), State boredom Questionnaire (SBQ), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) to assess their media use and mental health during the outbreak of COVID-19. All these instruments for data collection were Chinese versions. In addition, a .csv file consists of major variables we used are included as a supplementary material. Descriptive statistics and hierarchical regression had been conducted with these data. For a discussion of the findings based on the dataset please see the article: Media use and acute psychological outcomes during COVID-19 outbreak in China [1] and Psychological distress and state boredom during the COVID-19 outbreak in China: the role of meaning in life and media use [2].

Psychological distress and state boredom during the COVID-19 outbreak in China: the role of meaning in life and media use.

BACKGROUND: Epidemics are associated with increased burden of psychological distress. However, the role of boredom on mental health during epidemic periods has seldom been explored. OBJECTIVE: This study attempted to examine the effect of state boredom on psychological outcomes, and the role of media use and meaning in life among the indirectly exposed Chinese adults in the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak. METHOD: An online survey was administered to 917 Chinese adults on 28 January 2020 (1 week after the official declaration of person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus). Self-report questionnaires were used to assess state boredom, anxiety, depression, stress, media use and meaning in life. Moderated mediation analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Our results indicated that the effect of state boredom on anxiety and stress, but not depression, were mediated by media use and that sense of meaning in life modified this association. Meaning in life served as a risk factor, rather than a protective factor for the negative psychological outcomes when people experienced boredom. The association between boredom and media use was significant for high but not low meaning in life individuals. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrated that boredom and media use were associated with an increased burden or psychological distress in the sample. It is important to pay attention to the possible negative impact of boredom and media use during COVID-19, and find more ways to cope with boredom, especially those with high presence of meaning in life.

Antecedentes: Las epidemias están asociadas con aumento de la carga de malestar psicológico. Sin embargo, el papel del aburrimiento en la salud mental durante periodos de epidemia ha sido rara vez explorado.Objetivo: Este estudio intentó examinar el efecto del estado de aburrimiento en las consecuencias psicológicas y el papel del uso de los medios y significado en la vida entre los adultos chinos indirectamente expuestos en la fase inicial del brote de COVID-19.Método: Se administró una encuesta online a 917 adultos chinos el 28 de Enero del 2020 (una semana después de la declaración oficial de la transmisión del coronavirus persona a persona). Se usaron cuestionarios de auto-reporte para evaluar el estado de aburrimiento, ansiedad, depresión, estrés, uso de medios y significado en la vida. Se realizó un análisis de mediación moderado.Resultados: Nuestros resultados indicaron que el efecto del estado de aburrimiento sobre la ansiedad y el estrés, pero no depresión, estuvieron mediados por el uso de los medios y que el sentido de significado en la vida modificó esta asociación. El significado en la vida sirvió como factor de riesgo, más que como un factor protector para las consecuencias psicológicas negativas cuando la gente experimentó aburrimiento. La asociación entre aburrimiento y uso de los medios fue significativa para el significado alto pero no bajo en la vida en los individuos.Conclusiones: Estos hallazgos demostraron que, en la muestra, el aburrimiento y el uso de los medios estuvieron asociados con un aumento de la carga o malestar psicológico. Es importante poner atención acerca del posible impacto negativo del aburrimiento y el uso de los medios durante el COVID-19, y encontrar más formas de lidiar con el aburrimiento, especialmente aquellos con presencia alta de significado en la vida.

Media use and acute psychological outcomes during COVID-19 outbreak in China.

The COVID-19 outbreak in China led to an extraordinary threat to public health and wellbeing. This study examined the psychological impact of media use among people indirectly exposed to the disease during the initial phase of the outbreak. We conducted an internet-based survey on January 28, 2020 (one week after the official declaration of person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus). Media use (media forms, content of media exposure, and media engagement) related to the outbreak and psychological outcomes (positive and negative affect, anxiety, depression, and stress) of 917 Chinese adults was assessed. A series of multivariable regressions were conducted. The results showed that use of new media, rather than traditional media, was significantly associated with more negative affect, depression, anxiety, and stress. Viewing stressful content (i.e., severity of the outbreak, reports from hospital) was associated with more negative affect and depression. Media engagement was also associated with more negative affect, anxiety, and stress. However, viewing heroic acts, speeches from experts, and knowledge of the disease and prevention were associated with more positive affect and less depression. The study suggested new media use and more media engagement was associated with negative psychological outcomes, while certain media content was associated with positive psychological impact. The present study highlights the need for timely public health communication from official sources and suggests that reduced exposure to new media may be beneficial.

The Causal Role of Alcohol Use in Adolescent Externalizing and Internalizing Problems: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

BACKGROUND: The co-occurrence of alcohol use and externalizing/internalizing problems threatens adolescents' mental health. Research on whether alcohol use and these problems are causal and the direction of the potential causal relationships is needed to understand the mechanisms of the co-occurrence. METHODS: A Mendelian randomization analysis was conducted in which the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) rs671 polymorphism was used as an instrumental variable for alcohol use phenotypes. In total, 1,608 Chinese adolescents (mean age 14.11 ± 1.83 years) were genotyped for the ALDH2 rs671 polymorphism. Three externalizing problems (aggression, delinquency, and attention problems) were measured with the Youth Self-Report inventory, and 2 internalizing problems (depression and anxiety) were measured with the self-reported Children's Depression Inventory and the Trait subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. RESULTS: Alcohol use was positively associated with all 3 externalizing and 2 internalizing problems, and the ALDH2 polymorphism had a significant effect on alcohol use. Aggression and attention problems were also significantly affected by the ALDH2 polymorphism, whereas no significant association was observed between the ALDH2 polymorphism and delinquency, anxiety, or depression. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that alcohol use is a cause of adolescent aggression and attention problems but not adolescent delinquency, anxiety, or depression.

Monitoring and analysis of asbestos concentration in working environment of different asbestos-producing technologies in a certain area / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze asbestos exposure level between 1984 and 2010 in a district of malignant mesothelioma with clustering incidence in Zhejiang Province, in order to improve the recognizing and early diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma, protect the health of workers.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Monitoring data of total asbestos dust concentration in the air of workplace from 1984 to 2010 in asbestos textile enterprises, family hand spinning operation, brake production, and asbestos board production in Zhejiang Province were collected in the local CDC. A total of 766 TWA copies of mass concentration were collected, and 1233 copies of MAC data. Asbestos mass concentration and fibre counting concentration of 29 points of family hand spinning operation were parallel determinated in the same time and the same sampling point. Raw asesbtos materials and dust composition of local asbestos processing corporations were collected and analyzed using X-ray diffraction method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Raw materials of asbestos used between 1984 and 2010 in this area were chrysotile from Sichuan, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Russia, Zimbabwe, and some were mixed with SiO2, CaCO3 and other impurities. Raw materials used in asbestos board production were blue asbestos. Dust concentration between 1960s and 1980s in asbestos processing plants far exceeded the national standard. After then the dust concentration decreased significantly, but still higher than the national standard. 95.2% of air dust concentrations in the workplaces of asbestos factories exceeded the standard, and dust concentrations of workplaces of raw material, spinning, weaving, carding and labor insurance were above 90% in which carding work had the highest median concentration. 37.9% of dust mass concentrations in hand spinning work exceeded the standard where textile machinery side had the highest value. Beating job in asbestos board manufacturing and grinding job in brake production had higher concentrations.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Most of production technologies in asbestos processing industry exceed the standard level, indicating that the workers were at risk for malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases, which should draw high attention.</p>