The Effect of Brief Mindfulness Meditation on Suicidal Ideation, Stress and Sleep Quality.

OBJECTIVES: Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for individuals aged 15-29 years, and early intervention on suicidal ideation and risk factors should be priortized. Brief mindfulness meditation (BMM) is convenient and cost-effective in improving physical and mental well-being, but less is known about its efficacy for suicidal ideation, stress and sleep quality. We investigated the effects of BMM on suicidal ideation, stress, and sleep quality for individuals with suicide risk. METHODS: Sixty-four college students with high suicidal ideation (aged 18-30 years) were randomly allocated to either a BMM (n = 32) or control group (n = 32). The BMM was based on Anapanasati and core mindfulness concepts. Sixty participants completed all scheduled sessions including pretest, one month of intervention or waiting, and posttest. Suicidal ideation was measured with the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation. Stress was evaluated using the Perceived Stress Scale and salivary cortisol levels. Sleep was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and actigraphy accompanied with 7-day sleep diaries. RESULTS: Post-intervention, the BMM group showed significant decrease in suicidal ideation with a large effect size; the decrease showed a medium effect size in the control group. The BMM group, but not the control group, showed significant decrease in morning salivary cortisol and sleep latency, and improved sleep efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: BMM could help reduce suicidal ideation, stress, and sleep disturbance for individuals with high suicidal ideation and it may implicate effective suicide prevention strategy.

Association between Sleep and Suicidal Ideation in Chinese Undergraduate Students.

Suicide is an important global public health issue, which deserves more attention. This study aims to examine the relative independent relationship between suicide ideation and subjective sleep quality, sleep hygiene, and insomnia symptoms in undergraduate students in China. This population-based study included 2379 undergraduate students aged 18-26, randomly recruited from three public universities in Shanghai. The participants completed four questionnaires: the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; Sleep Hygiene Practice Scale; Insomnia Severity Index; and the Symptom Checklist 90 (specifically the depression and anxiety dimensions and Q15-suicide ideation). The results of Spearman's correlation analysis indicate that poor sleep quality, short sleep duration, poor sleep hygiene, and insomnia symptoms were all associated with suicidal ideation in undergraduate students. However, according to the results of the hierarchical linear regression, no experience of sharing a bedroom at home, poor relationship with roommates, short sleep duration, sleep medicine use, and good daytime function were related to suicidal ideation, after controlling for the symptoms of depression and anxiety, which may be important in the identification of suicidal ideation. Sleep problems are highly discoverable and modifiable, and have a low sense of shame, therefore, sleep interventions for individuals with suicidal ideation and poor sleep quality may be an efficient and effective approach to suicide prevention.

Childhood Trauma and Suicide: The Mediating Effect of Stress and Sleep.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between suicide risk, perceived stress, and sleep quality through a structural equation modeling approach. This study used convenience sampling to survey 780 undergraduate and graduate students aged 18-30 years. Students were invited to participate in the online questionnaires, which included the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation, the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised, the Perceived Stress Scale, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The results showed that suicide ideation and suicidal behavior were positively correlated with childhood trauma, stress, and sleep. A well-fitted structural equation model (χ2 = 1.52, df = 1, χ2/df = 1.52, RMSEA = 0.03, CFI = 1.00, NFI = 1.00) was constructed in this study. The hierarchical regression test showed significance in all the path coefficients of the model. The total effect of emotional abuse on suicide behaviors was 49.5%. The mediating effects accounted for 73.7% of the total effects of emotional abuse on suicidal behaviors. The results demonstrate efforts targeting stress and poor sleep might mitigate the risk of suicidal behaviors among individuals with early emotional abuse experiences.

The Efficacy of Acupuncture on Tic Disorders in Children: A Retrospective and Propensity Score-Matched Study.

Background : Acupuncture has been considered as a complementary or alternative therapy for children with tic disorders (TD), but its efficacy remains largely unknown. This study retrospectively examined the efficacy of acupuncture treatment for TD in children over the course of 12 weeks. Methods: Data were collected from Traditional Chinese Medicine clinics in a public pediatric hospital in Shanghai between June 2020 and March 2021. A total of 250 patients with TD were included in the study, with 122 patients exposed to acupuncture therapy combined with conventional treatment (observation group), and 128 patients exposed to conventional treatment alone (control group). Propensity score matching analyses were used to balance baseline characteristics, resulting in 78 matched patients for each group. Reductions in the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) total score were analyzed in the two groups after 12 weeks of treatment. Results: The two groups reached equilibrium in terms of baseline demographic characteristics and YGTSS total score after the propensity score matching (P > 0.05). Compared to the control group, the reduction in the YGTSS total score after 12 weeks of treatment was greater for the observation group (OR = 2.94, 95% CI: 1.03, 8.39, P = 0.04), and this association was stronger for patients who had significant vocal tics (ß = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.88, 2.68, P = 0.001). The clinical efficacy for the observation group was significantly better than the control group. Conclusions: We provided preliminary evidence supporting the therapeutic effect of acupuncture for TD in children. Hence, our findings indicate that acupuncture could be an adjuvant treatment efficacious for TD in children, especially for vocal tics.

Cross-cultural disparities of subjective sleep parameters and their age-related trends over the first three years of human life: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Changes in nighttime sleep consolidation and daytime discontinuation have been observed in early life. Yet information about societal or cultural factors remains scant for implementing sleep recommendations. We aimed to provide pooled estimates of subjective sleep duration, number of nightwakings and sleep timing; to describe their age-related trends; and to determine potential cross-cultural disparities between predominantly-Asian (PA) and predominantly-Caucasian (PC) regions during the first three years of life. We performed this review according to the PRISMA guidelines. Overall, 102 studies with 167,886 children aged 0-3 y from 26 different countries/regions were included. Compared to PC regions, PA toddlers had shorter sleep duration and more frequent nightwakings. When PC regions were further divided into Pacific Rim and Europe, differences were much more evident between PA and Pacific Rim for all nighttime sleep parameters. Trends of nighttime sleep duration and bedtime for PC regions showed rapid changes over the first 3-6 mo before stabilizing to a plateau, whereas a different change was found for PA regions. In conclusion, an apparent cross-cultural disparity of the subjective sleep parameters already exists in early childhood. Improved operationalization of sleep parameters and more objective evidence are needed to establish cultural-sensitive recommendations this early in life.

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The variation of forest canopy structure and understory light caused by natural or human disturbances might account for environmental heterogeneity and species diversity in the understory. These factors play an important role in driving the structure, process and pattern in forest ecosystem. We set up two 0.25 hm2 permanent plots in secondary Betula platyphylla-Populus davidiana forests on the Taoshan Forest Farm, one of which was thinned in 2012 and the other one remained natural. The canopy images of two plots were collected by hemispherical photography technology from 2012 to 2016 and 2018. Analysis of variance and Markov matrix were applied to examine the dynamics of canopy structure, understory light, and canopy closing process after thinning. The results showed that thinning was effective in adjusting canopy structure and understory light availability. Such process lasted for a long time and the adjusting effect decreased over time. After thinning, the change rate of canopy structure and understory light decreased over time. The tree canopy quickly closed during the first three years and then reached a stable state. Understory light availability was positively correlated with canopy openness and negatively correlated with leaf area index. The correlation between understory scattered radiation and canopy structural parameters was the strongest. The correlation between canopy structure and understory light in the thinning plot was stronger than that of the control plot. After thinning, the recovery rate of canopy structure was related to the canopy openness, with larger canopy openness being accompanied with higher recovery rate. Thus, less time was required for the transfer to smaller canopy openness. The Markov matrix model could simulate changes in distributions of canopy structure and could be used to predict the dynamics of the canopy structure.

Sleep Patterns in Chinese Preschool Children: A Population-Based Study.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to (1) provide data on normal sleep patterns in Chinese preschool children, (2) identify cross-cultural differences of sleep patterns among children from China and other countries, (3) estimate the prevalence of sleep duration not meeting the optimal amount, and (4) characterize delayed weekend sleep pattern. METHODS: A population-based sample of 1,610 children aged 3-6 years was recruited from 10 cities across China. Parents completed questions about their child's sleep patterns adapted from the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). RESULTS: The mean bedtime was 9:31 PM, wake time was 7:27 AM, nighttime sleep duration was 9 hours 30 minutes, daytime sleep duration was 1 hour 31 minutes, and total sleep duration was 11 hours 2 minutes. The children had a shorter nighttime sleep duration but longer daytime naps, resulting in no differences in total sleep duration compared with counterparts predominantly in the west. Of the children, 85.3% met the recommended amount of sleep of 10 to 13 hours, and 10.8% slept fewer than 10 hours. The prevalence of sleep less than 10 hours was higher in older children and children from eastern China. Children went to bed and woke up more than 30 minutes later on weekends than weekdays, accounting for 40.1% and 50%, respectively. Children in western China showed longer delay than children in eastern China (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Age- and region-specific variability of sleep patterns are reported as well as insufficient sleep and delayed weekend sleep pattern in Chinese preschool children. The cross-cultural difference of sleep patterns was in temporal placement rather than sleep duration.

Social Support as Mediator and Moderator of the Relationship Between Parenting Stress and Life Satisfaction Among the Chinese Parents of Children with ASD.

Although numerous studies have demonstrated that social support affects a range of life experiences, few have examined its moderating and mediating effects. In the current study, 479 Chinese parents of children with ASD (aged 3-18 years) completed the surveys assessing parenting stress, social support and life satisfaction. Results indicated that parenting stress, social support and life satisfaction were significantly related. Moreover, social support both mediated and moderated the influence of parenting stress on life satisfaction. These findings imply that parenting stress and social support are critical indicators of life satisfaction and can serve as basic intervention strategies that promote life satisfaction among Chinese parents of children with ASD.