Search Results (5,218)

Regular physical activity is essential for physical and mental health, yet participation among Norwegian university students remains below nationally recommended levels. This study explored facilitators and barriers for physical activity among first-year students, using the COM-B model as a conceptual framework. Fifteen physically active first-year students from two higher education campuses in Bodø were interviewed in spring 2025, and the data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Analysis showed that students’ activity behaviours were shaped by a dynamic interaction between physical and psychological capabilities, particularly in relation to technical competence, previous injuries, and self-regulation strategies. Opportunity-related factors—such as time constraints, financial limitations, commuting distance, and access to facilities—substantially influenced students’ ability to maintain regular activity, while social support from friends, family, and peers functioned as an important facilitator. Motivation emerged through a mixture of automatic processes—including stress reduction, enjoyment, and habits—and reflective processes such as goal-setting and health-oriented decision-making. For students in physically demanding study programmes, professional identity and body-related expectations also contributed to their engagement. Overall, this study highlights the need for institutional strategies that simultaneously address structural, social, and psychological factors to support sustainable physical activity habits during the transition to university life. Full article

Background: People living with HIV (PLWH) are increasingly reaching older ages due to the success of antiretroviral therapy. However, aging with HIV is associated with increased risk of multimorbidity, neurocognitive impairment, frailty, psychosocial stress, and functional decline. Multidomain geriatric screening framed within an Age-Friendly 4Ms Framework (Mentation, Medication, Mobility, What Matters Most) and consideration of multi-complexity may help identify aging-related vulnerabilities and guide multidisciplinary care with greater impact on patient outcomes. However, real-world implementation of such programs within HIV clinical settings remains limited. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of adults aged ≥50 years enrolled in a multidisciplinary Healthy Aging Program within a large, integrated HIV care system. Multidomain screening assessments included cognitive evaluation (Montreal Cognitive Assessment), mental health screening (PHQ-2, GAD-2), functional assessment (Katz ADL, Lawton IADL), frailty screening (Edmonton Frail Scale), and intrinsic capacity domains using the WHO Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) framework. Screening results, referrals, clinical interventions, and cardiometabolic risk management measures were extracted from clinical program databases and electronic medical records. Results: A total of 317 adults aged ≥50 years completed multidomain screening. Participants had well-controlled HIV infection, with viral suppression in 96.2% and a median CD4 count of 660 cells/mm³. Despite this, aging-related vulnerabilities were common. Overall, 78.4% of participants had at least one abnormal screening domain. Cognitive impairment was identified in nearly half of individuals screened, including mild impairment in 39.8% and moderate impairment in 8.7%. Functional limitations were identified in 10.1% of participants, while anxiety symptoms were present in 9.5%. Sensory impairments were common, including vision impairment in 36.5% of participants. Polypharmacy was prevalent, with 33.2% of participants prescribed five or more chronic medications. Screening frequently generated multidisciplinary referrals, including behavioral health services (42.3%), social work support (42.9%), and pharmacist-led cardiometabolic risk review (56.8%). Age-stratified analyses demonstrated similar prevalence of screening abnormalities across age groups, including individuals aged 50–59 years. Modest improvements in cardiometabolic preventive care were observed during follow-up. Statin utilization increased from 65.6% at baseline to 70.0% at 12 months, and LDL cholesterol declined modestly during the observation period. Conclusions: Multidomain screening integrated into routine HIV care identified a high prevalence of aging-related vulnerabilities among PLWH aged ≥50 years despite excellent virologic control. These findings suggest that aging-related risk in HIV is not adequately captured by chronological age alone and support early, universal implementation of multidomain screening within HIV care models. Full article

Background/Objectives: Breast Milk Feeding (BMF) benefits mother and infant. However, women with select risk factors report shorter breastfeeding durations. Our previous prospective cohort observational study of a lactation-consultant-led telephone-based support program in the first month postpartum increased BMF rates up to 6 months. This post hoc study further evaluated the program for mothers at increased risk of early breastfeeding cessation. Methods: We performed secondary analysis involving 762 mothers (control, n = 378; intervention, n = 384), recruited between 2018 and 2019. Infant feeding types, including BMF, were recorded at 1, 3 and 6 months. Feeding outcomes were analyzed in association with maternal risk factors. p-values, odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were reported via both univariate (UVA) and multivariate regression analysis (MVA). Results: Via MVA, the intervention was associated with increased 6-month BMF rates in these groupings [OR (95%CI), p-value]: European [1.80 (1.07–2.96), p = 0.027]; South Asian [1.93 (1.19–3.13), p = 0.008]; employed [1.47 (1.02–2.12), p = 0.038]; unemployed [2.15 (1.33–3.50), p = 0.002]; married [1.71 (1.22–2.39), p = 0.002]; social support present [1.51 (1.05–2.16), p = 0.026]; chronic illness [1.93 (1.35–2.75), p = 0.001]; gestational diabetes mellitus [2.17 (1.19–3.95), p = 0.11]; overweight and obese [1.48 (1.03–2.12), p = 0.034]. A derived success score across the study period indicated via UVA associated increases in BMF rates with history of depression and anxiety (MI) [p = 0.044] and ongoing MI [p = 0.033], but these increases were smaller than that for no history of MI [p < 0.001]. No effect was observed in East/Southeast Asian mothers, Middle Eastern mothers, single or de facto mothers, older mothers, mothers without social support and mothers of any skill level. Conclusions: Although early postpartum telephone support was associated with a number of positive findings of improved BMF at 6 months and over the course of the study, the results were mixed. This suggests that future breastfeeding telephone-based initiatives need to be multifaceted in order to target mothers at risk of early breastfeeding cessation. Full article

The ability to identify emotions based on written text is one of the core areas of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and has many applications in areas such as mental health monitoring, sentiment analysis, and dialogue systems. This study proposes an explainable emotion recognition (EER) framework built on a fine-tuned RoBERTa-base model trained on the Emotions for NLP dataset with an accuracy of 92.4% and a weighted F1 score of 92.5%. To interpret the decision process of the EER model, we systematically applied four complementary explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) techniques to provide explanations and insights into how the model makes its predictions: SHAP for global token-level feature attribution, LIME for local instance-level explanations, multi-head attention visualization for structural interpretability, and integrated gradients via Captum for axiom-satisfying gradient-based attribution. Each of these four methods provides complementary multi-perspective views of EER model behavior, which can help increase model transparency, identify potential biases, and enable the responsible use of transformer-based models in critical environments (e.g., those requiring formal clinical documentation). Our experiments consistently show that the EER model identifies tokens as having the highest emotional expression level as the strongest predictive feature across methodological perspectives, with strong evidence of cross-methodological agreement regarding the semantic coherence of learned representations. Our findings have direct implications for the responsible implementation of AI-based emotion recognition systems in mental health support systems, where model user-interface transparency, bias mitigation, and clinical trust are necessary to ensure quality patient care. Full article

Psychological constructs such as anxiety, depression, fatalism subscales—fatalism, divine control, luck, helplessness, and internality—play an important role in shaping mental health outcomes in the United States (US). Although several studies have explored how specific variables correlate with these constructs, less is known about how sociodemographic and experiential factors interact to shape multidimensional fatalism, including the subscales of fatalism, divine control, luck, helplessness and internality. This study addresses the gap by using Conditional Inference Trees (CITs) to explore how interactions among variables are associated with these constructs. Using the Conditional Inference Tree (CIT) analyses, we examined how Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), age, gender, race, education, and urbanicity are associated with depression, anxiety, and fatalism subscales. Our analyses revealed that ACE and age were the most significant variables associated with depression and anxiety, with higher ACE scores associated with higher levels of both depression and anxiety. For multidimensional fatalism, age, race, gender, and urbanicity were key variables, although their effects varied across subscales. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of considering interaction effects when examining mental health outcomes and fatalistic belief systems. CIT analysis provides a useful explanatory framework for identifying complex patterns of association between early life adversity, sociodemographic factors and psychological constructs. Full article

Experiential avoidance, defined as unwillingness to deal with personal experiences such as thoughts, emotions, and memories, is closely related to difficulties in emotion regulation. This is because emotional awareness and acceptance are crucial for regulating distressing feelings. Somatic symptoms, referring to bodily sensations such as headaches, nausea, and fatigue with or without any underlying medical condition, are frequently reported among individuals with avoided or dysregulated emotional burden. This cross-sectional correlational study aimed to examine the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties in the relationship between experiential avoidance and somatic symptoms; we used a sample size of 397 individuals recruited from a non-clinical population with the convenience sampling technique. The measurement instruments were the Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (BEAQ), Somatic Symptom Scale (SSS-8), and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16). Statistical analysis was conducted using the IBM SPSS 29 statistical program and the SPSS Process Macro 4.2 extension. The results indicate that difficulties in emotion regulation mediated the relationship between experiential avoidance and somatic symptoms controlling for age, education, gender and perceived income and all variables were significantly correlated with each other, including subscales of difficulties in emotion regulation. Limited access to emotion regulation strategies was subscale with an indirect effect on the association between experiential avoidance and somatic symptoms. These findings are expected to guide mental health professionals in consulting clients with somatic symptoms and emotion regulation difficulties. Full article

Background/Objectives: To assess the prevalence of eating disorder (ED) risk in a sample of Italian university students and to examine its independent associations with mental health indicators, self-rated health, body mass index (BMI), lifestyle behaviours, and engagement with digital food-related applications. Methods: Of the 2779 Italian university students who accessed the survey, 2691 completed and were included in the analysis. ED risk was assessed with the validated 5-item SCOFF questionnaire. Exposure included socio-demographics, BMI, depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), self-rated health, adherence to the Mediterranean diet (Medi-Lite), smoking, alcohol use (AUDIT-C), and use of food delivery and food waste apps. Multivariable logistic regression models, stratified by sex, and adjusted by age and education, estimated associations with ED risk. Results: Overall, 34.6% of participants screened positive for ED risk (women 39.5%, men 21.8%). Smoking and use of food delivery apps and food waste apps were independently associated with ED risk. Clinically relevant depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) (aOR 3.37, 95% CI 2.82–4.02) and poor/fair self-rated health (aOR 2.45, 95% CI 1.93–3.11) showed the strongest association. Overweight (aOR 1.47, 95% CI 1.06–2.03) and obesity (aOR 2.48, 95% CI 1.53–4.01) increased the likelihood of ED risk. Risky alcohol use was also associated (aOR 1.42, 95% CI 1.15–1.75). Conclusions: More than one in three Italian university students is at risk for an ED, highlighting a substantial public health concern. Strong links with depression, perceived poor health, digital food app use, and unhealthy behaviours underscore the need for early screening and integrated mental health and nutrition interventions within university settings. Full article

Background/Objectives: Nutritional factors, including β-carotene with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, are increasingly recognized for their role in mental health. However, population-based evidence on micronutrient intake and suicidal ideation among cancer survivors remains limited. This study investigated the association between dietary β-carotene intake and suicidal ideation among cancer survivors using nationally representative data. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 698 adult cancer survivors from the 2014–2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Suicidal ideation was assessed using the ninth item of the Patient Health Questionnaire. Dietary β-carotene intake was estimated using a 24-h dietary recall. Multivariable logistic regression models were applied with adjustment for sociodemographic, lifestyle, clinical, and dietary factors. Restricted cubic spline models were used to examine non-linear dose–response relationships. Subgroup analyses were performed by age, sex, and time since diagnosis. Results: Among participants, 6.3% reported suicidal ideation. Higher β-carotene intake was associated with lower odds of suicidal ideation (adjusted OR 0.68 per 1000 µg increase, 95% CI 0.50–0.93). Restricted cubic spline analyses revealed a significant U-shaped association (p for non-linearity = 0.030), indicating that the risk of suicidal ideation was lowest at an intermediate intake level (approximately 6000 µg/day). Stronger associations were observed among younger individuals and those ≥5 years post-diagnosis, with no significant interaction by sex. Conclusions: Dietary β-carotene intake showed a non-linear association with suicidal ideation, suggesting that both insufficient and excessive intake are associated with higher odds of suicidal ideation. These findings suggest the potential importance of optimal micronutrient balance in mental health and suggest that dietary factors may be associated with suicidal ideation among cancer survivors. Full article

People have become accustomed to studying or working with the guidance of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years. Studies have begun investigating the risk factors of AI dependence, though most have used hypothesis-testing methods. The present study aimed to investigate predictors of AI dependence using machine-learning and network analysis, which are data-driven approaches. The included risk factors were Big Five personality traits, self-efficacy, depression, social anxiety, adverse childhood experiences, and AI use motivation, selected based on theories and empirical studies. Participants consisted of 1258 university students (942 females and 316 males) with a mean age of 22.11 years (SD = 2.69). Four machine-learning algorithms were tested, including Elastic Net, Random Forest, XGBoost, and LightGBM. Machine-learning results indicate that escape and social motivation for AI use, along with social anxiety, were the main predictors of AI dependence. Network analysis results show that escape and social motivation were the most central nodes, with the highest Expected Influence (EI) indices. This study indicates that when addressing mental health problems related to AI dependence, it is more effective to focus on emotional isolation and social interaction challenges rather than simply cutting down on AI use. Full article

Background/Objectives: Diet is considered one of the most important modifiable risk factors for non-communicable diseases in modern society. While numerous studies have reported on the association between diet and mental health, including anxiety, research examining the relationship between dietary patterns and mental health is relatively scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the association between anxiety and suicidal ideation with macronutrient intake. Methods: This study was conducted on adults aged 19 years or older using raw data from the 2021–2023 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Excluding those with missing test items, 9002 subjects were included. The study subjects were divided into four groups based on macronutrient intake (normal diet group, high-carbohydrate diet group, high-fat diet group, and high-protein diet group; based on Korean Dietary Reference). Results: There was no significant association between dietary patterns and suicidal ideation. However, after adjusting for covariates for moderate or severe anxiety in the HP diet group, the odds ratio was reported to be 0.492 (95% CI 0.298–0.810). Subgroup analysis by gender revealed no significant difference between dietary types and anxiety in women, but in men, the HP diet significantly lowered the odds of moderate or severe anxiety (OR 0.230, 95% CI 0.089–0.599). Conclusions: This study found that higher protein intake was associated with lower levels of moderate to severe anxiety, and this trend was statistically significant, particularly in men. Further research is needed to confirm the causal relationship. Full article

Objective: To systematically review the effects of family-based physical activity interventions on the mental health of children and adolescents and identify potential moderators. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched PubMed, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, Elsevier, Web of Science, Cochrane, and three major Chinese databases for randomized controlled trials and non-randomized controlled trials on family-based physical activity interventions targeting mental health in children and adolescents aged 5–19 years. Searches were conducted through 10 February 2026. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. Meta-analyses were performed using CMA 3.3. Results: Eleven studies involving 1160 participants were included. The random-effects model indicated that the overall pooled effect size for family physical activity interventions included in this study was (g = 0.443, 95% CI: 0.272–0.614), suggesting that family physical activity interventions, regardless of their specific components, are generally associated with improved mental health in children and adolescents. Further analysis revealed that this overall effect reached statistical significance in the positive mental health dimensions (e.g., self-esteem, emotional well-being) (g = 0.467, 95% CI: 0.271–0.663), whereas it did not reach statistical significance in the negative psychological symptoms dimensions (e.g., depression) (g = 0.358, p > 0.05). Subgroup analyses indicated that intervention location (home-based group g = 0.26 vs. non-home-based group g = 0.55), intervention duration (≤3 months, g = 0.54 vs. >3 months, g = 0.36), and program type (non-multicomponent programs, g = 0.26 vs. multicomponent programs, g = 0.55) showed no statistically significant differences in their effects across groups (p > 0.05). No significant effects were observed in the overall meta-regression model. Conclusions: Current evidence suggests that family involvement may provide a more conducive setting for physical activity interventions targeting children and adolescents; overall, such interventions are associated with improvements in positive mental health. However, this finding should be interpreted as a composite estimate of intervention programs across various heterogeneous factors, such as different modes of family involvement and program components, and their effects on reducing negative psychological symptoms remain unclear. Future research should further refine the composition of these interventions and conduct high-quality, long-term studies to clarify their key components and long-term effects. Full article

This study examined the longitudinal associations among academic self-handicapping, academic buoyancy, and academic burnout, and tested whether academic buoyancy played a mediating role in the association between academic self-handicapping and academic burnout. A three-wave longitudinal survey with 3-month intervals was conducted among 508 Chinese junior high school students (Grades 7–9; Mage = 13.44 years; 48.8% boys). Cross-lagged panel modeling (CLPM) was used for data analysis. Results indicated that (1) academic self-handicapping and academic buoyancy showed reciprocal negative longitudinal associations; (2) academic buoyancy and academic burnout also showed reciprocal negative longitudinal associations; and (3) academic buoyancy showed a nuanced longitudinal mediating pattern: the hypothesized indirect effect from academic self-handicapping to academic burnout was marginally significant, whereas the reverse indirect effect was significant. From a school-based mental health and prevention perspective, these findings highlight academic buoyancy as a modifiable protective resource and academic self-handicapping as a potentially observable coping-related risk marker, suggesting actionable targets for early identification and tiered support to mitigate burnout-related disengagement in junior high school students. Full article

In sociocultural situations where aging is firmly associated with family roles, spirituality, and reliance, depression and death anxiety are prevalent mental health issues among older individuals. Although their functions may vary depending on the situation, psychological resources, such as purpose in life, self-worth, and life satisfaction, are often considered protective in later life. This descriptive–correlational study examined the relationships between meaning in life, self-esteem, life satisfaction, depression, and death anxiety among 119 community-dwelling older Filipinos aged 60 years and older. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression in JAMOVI version 2.7.6. The standardized instruments included the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Revised Death Anxiety Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory. Regression analysis revealed that while meaning in life and life satisfaction independently predicted higher death anxiety, they independently predicted lower depression. After adjustment, self-esteem predicted neither outcome. These results suggest that psychological resources have distinct effects on mental health in later life, acting as protective factors against depressive symptoms and raising awareness of mortality. To promote healthy aging among older individuals, culturally responsive therapies that address existential factors and emotional well-being are necessary. Full article

The growing scale and duration of global displacement driven by complex humanitarian crises pose significant challenges for humanitarian shelter and settlement planning. Refugees and displaced persons often live long-term in settlements and collective accommodation initially intended as temporary, which are frequently characterised by overcrowding, limited privacy, inadequate infrastructure, and uncertain living conditions, heightening psychological distress. Despite the recognition of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in humanitarian response, the role of the built environment and its impact on MHPSS remains underexplored. This study utilises a systematic-informed review of academic and grey literature to examine how healing architecture can support humanitarian settlement planning, with a focus on the wellbeing of displaced communities. Literature was identified through searches in Web of Science and Google Scholar, alongside selected publications from United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations, resulting in a total of 34 documents included in the analysis. The paper addresses three research questions: What mental health challenges are most common among displaced populations? What healing architecture strategies are most relevant, and how do they influence mental health? How and under what conditions can healing architecture strategies contribute to humanitarian settlement planning to support wellbeing? Studies were identified through database and repository searches, appraised for quality, and synthesised using thematic analysis. Findings highlight key design strategies, including access to private and communal spaces, connection to nature, and culturally responsive layouts. Although the analysis identified contextual and methodological limitations in humanitarian settlement planning, integrating healing architecture offers practical pathways to enhance wellbeing through participatory and inclusive design. Full article

Objective: Youth mental health has become a global public health priority, with psychological distress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms increasing sharply over the last decade. Numerous interventions, ranging from mindfulness-based and cognitive behavioral programs to digital applications and peer-support initiatives, have been evaluated through meta-analytic reviews. However, the cumulative evidence remains heterogeneous and dispersed across intervention modalities. The present umbrella meta-analysis synthesized existing meta-analyses on psychological and digital interventions for adolescents and young adults, adopting a Bayesian random-effects framework to quantify the overall effectiveness and heterogeneity of outcomes. Method: Systematic searches were conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science up to September 2025, using the following syntax: (“meta-analysis” OR “systematic review”) AND (adolescent* OR “youth” OR “young people”) AND (“mental health” OR “well-being” OR “psychological intervention”). Eligible reviews reported standardized mean differences (Hedges’ g) or convertible statistics and targeted mental health or well-being outcomes. Effect sizes were standardized using Hedges’ g and synthesized under a random-effects framework. They were then pooled using Bayesian random-effects modeling with a Normal (0, 0.5²) prior on the grand mean μ and a half-Cauchy (0, 0.5) prior on the heterogeneity variance τ. Results: Nine eligible meta-analyses (k = 9 aggregated effects, ≈1150 primary studies) met the inclusion criteria. The posterior mean standardized effect was μ = 0.229 (95% CrI [0.157, 0.301]), indicating a small but credible positive impact of interventions on youth mental health and well-being indicators (μ = 0.19 for symptom reduction; μ = 0.28 for positive well-being). Between-study heterogeneity was non-negligible (τ² = 0.003; posterior mean I² = 23%, 95% CrI [0.04%, 74%]), reflecting uncertainty about the true degree of variability across modalities and settings. The posterior probability that μ > 0 was >0.999, providing strong Bayesian evidence for credible but heterogeneous effects. Conclusions: The findings suggest potentially credible but heterogeneous effects of psychological and digital interventions on youth mental health and well-being outcomes, although the magnitude and consistency of these effects remain constrained by substantial heterogeneity and the breadth of aggregated outcome constructs. Results should be interpreted with appropriate caution. Full article