Sense of Coherence and Physical Health. A Cross-Sectional Study Using a New Scale (SOC II)

In this study, we constructed a new sense of coherence scale (SOC II), where we eliminated the notion of predictability (that life is meant to be predictable), which was present in the original SOC scale developed by Aaron Antonovsky (19231994) (SOC-29 and SOC-13). Our hypothesis was that SOC II would show a higher degree of association with physical health than the original SOC scale. In order to test this idea, we used a cross-sectional study including 4,648 Danes and used the three different health measures: self-evaluated physical health, physical symptoms, and self-evaluated psychological health. We found that SOC II was positively associated with all three health measures with the correlation coefficients 0.338, 0.282, and 0.578, respectively. Furthermore, we found dose response tendencies for all three health measures across groups of SOC, since health improved with a higher SOC. By means of regression analysis, we found that SOC was significantly associated with all three health measures after stratifying for demographic variables, life style variables, life form variables, and attitude variables, respectively. We conclude from this study that the SOC II scale we developed seems better associated with physical health than found with the original SOC scale. We also postulate that the concept of predictability was irrelevant, or even disturbing, and should not be included in the SOC scale.

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Validation and reliability of a simplified food frequency questionnaire: A cross sectional study among physical health examination adults in southwest region of China

10.21203/rs.2.23239/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Zhengyan Cheng ◽

Ping Shuai ◽

Qichuan Qiao ◽

Tingxin Li

Keyword(s):

Physical Health ◽

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Health Examination ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Food Frequency ◽

Southwest Region

Abstract Background In China, many people are apt to participate in regular physical examination as a precaution. Some simplified food frequency questionnaire have been designed and used. However, the effectiveness of questionnaire is absent. This study was conducted to examine the reliability and validity of simplified food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ) used among physical examination adults in southwest region of China. Methods This study was a cross sectional study among physical health examination adults in Southwest region of China. A total of 239 participants aged 20-65 were conducted during February to June in 2019. The performance of the SFFQ was evaluated by the mean of three-day 24-hour dietary recalls (3R24). The relative validity and agreement was assessed by the Pearson`s correlation and intra-class correlation coefficients(ICC) respectively. Results The median energy-adjusted ICC of food groups between SFFQ2 and SFFQ1 was 0.59 (range: 0.49-0.73) and the ICC of nutrients was 0.47(range: 0.39-0.76). The Pearson correlation showed the validity between the SFFQ1 and 3R24, which ranged from -0.086 to 0.93 for food and and 0.21 to 0.71 for nutritions, respectively. Energy-adjustment slightly increased the correlation coefficients. Conclusions The reliability and validity of the SFFQ was acceptable. It could be an appropriate dietary assessment tool for future epidemiological studies in physical health examination adults among Chinese in southwest China.

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Mental health of undergraduate distance learners: a cross-sectional study

Asian Association of Open Universities Journal ◽

10.1108/aaouj-08-2021-0097 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Gayani P. Gamage ◽

H.M.Chulani J. Herath

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Distance Learning ◽

Physical Health ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Distance Learners ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Content Type

PurposeMental health is as important as physical health and new university entrants report high prevalence of depression. In open and distance learning (ODL), students must manage both work and studies. Those who are unable to effectively balance these aspects may experience negative outcomes such as dropping out, distress and physical health problems. Therefore, the study aims to investigate psychological distress amongst distance-learning undergraduate students to gather evidence for recommending necessary interventions.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional study was conducted using depression, anxiety, stress scale (DASS-21). Participants were undergraduate students from the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL). The students' socio-demographic details, history of physical and mental illnesses were also recorded.FindingsAccording to scoring, 51% of the sample was categorised as “psychologically distressed” relating to the anxiety levels they reported whilst depression (35%) and stress remained (20%) at low levels. The three-factor structure of DASS-21 was also confirmed with reliability scores of 0.8 obtained for all three sub-scales.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations were low-response rate (less than 50%) and inability to provide causal explanations for psychological distress. Further research could address these.Practical implicationsThe current research identified anxiety as a psychologically distressing factor for ODL students with the use of a reliable screening tool. Therefore, exploring reasons and interventions to help reduce anxiety could be developed.Social implicationsMajority of distance learners are contributing to a country's economy whilst learning to improve their current socio-economic status. Therefore, addressing these negative impacts is important.Originality/valueThe study explored ODL students' psychological distress and highlighted the need to identify causes and development of support systems to enhance mental well-being.

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Changes in mental health during three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic: a repeated cross-sectional study among polish university students

BMC Psychiatry ◽

10.1186/s12888-021-03615-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Aleksandra M. Rogowska ◽

Dominika Ochnik ◽

Cezary Kuśnierz ◽

Karolina Chilicka ◽

Monika Jakubiak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

University Students ◽

Physical Health ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

High Stress ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Satisfaction With Life Scale ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional

Abstract Background Research indicates that mental health worsened during the Coronavirus crisis, in particular among women and university students. However, few longitudinal studies have so far investigated the changes in mental health outcomes across three subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to examine changes in mental health among university students. Methods A total of 1,961university students from Poland, at mean age 23.23 years (SD = 3.16, 57.47% of women) were included in this repeated cross-sectional study across three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic: W1 (n = 657), W2 (n = 654), and W3 (n = 650). They completed the online survey with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), General Self-Rated Health (GSRH), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), as well as sociodemographic variables. Results The prevalence of people at high risk of anxiety and perceived stress, poorer physical health, and low life satisfaction changed significantly across three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the two-way ANOVA showed that both the wave (W1<W2<W3) and gender (men<women) had a significant impact on the level of anxiety. Statistically significant changes in perceived stress were found between pandemic waves (W1>W2, W1>W3), and genders (men<women). Self-reported physical health significantly deteriorated in W3 compared to W1 and W2 (W1>W3, W2>W3), and was significantly worse in women than in men. The level of life satisfaction also decreased significantly in W3 (W1>W3, W2>W3), but did not differ between men and women. High GAD risk was presented two times more frequently among women and people who subjectively assessed their health as poor, three times more likely in participants dissatisfied with their lives, and seven times more probably in persons with high-stress levels. Conclusions The results of this study consistently indicate (using parametric and non-parametric statistical analysis) that there are significant differences in mental health problems across three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. It suggests that pandemic waves should be considered in future review studies and meta-analyses. Furthermore, these findings indicate a potential role for prevention and intervention programs aimed at alleviating life satisfaction and subjective assessment of health and improving coping skills to reduce stress and anxiety.

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