Perceived stress, eating behavior, and overweight and obesity among urban adolescents

Background WHO estimated 20% of adolescents (10–19 years) have mental health problems. We examined the prevalence and associated risk predictors of overweight/obesity and perceived stress using eating behaviors and physical activity among school-and-college-going urban adolescents in Bangladesh. Methods A cross-sectional study with a multistage sampling technique was employed to select 4609 adolescent students, aged 13–19 years, from all eight Bangladesh divisions during January–June 2019. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire containing Turconi Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ), Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ), Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ), and Anthropometric measurements. Logistic regression and different association measures assessed relationships among adolescent characteristics. Results The major 61.5% of adolescents were in moderate-to-extremely-severe levels of stress, 28.2% were overweight/obese, only 2.7% had a very active lifestyle, and 30.5% had a sedentary lifestyle. Perceived stress was positively and significantly correlated with eating behaviors and body mass index, whereas physical activity was significantly associated with the prevalence of overweight/obesity and high stress. The prevalence of overweight/obesity (53.8%) and high stress (52.5%) was higher in males. Adolescents’ obesity was 2.212 times more likely who had a sedentary lifestyle (95% CI 1.377–3.552), 1.13 times more likely for those who had experienced stress due to school/leisure conflict (95% CI 1.051–1.222), and 1.634 times more likely for those who were tempted by restrained eating behavior (95% CI 1.495–1.786). Conclusion Stress on secondary school-and-college-going students needs to be recognized, and strategies need to be developed to improve adolescents’ mental health.

Accountability and (In)Congruence in a No-Excuses School College-Going Culture

This study explores how the college-going culture at a no-excuses charter school with high college enrollment rates shaped students’ worldviews and trajectories. Drawing on 7 months of ethnographic fieldwork, I found that the school boosted college enrollment through student compliance to the college accountability policies rather than through the transmission of dominant cultural resources. Alignment between a student’s worldview and the school’s approach mediated their ability to draw on their full range of resources to participate in the college choice process and forge postsecondary trajectories they believed in. These findings foreshadow the potential impacts of “College for All” accountability structures and underscore the importance of cultural congruence in college-going cultures.

College Students’ Academic Achievement: Exploring the Role of Hope and Academic Self-Efficacy

In the present study, the relationships among trait hope, academic self-efficacy, and academic achievement (self-reported GPA) were examined among college students. Demographic differences were analyzed based on college-going status, ethnicity, and gender. First-generation college-going students (FGCS) reported significantly lower levels of hope, academic self-efficacy, and academic achievement when compared to non-FGCS. Male students reported significantly lower academic self-efficacy compared to female students. There was no statistically significant difference between non-White and White students. Overall, academic self-efficacy was a stronger predictor of achievement than hope. Between the two subscales of trait hope, agency was more strongly correlated with academic achievement than pathways. Furthermore, a mediation analysis indicated that academic self-efficacy fully accounted for the relationship between agency and academic achievement, which suggests that perceived capacity and agency to perform tasks in a specific domain may be more strongly associated with academic achievement than a general sense of hope and motivation.

The Effect of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy on Sleep and Circadian Rhythm in Young College Students

The present study is to study the effect of cognitive behaviour therapy on various sleep parameters and circadian phase rhythmic in young college going adults. Fifty young college going adults were chosen from the MBBS and BDS students of King George's Medical University Lucknow, their polysomnography was conducted along with it salivary melatonin estimation was conducted to find the time of Dim light melatonin onset (DLMO), the subjects were administered cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT),after completing the sessions of cognitive behaviour therapy another Polysomnographic study and DLMO estimation was conducted, various sleep parameters were compared before and after the CBT. The study showed an improvement in the steep quality, a decrease in daytime sleepiness along with this total sleep time significantly increased, sleep efficiency also improved and there was a decrease in the REM sleep latency. The Dim light melatonin onset advanced for the subjects and the chronotype showed an inclination towards an earlier timings.

EFFECT OF KARATE EXERCISES ON IRREGULAR MENSTRUAL CYCLES IN COLLEGE GOING GIRLS- A PRE AND POST EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Studies which are done worldwide, have stated that 74% of adult women suffer from irregular menstrual cycles and other associated symptoms. They have also found that there is association between quality of life and irregular menstrual cycles and distress related to menstrual irregularities. This study was a pre and post experimental study, where 45 college going girls were screened for irregular menstrual cycles, followed by that, demographic details were taken and pre intervention BMI was calculated and menstrual distress questionnaire scores were analyzed. The Karate exercises included, 15 minutes of Running, 15 minutes of 100 punches, 100 kicks for 15 minutes, 15 minutes of Karate techniques and 10 minutes of Katas and 5 minutes of cool down exercises and breathing exercises. The results of pre and post interventions showed that the Karate exercises were effective on irregular menstrual cycles along with decrease in BMI levels and menstrual distress questionnaire scores including domains. Based on the results, the study can be concluded that, the Karate exercises are effective on irregular menstrual cycles along with reduction in BMI levels and menstrual distress questionnaire scores. In addition it showed the improvement in pain, negative thoughts, concentration related to menstrual irregularities. The study found that the karate exercises are mostly effective on menstrual distress than BMI levels.

The Broken Yellow Brick Road: A Narrative Exploration of the College-Going Decisions and Trajectory of a Low-Income Single Mother of Color

Communities frequently treated as ‘have-nots’ in higher education are a window into the condition of postsecondary education access, exclusion, inequities, and outcomes. This reality is no more evident than with the college-going trajectories of low-income single mothers of color. Evoking the possibilities of narrative inquiry in general, and life history method in particular, the author explores the college-going ecology, decisions, and trajectory of a 35-year-old low-income Filipina single mother. Through this empirical undertaking, particular attention is paid to the challenges present within the informant’s context of information, time, and opportunity—the three dimensions of the Iloh Model of College-Going Decisions and Trajectories. Findings of this narrative include prolonged and disjointed experiences; poor navigational structures and asymmetries of information; and institutional constraints, barriers, and disregard. In addition to insights that reflect decision-making challenges and buyer’s remorse of minoritized students; this study situates new directions for addressing concerning contexts of time, information, and opportunity for single mothers pursuing college.

Reconceptualizing College Knowledge: Class, Race, and Black Students in a College-Counseling Field

Past work and college–access programs often treat college knowledge as discrete pieces of information and focus on the amount of available college information. I use ethnographic and multiwave interview data to compare college–aspiring working- and middle–class black 9th and 11th graders across almost two years in high school along with their post–high school updates. Respondents were exposed to college–going messages but faced racial constraints and unclear expectations for college preparation and help seeking. Working-class respondents drew on hopeful uncertainty—a repertoire of hope for college admissions but uncertainty in the specifics—and they waited for assistance. Twelfth-grade working–class respondents experienced the effects of counseling problems and frustrations near application time. Middle-class and some working–class respondents used a repertoire of competitive groundwork to improve their competitiveness for four–year admissions, targeting their help seeking to navigate impending deadlines and late–stage counseling problems. My findings point to the timing and process of activating repertoires of college knowledge within a high school counseling field, suggesting the need to reconceptualize college knowledge in research on racial and class inequality in college access.