More Than Mental Illness: Experiences of Associating with Stigma of Mental Illness for Chinese College Students

From existing empirical research, we identified that Chinese college students commonly experience stigma surrounding mental illness and found some factors that support them in resisting the stigma and achieving psychological health. However, less research provides qualitative data involving individual experiences and insights on mental illness within this group of college students. This study, based on ACE-LYNX (an internationally cooperative research-sharing project between China and Canada), was conducted in Shandong, Jinan, and aims to promote the mental health of college students by empowering interdisciplinary professionals and students. Through the research project, this study analyzed the materials from 24 focus groups, explored the understanding of mental illness and prevalence of mental illness stigma in Chinese colleges at the present time, administered a background questionnaire, and provided statistical support for some revealed themes. The final themes are as follows: mental illness is stereotyped as “severe, pathetic, and complicated”; the misconception of “visiting a psychological counselor is scary”; from public stigma to self-stigma; barriers deterring students from seeking help or accessing services; two sides of the same coin: peer support versus peer pressure.

Chinese College Students’ Attitudes towards Animal Welfare

Understanding the attitude of stakeholders towards animals is critical for the development and improvement of animal welfare in a country. College students from veterinary, animal, and life sciences majors represent future key stakeholders that will interact with professionals from animal industries. Therefore, it is critical to understand these college students’ attitudes towards animals and their knowledge about animal welfare. The present survey aimed to investigate Chinese college students’ concerns towards different animal classes (i.e., pets, farm, laboratory, and wild animals) through the animal Sentient and Five Freedoms models. Chinese college students from different majors (i.e., related to animal sciences or not) scored very well in their attitude towards both the animal Sentient and Five Freedoms models, with differences depending on the animal class considered. Pets (dogs and cats) had better consideration for both animal Sentient and Five Freedoms models, followed by wild animals, while farm and laboratory animals were less considered. Veterinary science major students showed the strongest differences in attitudes depending on the animal classes considered compared to other majors. Furthermore, respondents showed better attitude scoring if they currently owned or had owned animals, had participated in animal welfare courses, or in laboratory work that involved animals. When compared to previous studies, our results suggest a general improvement of Chinese college students’ attitudes towards animals.

Prevalence and associated factors of minimally invasive facial cosmetic surgery in Chinese college students

Background Minimally invasive facial cosmetic surgery (MIFCS) is becoming more and more popular and acceptable in Chinese young people, and it influences people in many aspects. However, there is little research on the associations between MIFCS and psychopathology in Chinese college students. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of MIFCS and its associated factors among Chinese college students. Methods A cross-sectional design was applied in this study. A total of 8089 students completed an online questionnaire on demographic data, depressive symptoms (Self-Rating Depression Scale), anxiety symptoms (Self-Rating Anxiety Scale) and MIFCS. Logistic regression was used to identify independent factors associated with MIFCS. Results The prevalence of MIFCS in Chinese college students was 2.7% (221/8098). Students with MIFCS were more likely to be from urban areas, from a single child household, experience depression or anxiety and have a history of smoking (all p < 0.05). They were also less likely to be right-handed or have a good relationship with father or mother (all p < 0.05). Binary logistic regression showed that older age (OR,1.162; 95%CI [1.061,1.273]), female sex (OR,1.837; 95%CI [1.352, 2.497]), community (urban) (OR,0.601; 95%CI [0.441,0.818]), right-handedness (OR,0.668; 95%CI [0.454,0.985]), depressive symptoms (OR, 4.708; 95%CI [1.690,13.112]), family income (30,000–70,000 yuan per year) (OR,0.572; 95%CI [0.403,0.812]) and smoking (OR,1.571; 95%CI [1.09,2.423]) were independently associated with MIFCS. Conclusions Minimally invasive facial cosmetic surgery (MIFCS) is very common in Chinese college students, indicating the importance of paying attention to MIFCS. This study provides valuable evidence for college counselors and doctors in the cosmetic department to provide better and healthier services to students who undergo MIFCS, especially those with depressive symptoms.

Volunteering, Charitable Donation, and Psychological Well-Being of College Students in China

Psychological well-being indicates individuals’ positive psychological functioning and well-being. A growing body of literature, largely based on adults and old people, suggests that volunteering and charitable donations are related to individuals’ psychological well-being. As emerging adulthood is a vital time for lifespan development, the aim of this study is to examine the effects of volunteering and charitable donation on individuals’ psychological well-being on college students. Relying on theories of altruism and the warm-glow theory, this study estimates the relationships among hours of volunteering, amount of charitable donations, and psychological well-being from 1,871 Chinese college students. The linear regression results indicate that students’ hours of volunteering and the amount of charitable donations in the past year were positively associated with their psychological well-being. Volunteering, compared to charitable donations, had a slightly stronger association with psychological well-being. This study provides a rationale for academic institutions to integrate social service activities into the curriculum as a potential tool to promote students’ psychological well-being.

Distinct Patterns of Problematic Smartphone Use: A Latent Profile Analysis Among Chinese College Students

Background: This study aimed to categorize different subgroups of problematic smartphone use among Chinese college students. Differences in gender and psychosocial characteristics of the categorized groups were also examined.Methods: A total of 1,123 participants completed the Mobile Phone Addiction Index Scale (MPAI), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Perceived Social Support Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Using latent profile analysis (LPA), we identified different subgroups of problematic smartphone use among college students. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was implemented to examine the relationship between latent classes and demographic, psychosocial covariates.Results: Four latent classes were identified: a low-risk group, a moderate-risk with no evasiveness group, a moderate-risk with evasiveness group, and high-risk group that accounted for 11.0%, 24.1%, 35.5%, and 29.4% of the total sample, respectively. Further analysis revealed that compared with the “low-risk” class, the other three classes differed significantly with respect to gender and prevalence of depression.Conclusions: Classifying college students based on features of problematic smartphone use is potentially useful for understanding risk factors and developing targeted prevention and intervention programs.