Applied psychology. Health and well-being最新文献

Virtual Reality nature (VRn) may deliver mental health and wellbeing without being outside in real nature. The main objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to report effects of VRn on mental health and wellbeing of students in higher education. To be eligible, participants were higher education students, the intervention was VRn, the outcome variable was a mental health parameter, and the study design was experimental. Information sources were: OVID (Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO), SCOPUS, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PubMed and GreenFILE. Searches were conducted May 2023 and re-run November 2024. The modified Downs and Black checklist for randomised and non-randomised studies was used to assess risk of bias. To synthesise results, data were first extracted into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and summarised in narrative, statistical and tabular formats. Twenty-four articles were included. Two studies were ‘good’ quality, 18 ‘fair’, and four ‘poor’. Total sample size was 1,419. Two studies compared VRn versus real nature, six VRn versus no intervention, seven VRn versus flat-screen. Twelve studies included forests as the only natural environment. Thirteen of 17, seven of eight, four of five, and four of seven studies reported pre-post intervention beneficial effects on self-reported mood, anxiety, stress and cognition, respectively. Nine of 13, six of 10 and all five studies that measured cardiovascular, skin conductivity and brain activity respectively, reported pre-post intervention beneficial effects. All five studies that measured anxiety, all three studies that measured mood, and all four studies that measured stress, found no significant differences between VRn and flat-screen images of nature. Caution is required drawing conclusions due to studies' quality and sample sizes. That said, the review suggests that nature replicated in VR shows promise for benefits to mental health and wellbeing in higher education students.

Mindfulness practices, such as the body scan, could enhance interoception. While prior research shows promise for its effects on interoceptive sensibility (IS; subjective experience of bodily cues) and accuracy (IAcc; accurate detection of bodily signals), studies often use a limited set of interoceptive variables or apply small samples. In two pre-registered randomized trials, we examined a 2-week daily auditory body scan intervention vs. active control (guided imagery; Study 1) or passive control (Study 2). Study 1 included N = 85 participants (M_age = 22.26, 71% women), randomized to body scan or guided imagery. Study 2 included N = 90 participants (M_age = 23.05, 80% women), randomized to body scan or passive control. IAcc was measured pre- and post-intervention using the heartbeat tracking task (HTT) and heartbeat discrimination task (HDT), while IS was assessed via confidence ratings and the multidimensional assessment of interoceptive awareness (MAIA-2). Study 1 showed significant time effects for IAcc (HTT: p < .001; HDT: p = .012), confidence ratings (p's < .001), and MAIA-2 (p < .001). Study 2 found improvements following the body scan for IAcc (HTT: p = .050), confidence ratings (HTT: p = .006; HDT: p = .0496), and MAIA-2 (p = .003). Findings suggest that body scan enhances interoception within two weeks, though guided imagery and similar approaches may yield comparable effects.

Psychological well-being (PWB) is a multidimensional construct encompassing emotional, cognitive, personality, and social factors, playing a crucial role in mental health and quality of life. While previous research has examined the relationships between PWB and psychological traits, the natural clustering of well-being profiles remains underexplored.

This study applied Affinity Propagation (AP) clustering, an unsupervised machine learning (ML) technique, to identify distinct well-being profiles in 685 young adults from the Human Connectome Project (HCP). A composite PWB score from the NIH Toolbox Emotion Battery was used to assess its associations with cognitive functions, personality traits, emotional health, and psychiatric and behavioral factors.

Four PWB clusters emerged: Low, Medium-low, Medium-high, and High. Lower PWB was linked to higher negative affect (anger, sadness) and greater neuroticism, while higher social support, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness characterized greater well-being. Cognitive abilities did not significantly differentiate clusters, suggesting well-being is primarily influenced by emotional, social, and personality factors.

By integrating ML with statistical analyses, this study provides a data-driven understanding of well-being, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to enhance emotional resilience, social connections, and mental health support.

Mental health challenges in overweight/obese youth represent a growing public health concern. Physical activity (PA) may protect against adverse mental health outcomes in this population. However, research has yet to fully examine how specific PA dosage characteristics, such as PA intensity, affect mental health trajectories among overweight/obese youth. This study used longitudinal data from the Millennium Cohort Study (N = 858) to examine how PA intensity at age 7 predicts mental health outcomes at ages 11 and 14. Accelerometer-measured PA was categorized into moderate-to-vigorous-intensity (MVPA) and light-intensity (LPA) activity. Higher MVPA at age 7 predicted fewer internalizing problems at ages 11 (β = −0.014, p = 0.018) and 14 (β = −0.023, p = 0.001), with stronger effects over time being observed for the peer problem-related component of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). In contrast, LPA was associated with increased externalizing problems at age 11 (β = 0.007, p = 0.008), particularly the hyperactivity component of the SDQ, and this effect was no longer reliable at 14. These findings suggest that promoting MVPA is important to support mental health outcomes in overweight/obese youth, although intervention studies are needed to test causality.

Research on mental health advocates the cultivation of character strengths to enhance well-being. Existing meta-analyses support positive correlations between strengths and well-being, and an increasing number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have assessed the effects of interventions aimed at cultivating them. This pre-registered multiple systematic review of RCTs aims to map and synthesize evidence from these trials regarding the overall impact of such interventions on strengths and well-being. Based on Peterson and Seligman's Virtues in Action model, which groups 24 character strengths under 6 virtues as latent variables, we conducted searches for each character strength (21 in total), across four specialized databases, including gray literature. The included RCTs assessed the impact of virtue-based interventions with adult participants in studies including baseline and post-intervention measures of the targeted strength and well-being. After reviewing 61,479 abstracts, 162 RCTs were included representing 15 strengths grouped into the six virtues among 33,032 participants. In contrast, the interventions with the best evidence for increasing strengths and well-being were those that enhanced kindness, humor, hope, perspective, and gratitude. Our review revealed that there is a relative paucity of RCT studies in the field and a need to include robust outcome measures. While there is relatively robust evidence of the efficacy of RCTs to enhance certain character strengths and associated well-being, there is still insufficient evidence on the efficacy of most of the 24 strengths of Peterson and Seligman's model. We discuss implications of the findings and recommend guidelines for future research.

The popularity of meditation has surged in recent years, driven by the accessibility of digital platforms. In this context, shorter sessions have become common, often accompanied by claims of substantial benefits. The vast differences in practice intensity—from traditional monastic training and residential retreats to multi-week Mindfulness-Based Programs and infrequent digital home practice—raise the question of how much practice is necessary to see meaningful benefits. Our previous analysis of lifetime practice history suggested that 160 hours were required for clinically meaningful improvements in psychological distress and life satisfaction, with more needed for stable changes in affect. However, those findings could not address the effects of newly undertaken practice, the best ways to accumulate experience, or how these effects vary by practice history. This study fills these gaps by examining dose–response relationships in a diverse sample of meditators engaging in self-directed practice in ecologically valid settings, while testing the moderating effects of practice history, personality traits, and meditation goals. One thousand fifty-three participants provided data across nine surveys over a two-month period of prospectively monitored, self-directed meditation practice, followed by a 2- to 4-year follow-up. Using a longitudinal design, we examined associations between meditation practice dose and outcomes including positive and negative affect, psychological distress, and life satisfaction. Meditation practice dose was significantly associated with improvements in well-being, affect, and distress, with practice frequency being a stronger predictor of beneficial outcomes than session duration. During the 2-month prospective period, after controlling for prior lifetime practice, 35 to 65 minutes daily practice was required for meaningful improvements in well-being, and 50 to 80 minutes daily was needed for meaningful improvements in mental health outcomes. Dose–response effects were moderated by lifetime practice experience across all outcomes, while negative emotionality moderated the relationship for mental health-related outcomes. Additionally, valuing mental health as a practice goal moderated dose–response effects for mental health outcomes, and cumulative practice from baseline to follow-up predicted increased valuation of spiritual growth as a practice goal. Our findings indicate that practitioners with varied practice histories, personality traits, and practice goals/motivations benefit from meditation on outcomes measuring mental health and well-being, with such benefits maintained over a 2–4 year follow-up period.

Message content may have unanticipated and harmful effects on population subgroups. This study assessed the impact of a weight-centric health message on body shame in college women by eating disorder status and college major (health versus non-health). Three hundred female university students (age = 20.1 ± 1.9, BMI = 23.4 ± 3.9 kg/m², 78% White) were randomized to a 5-minute video communicating either a weight-centric health message or an intuitive eating message, then completed questionnaires to assess eating disorder risk and body shame. An ANOVA indicated a significant interaction between eating disorder risk and message type on body shame (F[1, 281] = 3.887, p = 0.05, partial eta²=0.014). There was a significant main effect for eating disorder risk status (F[1, 281] = 106.314, p < 0.001, partial eta²=0.276). Among those with high eating disorder risk (35.6%), those who viewed the weight-centric health video had higher body shame compared to those who viewed the intuitive eating video (F[1, 281] = 4.708, p = 0.03, partial eta²=0.017). The interaction between major (health vs non-health) and message group was not significant. Future research should investigate whether modifying weight-centric messages to include intuitive eating principles may better promote physical and mental health for vulnerable subgroups like college-aged women.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a severe psychological crisis among Chinese adolescents, while NSSI urge is a robust predictor of NSSI. Awe, as a positive emotion, may benefit the prevention of NSSI. However, the relationship between awe and NSSI urges is underexplored. This study examined the effect of awe on NSSI urges and its underlying mechanisms among a large sample of Chinese adolescents with a three-wave panel design (with distinct but related constructs measured at each wave). Participants were 969 middle school students from eastern China. The chain mediation model suggested that awe reduces NSSI urges indirectly by sequentially enhancing meaning in life and decreasing ego-depletion. Family function moderated this model, such that the negative predictive effect of awe and the positive predictive effect of ego-depletion on later NSSI urges were stronger when family functioning was low. These findings provide a novel perspective for interventions on adolescents' NSSI urges by highlighting the enhancement of awe, as well as the roles of meaning in life, ego-depletion, and family function.

With physical inactivity becoming a worldwide crisis, physical literacy is recognized as a potential gateway for the promotion of physical activity. This study intended to examine the relationship between physical literacy and physical activity and examine whether there exist potential moderators of this relationship. Six databases including PubMed, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, Web of Science, ERIC, and PsycINFO were searched on April 11th, 2024 for the last time. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted to examine the strength between physical literacy and physical activity, with subgroup analyses and meta-regression analyses applied to examine the potential moderators. A total of 3,932 articles were identified, of which only 26 studies were included after undergoing title, abstract, and full-text screening. There was a positive and moderate correlation (r = 0.369) between physical literacy and physical activity, with physical activity intensity (Q = 11.608, p < 0.05) and the selection of physical activity assessments (Q = 9.523, p < 0.05) serving as moderators in this relationship. As for gender, the selection of physical literacy assessments, mean age, and sample size, their moderating role wasn't significant. Future research regarding physical literacy and physical activity should pay more attention to relevant moderators and conduct more longitudinal studies to explore the dynamic change in their relationship over time.