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BackgroundChinese students are extremely vulnerable to developing mental illness. The stigma associated with mental illness presents a barrier to seeking help for their mental health. ObjectiveThe Linking Hearts—Linking Youth and ‘Xin’ (hearts) project is an implementation science project that seeks to reduce mental illness stigma and promote the mental health of university students in Jinan, China. The Linking Hearts project consists of 3 components. In this paper, we outline the protocol for the first component, that is, the contextual assessment and analysis of the mental health needs of university students as the first step to inform the adaptation of an evidence-based intervention to be implemented in Jinan, China. MethodsSix local universities will participate in the Linking Hearts project. A total of 100 students from each university (n=600) will engage in the contextual assessment through self-report surveys on depression, anxiety, stress, mental health knowledge, and mental health stigma. Quantitative data will be analyzed using several descriptive and inferential analyses via SPSS. A small number of participants (144 students and 144 service providers) will also be engaged in focus groups to assess the socio-environmental contexts of university students’ health and availability of mental health resources. Qualitative data will be transcribed verbatim and NVivo will be used for data management. Social network analysis will also be performed using EgoNet. ResultsLinking Hearts was funded in January 2018 for 5 years. The protocol of Linking Hearts and its 3 components was approved by the research ethics boards of all participating institutions in China in November 2018. Canadian institutions that gave approval were Ryerson University (REB2018-455) in January 2019, University of Alberta (Pro00089364), York University (e2019-162) in May 2019, and University of Toronto (RIS37724) in August 2019. Data collection took place upon ethics approval and was completed in January 2020. A total of 600 students were surveyed. An additional 147 students and 138 service providers took part in focus groups. Data analysis is ongoing. Results will be published in 2021. ConclusionsFindings from this contextual assessment and analysis will generate new knowledge on university students’ mental health status, mental health knowledge, and resources available for them. These findings will be used to adapt and refine the Acceptance and Commitment to Empowerment-Linking Youth N’ Xin intervention model. The results of this contextual assessment will be used to inform the adaptation and refinement of the mental health intervention to promote the mental health of Chinese university students in Jinan. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)RR1-10.2196/25009

Athlete burnout is a serious problem faced by many athletes, especially during and after uncertain situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explored the relationships between self-concept clarity, mental toughness, athlete engagement, and athlete burnout to determine the factors influencing athlete burnout among swimmers and to explore effective strategies to alleviate swimmers' burnout. The study included 189 swimmers (113 female and 76 male) aged 9−25 years (M = 13.71; SD = 2.57). They completed the Self-Concept Clarity Scale, Mental Toughness Inventory, Athlete Engagement Questionnaire, and Athlete Burnout Questionnaire. The results showed that the direct effect of self-concept clarity on athlete burnout was negative and significant (β = −0.43, p < 0.001); the mediating effect of athlete engagement (−0.10, 95% CI: −0.18, −0.04) and the chain mediating effect of mental toughness and athlete engagement (−0.13, 95% CI: −0.21, −0.06) on athlete burnout were also significant. However, mental toughness had no significant mediating effect on the relationship between self-concept clarity and athlete burnout. These results suggest that self-concept clarity is associated with swimmers' burnout via mental toughness and athlete engagement. Therefore, maintaining and promoting self-concept clarity, enhancing mental toughness, and athlete engagement may be effective strategies to alleviate burnout in swimmers. These findings can be useful for helping swimmers manage their mental state and to provide practical guidance for administrators and coaches during the training process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longer quiet eye (QE) periods are associated with better performance across a range of targeting and interceptive tasks. However, the direction of this relationship is still unclear. The two studies presented aimed to narrow this knowledge gap by experimentally manipulating QE duration-by delaying its onset or by truncating its offset-in an aiming interceptive task. In Experiment 1, the early trajectory was occluded, causing significantly shorter QE durations and worse subsequent performance. In Experiment 2, both early and/or late trajectory were occluded. Performance was degraded by the occlusion of either early or late information, and the worst performance occurred when both the early and late trajectory were occluded. Taken together, the results suggest that QE is not a by-product of performance but instead plays a causal role in supporting the interception of a moving target through a combination of preprogramming and online control processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Childhood trauma is a potential threat to depression and can have a lifelong impact on the mental health of university students. Our study aimed to construct a moderated mediation model to explore the relationship between childhood trauma, psychache, ambivalence over emotional expression, physical activity, and depression in university students., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in three universities in China, recruiting 476 university students using self-report questionnaires. The moderated mediation model was examined using the SPSS PROCESS model 21., Results: Ambivalence over emotional expression (F=12.843), childhood trauma (F=117.639), and psychache (F=581.594) all had a significant positive effect on depression (p<0.001), explaining 2.9%, 21.7%, and 56.8% of the variance, respectively. On the chain of influence between childhood trauma and depression, the mediating effect of psychache, the moderating effect of ambivalence over emotional expression, and the moderating effect of physical activity are all significant the overall indirect effect value of the three is 0.287, accounting for 61.59% of the total effect., Conclusion: This study investigated the relationship between childhood trauma, ambivalence over emotional expression, psychache, physical activity, and depression in university students. Future interventions should focus on developing good emotional expression among university students, increasing opportunities for physical activity, and reducing psychache to reduce depression., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Chen, Fu, Wang and Sun.)

What Is Already Known About This Topic?: The literature has consistently demonstrated that distress rumination following a traumatic event has significant implications for mental health. However, the potential association between distress rumination and suicidality, as well as the underlying mechanisms driving this relationship, remains to be elucidated., What Is Added by This Report?: The current study demonstrated a significant, positive correlation between distress rumination and suicidal ideation in college students who have encountered traumatic events. The findings indicate that somatic anxiety serves as a mediator between distress rumination and suicidal ideation., What Are the Implications for Public Health Practice?: Interventions aimed at reducing somatic anxiety may contribute to a decrease in suicidal ideation. Assessing and addressing somatic anxiety symptoms in college students experiencing distressful rumination following traumatic events could potentially lower the risk of suicide., (Copyright and License information: Editorial Office of CCDCW, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2023.)