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Background: Older adults' psychological health is a public health issue that cannot be ignored, especially when these psychological health problems and related factors change across different social backgrounds because of rapid changes in traditions and family structures and the epidemic responses after the outbreak of COVID-19 in China. The aim of our study is to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression and their associated factors among community-dwelling older adults in China. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to May 2021 with 1173 participants aged 65 years or above from three communities in Hunan Province, China who were selected using convenience sampling. A structured questionnaire including sociodemographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), the 7-Item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Item (PHQ-9) was used to collect relevant demographic and clinical data and to measure social support status, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms, respectively. Bivariate analyses were conducted to explore the difference in anxiety and depression based on samples' different characteristics. The multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to test for significant predictors of anxiety and depression. Results: The prevalence of anxiety and depression were 32.74% and 37.34%, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that being female, being unemployed before retirement age, lacking physical activity, having physical pain, and having three or more comorbidities were significant predictors for anxiety. Subjective social support and support utilization were significant protective factors. Regarding depression, religion, lacking physical activity, having physical pain, having three or more comorbidities were found to be significant predictors. Support utilization was a significant protective factor. Conclusions: The study group showed a high prevalence of anxiety and depression. Gender, employment status, physical activity, physical pain, comorbidities, and social support were associated with psychological health problems of older adults. These findings suggest that governments should focus on the psychological health problems of older adults by raising community awareness of issues related to older adults' psychological health. They should also screen for anxiety and depression among high-risk groups and encourage individuals to seek supportive counseling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aggression is common among individuals with methamphetamine use disorder (MAUD) and constitutes a serious public health issue. The current study aimed to examine associations of methamphetamine-use characteristics and childhood trauma with aggression in men with MAUD. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2017 to August 2018. MAUD patients recruited from a compulsory drug rehabilitation center (n = 360) and healthy comparison subjects (n = 604) completed a survey that measured aggression and childhood trauma, using the Chinese version of Buss-Perry Aggressive Questionnaire (AQ-CV), and the short form of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), respectively. MAUD patients also provided information on methamphetamine-use characteristics such as the age of MAUD onset, MAUD severity, and co-occurring alcohol use disorder (AUD) and tobacco use disorder (TUD) using standard or self-designed questionnaires. Chi-square tests and t -tests were used to compare childhood trauma and aggression between the MAUD and comparison groups. Multiple linear regressions were conducted to determine correlates of overall aggression and its five sub-scales among the MAUD group. Results: The MAUD group had higher childhood trauma and aggression scores than the comparison group. Within the MAUD group, age of MAUD onset, having severe MAUD, co-occurring AUD, co-occurring TUD, and childhood trauma were associated with overall aggression, with slightly different correlates found for its five sub-scales. Conclusions: Our study shows a high level of childhood trauma and aggression in the MAUD group. Both methamphetamine-use characteristics (age of MAUD onset, severe MAUD, co-occurring AUD/TUD) and childhood trauma were associated with aggression in MAUD. Our findings provide useful information on potential risk factors for aggression and inform future longitudinal research to establish causal relationships between these factors and aggression to guide further prevention and treatment programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a serious issue worldwide and frequently co-occurs with depression. However, the quality of life (QOL) of AUD patients with and without depression is not well studied in the Chinese Han population. The aim of this study was to investigate QOL and its correlates in AUD patients with and without depression in China. Methods: Five hundred and fifteen psychiatric patients diagnosed with AUD were recruited. All these patients completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to assess depression, the Medical Outcome Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) to evaluate QOL and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to measure the severity of drinking. Results: Compared with AUD patients without depression, those with depression had a lower QOL in all eight domains of the SF-36 (all P < 0.001), but were more willing to have alcohol-related treatment (P < 0.05). Negative correlations were noted between (i) the BDI total score and all eight domains of the SF-36 (all P < 0.001); and (ii) between the AUDIT total score and six domains of the SF-36 (all P < 0.05). Conclusions: Depression impairs QOL in patients with AUD in China. Early intervention in comorbid depression to improve QOL is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Internet gaming is extremely popular in China. However, some players overuse it, with negative outcomes. Knowing the prevalence rate and specific risk factors can provide a better understanding of the etiology of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of IGD among Chinese adolescents and its association with their personality traits and Internet gaming characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was utilized in this study. Participants were recruited from 34 provincial administrative districts in China and consisted of 6,379 adolescent game players aged 15–25 (males/females = 3,701/2,678, mean age: 19.35 ± 1.61). A self-report structured questionnaire containing questions regarding demographic information and Internet gaming use characteristics, the Video Gaming Dependency Scale, and the Chinese Big Five Inventory-brief version, was used in the study. Results: The prevalence of IGD among Chinese adolescent game players was 17.0%. All participants were divided into the IGD group (males/females = 751/333, mean age: 19.74 ± 1.85) or the non-IGD group (males/females = 2,950/2,345, mean age: 19.27 ± 1.54). Specifically, twelve factors were significantly associated with IGD (p < 0.001), including neuroticism (β = 0.17), conscientiousness (β = −0.14), Internet gaming time per day (Hour) (β = 0.21), Internet gaming charge per month (Yuan) (β = 0.21), motive: escaping (β = 0.15), motive: sensation seeking (β = 0.13), motive: maintaining (β = 0.08), motive: coping (β = 0.06), having one or two long-term game partners (β = 0.06), male (β = 0.12), undergraduate and above (β = 0.04), and relationship status of couple (β = 0.04). Conclusion: Our findings offer evidence with respect to the prevalence of IGD and its relationships with specific personality traits and Internet gaming characteristics in China. It is necessary for Chinese parents, teachers, and social workers to pay more attention to adolescents' personality traits of high neuroticism and low conscientiousness, long time and high expense they spend on game, as well as their motives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the growing research interest in gaming disorder, risk screening tools developed specifically for the Chinese population are still lacking. This study aimed to construct a screening tool to evaluate the risk of gaming disorder (GD) development, by assessing the severity of GD symptoms among Chinese gamers, based on clinical expert interviews, structured interviews with GD patients, a background literature review, and IGD/GD criteria proposed by the DSM-5 and ICD-11. It introduced the Gaming Hazard Assessment Scale-a multidimensional GD risk screening tool-and evaluated the dimension structure, reliability, and validity of the scale among 959 Chinese gamers. A three-level structure, consisting of 18 items scored from 0 to 54, ultimately indicated satisfactory reliability, good validity, and acceptable model fit. The scale will help large-scale initial screening and early identification of patients with a high risk of GD. Further evaluation of the Gaming Hazard Assessment Scale in clinical settings is highly recommended., 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 © 2022 Tang, Liao, Huang, Hao, Huang, Chen, Lin, Li, Qi and Shen.)

Background: Suicidal ideation is the first step and a strong predictor of suicide. College students are at a considerably high risk of suicidal ideation, and smartphones are commonly used in this group. However, the relationship between suicidal ideation and smartphone use among Chinese college students is unclear. The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of suicidal ideation among Chinese college students and its association with smartphone use and addiction factors., Methods: A total of 439 college students participated the survey. We collected the demographic information, physical health, psychosocial factors (depressive symptoms, social support, sleep quality), characteristics of smartphone use, and mobile phone addiction (MPA). Suicidal ideation was measured with a single question, "did you feel that life was not worth living in the past 1 year?", Results: The prevalence of suicidal ideation ("Yes" response) in the past year among Chinese college students was 7.5%. In binary logistic regression analysis, suicidal ideation was significantly correlated with less subjective social support (OR: 2.49, p = 0.049), lower utilization of social support (OR: 13.28, p = 0.012), more depressive symptoms (OR:4.96, p = 0.005), and more than 5 h of daily smartphone use (OR: 2.60, p = 0.025)., Conclusion: Considering the widely use of smartphones in Chinese colleges and the correlation with suicidal ideation, excessive phone use among college students should be given more attention by administrators and health workers. It is necessary to obtain more information about the intention of smartphone use, make full use of smartphones for health education, and monitor excessive use of smartphones, while improving social support and coping mechanisms for depression, to identify suicidal ideation and prevent suicidal behavior among Chinese college students., 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 © 2022 Huang, Lin, Li, Huang, Liao, Chen, Shao, Li, Cai, Qi and Shen.)

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has adversely influenced human physical and mental health, including emotional disorders and addictions. This study examined substance and Internet use behavior and their associations with anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online self-report questionnaire was administered to 2196 Chinese adults between February 17 and 29, 2020. The questionnaire contained the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), questions on demographic information, and items about substance and Internet use characteristics. Our results revealed that males consumed less alcohol (p < 0.001) and areca-nut (p = 0.012) during the pandemic than before the pandemic. Age, gender, education status, and occupation significantly differed among increased substance users, regular substance users, and nonsubstance users. Time spent on the Internet was significantly longer during the pandemic (p < 0.001) and 72% of participants reported increased dependence on the Internet. Compared to regular Internet users, increased users were more likely to be younger and female. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that age <33 years (OR = 2.034, p < 0.001), increased substance use (OR = 3.439, p < 0.001), and increased Internet use (OR = 1.914, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with depression. Moreover, anxiety was significantly related to female gender (OR = 2.065, p < 0.001), "unmarried" status (OR = 1.480, p = 0.017), nonstudents (OR = 1.946-3.030, p = 0.001), and increased substance use (OR = 4.291, p < 0.001). Although there was a significant decrease in social substance use during the pandemic, more attention should be paid to increased Internet use. Increased Internet use was significantly associated with both anxiety and depression, and increased substance use was related to depression. Professional support should be provided to vulnerable individuals to prevent addiction., (© 2021. The Author(s).)