Search Results (1,345)

With the deep integration of AI and IoT technologies, smartwatches have become core terminals for health management. However, research on the use mechanisms among “digital native” college students remains limited. Extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) and selected constructs from the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA), this study uncovers the drivers and barriers of youths’ smartwatch health function adoption to propose targeted design strategies. A mixed-methods approach was employed, collecting semi-structured questionnaire data from 226 Chinese college students. Quantitative analysis was conducted (n = 106) using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), complemented by qualitative text mining of open-ended feedback from non-users and churned users. The model demonstrated robust predictive power, supporting five hypotheses. Habit and action planning emerged as core antecedents of use intention, which significantly promoted actual use behavior. Effort expectancy acted as a baseline hygiene factor positively influencing performance expectancy. Qualitative findings confirmed that insufficient sensor accuracy and “health data anxiety” are critical psychological barriers. Validating the integrated model’s effectiveness, we propose three strategic interventions: enhancing data precision to build trust, implementing tiered pricing, and designing anxiety-alleviating visual interfaces, offering theoretical and empirical foundations for optimizing smart health products. Full article

Using a sample of Chinese junior high school students (N = 1133), this study examined the latent heterogeneity and structural characteristics of mobile phone addiction risk. Latent profile analysis was conducted to identify subgroups with varying levels of risk. Network analysis was then used to model the relationships among smartphone addiction, materialism, and childhood neglect and compare structural differences across subgroups. Finally, five machine learning models were applied to model smartphone addiction scores and compare model performance across different combinations of variables. Results revealed three distinct risk groups of smartphone addiction. Network analysis indicated that loneliness-related nodes exhibited the highest expected influence in the overall network. Across latent profiles, childhood neglect-related nodes consistently occupied central positions, whereas materialism-related nodes showed relatively stable centrality. Network comparison tests further demonstrated significant structural differences across risk groups. In addition, incorporating latent profile information and centrality indices improved model performance, suggesting that these features capture individual differences in smartphone addiction. These findings provide structural evidence for the heterogeneity of mobile phone addiction risk and offer implications for subgroup-specific intervention strategies. Full article

This study investigates Chinese students’ perspectives on leveraging Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to enhance reading and writing abilities in preparation for the language learning and examination. 76 students enrolled in an online virtual learning environment (VLE) and participated in forum discussions prompted by questions relating to AI use and different study practices. Analysis identified 33 detailed forum posts written by and between students that specifically engaged in discussions concerning the use of AI to support English as an Additional Language (EAL) fluency, academic reading/writing skills, and IELTS-related skills development. This article presents an analysis of these contributions using thematic analysis. An inductive approach enabled the identification of key themes relating to students’ perceptions. Findings indicated that students appreciated AI’s capacity for personalised language learning, reading and writing practice while expressing reservations about overreliance on digital tools. The concept of Artificially Intelligent Mediated Counterbalance (AIMC) is proposed to capture students’ reported strategies for integrating AI tools with traditional study methods to maintain authentic language development. The article concludes by discussing the implications of AIMC for educators and policymakers seeking to support the responsible integration of AI into language education. Full article

With the rapid economic development and social transformation in China, involution has drawn increasing attention across various disciplines. To test the generalizability of previous findings, the present research examined the relationship between upward social comparison and involution, the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation and the moderating role of self-construal in this link. Two studies were conducted. In study 1, 1549 Chinese college students completed four scales comprising Involution, Upward Social Comparison, and Fear of Negative Evaluation. Results indicated that upward social comparison was positively correlated with involution and fear of negative evaluation significantly mediated this relationship. In study 2, 392 college students participated in a priming experiment of self-construal and completed a battery of scales same as Study 1. A significant moderation of self-construal was observed between upward social comparison and fear of negative evaluation. Specifically, for individuals with the independent self-construal, upward social comparison had a weaker impact on fear of negative evaluation. For individuals with the interdependent self-construal, upward social comparison had a stronger impact on fear of negative evaluation. These findings highlight the complex interplay among upward social comparison, fear of negative evaluation, and self-construal in shaping involution among Chinese college students. Full article

Sustainable pedagogical reform requires more than teacher preparedness; it depends on how school leaders interpret and coordinate the conditions that enable change. This focus is particularly critical in contexts where Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is introduced within predominantly traditional, exam-oriented pedagogical environments, requiring careful consideration of leadership’s perception of system-level readiness to support such shifts. This study investigates how Chinese K–12 school leaders conceptualize readiness for institution-wide implementation of PBL. Using Q methodology with 42 school leaders, four distinct leadership logics were identified: leadership-mediated cultural readiness through recognition, belief-driven pedagogical practice, externally anchored system-level readiness, and experientially grounded cultural readiness. These viewpoints reveal different ways leaders prioritize cultural alignment, belief formation, structural coordination, and experiential learning when organizing reform conditions. Despite these differences, participants showed several areas of shared positioning, particularly around coordination, expertise-based responsibility distribution, evaluation alignment, and adaptive responses to reform conditions. The findings extend change readiness research beyond teacher-focused perspectives by demonstrating how leaders interpret readiness as a multidimensional and system-level phenomenon. By illuminating distinct leadership logics for coordinating reform within centralized governance contexts, this study highlights the importance of aligning beliefs, professional relationships, institutional structures, and student learning improvement goals to support sustainable pedagogical transformation. Full article

Background: Accurate estimation of water and energy requirements is fundamental for establishing dietary reference values in young adults. However, evidence integrating objectively measured energy expenditure with detailed water turnover components remains limited in Chinese populations. Objectives: To quantify water intake, water loss, and energy expenditure in healthy young college students, and to examine how energy metabolism is associated with specific components of water turnover under free-living conditions. Methods: Twenty-one healthy adults aged 18–25 years participated in a 14-day observational study conducted in Beijing, China. Total energy expenditure (TEE) was measured over 14 days using the doubly labeled water (DLW) method. Physical activity was monitored over 7 consecutive days using a triaxial accelerometer. Water intake was assessed using multiple methods: water from beverages (including plain drinking water and other beverages) was recorded over 7 days using 24 h fluid intake records, while water from food was measured during days 5–7 using weighed food records combined with duplicate portion and direct drying methods. Urinary and fecal water loss were quantified using 24 h collections conducted during days 5–7. Metabolic water production and insensible water losses were estimated using established physiological equations. Multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between energy-related variables and components of water turnover. Results: Mean total daily water intake was 3023 mL, with water from beverages accounting for 54.1%, water from food for 36.7%, and metabolic water for 9.1%. Mean total daily water loss was 1931 mL, predominantly from urinary excretion (81.0%). DLW-measured TEE averaged 2018.6 kcal/day and was higher in males than in females. Most regression models examining total water intake and beverage-derived water were not statistically significant, and no consistent associations were observed between these variables and total energy intake, TEE, or PAEE. In contrast, TEE was positively associated with metabolic water production and respiratory water loss (both p < 0.001). Significant associations with total energy intake were observed for water from food and fecal water loss (both p < 0.01), whereas other water intake components showed no significant associations. Conclusions: In young adults, energy metabolism appears to be more closely associated with physiologically regulated components of water turnover than with voluntary water intake. These findings suggest a divergence between endogenous and behaviorally regulated pathways of water turnover and highlight the importance of considering component-specific water dynamics when examining hydration and energy balance, although confirmation in larger studies is warranted. Full article

As AI-powered learning tools become more common in educational settings, understanding their acceptance mechanisms is increasingly important. This study examines how the design attributes of AI museum guides—anthropomorphism, interactivity, and personalization—are associated with the acceptance intention and perceived learning outcomes among Chinese high school students with prior museum experience. Using structural equation modeling with 324 participants, we test whether these features relate to acceptance through two affective pathways: perceived warmth and anxiety reduction. The results reveal distinct patterns: anthropomorphism shows an indirect-only association with anxiety reduction through perceived warmth; interactivity is associated with anxiety reduction through responsive feedback; and personalization serves dual functions, enhancing both pathways. Anxiety reduction shows strong positive associations with both acceptance intention and perceived learning outcomes. The multi-group analysis shows that most pathways function equivalently across genders, with one exception where anxiety reduction more strongly predicts learning outcomes for females than males. These findings reveal distinct psychological functions within the Chinese educational context: anthropomorphism influences anxiety reduction exclusively through perceived warmth, while personalization and interactivity provide both affective and cognitive support. The implications for AI museum guide design in similar contexts are discussed. The generalizability to other cultural contexts and populations, such as Western students or adult learners, requires further investigation. Full article

Honesty is essential for both individual development and the functioning of society. Although prior research has identified various factors that shape honest behavior, relatively little is known about whether adolescents’ honesty can be influenced by subtle morality-related cues, particularly among adolescents. The present study investigated whether exposure to verbal and visual morality-related cues would increase honest behavior in middle school students. Two behavioral experiments were conducted, each with 120 middle school students (aged 13–18) as participants. In Experiment 1, participants completed a Chinese idiom -unscrambling task with either the ethics-related or neutral characters. In Experiment 2, participants completed a visual cuing task involving either moral exemplar images or neutral images. In both experiments, honest behaviors were assessed via self-reported outcomes in a computerized coin-tossing task. Across both experiments, participants primed with morality-related words (Experiment 1) or moral exemplars (Experiment 2) demonstrated significantly more honest behavior in the coin toss task than those in the control group. These findings suggest that subtle verbal and visual morality-related cues can increase honest behavior in adolescents. The present study provides behavioral evidence that morality-related cues may shape honesty-related responding in adolescence and offers practical implications for promoting moral development through subtle contextual influences. Full article

Background: Since China incorporated the hepatitis B vaccine into its Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in 2002, the first cohort of infants to receive the full vaccination series has now reached college age. As vaccine-induced antibodies gradually wane, this cohort faces a higher risk of infection. Therefore, we assessed their current seroprotection status and evaluated the immunogenicity and short-term antibody kinetics of a single 60 μg booster dose in susceptible individuals, while also constructing a model of expected duration of protection. Methods: In a multicenter study across three Anhui universities, 2988 students were screened for HBV markers. Among them, 160 who tested negative for all five markers received a single 60 μg booster. Antibody titers were monitored for 1–5 months. Results: Serological screening showed 0.33% HBsAg positivity, 36.28% anti-HBs positivity, and 63.02% negativity for all markers, indicating high susceptibility. After the booster, seroprotection rate (SPR) remained >85% throughout follow-up, and anti-HBs geometric mean concentration (GMC) peaked at 1–2 months. Stratified analysis based on immune response status revealed that the proportion of high responders (≥100 mIU/mL) peaked early and then gradually declined, whereas the proportion of low responders (10–99.99 mIU/mL) increased over the follow-up period. A linear mixed-effects model predicted that protective levels (anti-HBs ≥10 mIU/mL) would persist for an average of 32.8 months. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of university students lack protective immunity against hepatitis B. A single 60 μg booster rapidly and effectively induced protection, demonstrating strong immunogenicity. These findings support implementing efficient booster strategies in university settings. Full article

Background: Chrononutrition is essential for metabolic health, but relevant evidence in Chinese sports-majoring college students is still insufficient. This study aimed to identify chrononutrition patterns and their associations with body composition and resting metabolic rate (RMR) in college students from a sports university. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 174 college students from Beijing Sport University (131 sports-majoring and 43 non-sports-majoring). Chrononutrition was measured by the validated Chinese version of the Chrononutrition Profile Questionnaire (CP-Q), body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and RMR by indirect calorimetry. Sample sizes varied across analyses according to data availability, and 133 participants provided valid data for both body composition and resting metabolic rate (RMR) assessments. Results: Frequent night eating was positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.27, p = 0.001), and regular breakfast consumption was related to higher muscle mass percentage (β = 0.23, p < 0.01, sr² = 0.05). Compared with non-sports-majoring students, sports-majoring students had longer weekday eating windows (11.2 ± 2.8 h vs. 8.5 ± 2.5 h, p < 0.001) and a higher dinner energy proportion (37.2 ± 6.9% vs. 30.5 ± 6.5%, p < 0.001). Males had later meal times and longer eating windows than females (breakfast: 7:58 vs. 7:46; dinner: 18:55 vs. 18:41; eating window: 11.5 h vs. 10.9 h; all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Chrononutrition was more closely associated with body composition than with absolute RMR in this predominantly sports-majoring sample of Chinese college students. Regular breakfast and reduced night eating are potential intervention targets for future chrononutrition guidance. However, the findings should be generalized to the broader college student population with caution. Full article

Introduction: Negative legal emotion refers to the affective component of negative orientations toward legal norms, institutions, and procedures. It is closely related to, but not synonymous with, the broader construct of legal cynicism, which more often emphasizes generalized skepticism toward the fairness, legitimacy, and effectiveness of the law. This study examined the association between negative legal emotion and prosocial behavior among university students, with peer attachment as a mediator and social exclusion as a moderator. Method: A total of 404 undergraduates from mainland Chinese universities were included in the final analysis after predefined data screening, including attention-check items and response-time cutoffs. Participants completed an online survey assessing negative legal emotion, prosocial behavior, peer attachment, and social exclusion. Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and Hayes’s PROCESS macro (Model 7) were used to test the moderated mediation model, controlling for gender, grade, and parental educational attainment. Results: Negative legal emotion was negatively associated with prosocial behavior. Peer attachment statistically accounted for this association, such that higher negative legal emotion was associated with lower peer attachment, which was in turn associated with lower prosocial behavior. Social exclusion moderated the first stage of the indirect pathway: the negative association between negative legal emotion and peer attachment was weaker at higher levels of social exclusion. Accordingly, the indirect association between negative legal emotion and prosocial behavior via peer attachment also varied across levels of social exclusion. Conclusions: The findings suggest that peer attachment is an important relational correlate linking negative legal emotion with prosocial behavior and that social exclusion is associated with variation in the strength of this indirect pathway. These results extend research on legal socialization and contribute to understanding prosocial behavior among university students. Full article

The authors of this study aimed to develop and validate the College Students’ Coping with Public Health Crisis Scale (CSPHCS) among Chinese students, designed to assess coping strategies used during public health crises. This study had a rigorous, three-phase process comprising item development, scale development, and scale evaluation. Within these phases, a total of nine systematic steps were implemented. A total of 548 questionnaires were distributed, with 525 valid responses retained. A random subsample of 300 participants was used for exploratory factor analysis, and the remaining 225 were reserved for confirmatory factor analysis. The exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure after removing items with high cross-loadings. These factors were identified as (1) Information and Mental Health Support Coping, (2) Communication and Preventive Action Coping, and (3) Self-Regulatory and Expressive Coping, accounting for 50.14% of the total variance. The confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor model with acceptable fit indices (CFI = 0.887; TLI = 0.892; RMSEA = 0.077). The scale showed good reliability (α = 0.763, ω = 0.745). To sum up, the CSPHCS is shown to be a psychometrically sound instrument with implications for research and practice in understanding how college students cope with public health crises. Full article

Vocational high school students represent a substantial yet understudied population in school-based mental health research. Drawing on positive psychology and bioecological theory, this study examined whether personal growth initiative (PGI) shows a statistical indirect effect with respect to the relationships between multidimensional school climate and mental health outcomes among Chinese vocational students. Participants were 14,006 students from 112 vocational high schools. Two-level path models simultaneously entered different climate dimensions to estimate their unique associations with PGI, depressive symptoms, and Subjective well-being (SWB) at the within- and between-school levels, controlling for gender and socioeconomic status. Within schools, Safety, Interpersonal Relationships, Rules and Norms/Career Development Support, and Teaching and Learning/Diversity were positively associated with PGI, which in turn was associated with lower depressive symptoms and higher SWB. Wald tests indicated that Safety showed the strongest overall association with depressive symptoms, whereas Interpersonal Relationships showed the strongest overall association with SWB. At the between-school level, school-average climate and school-average PGI were associated with both outcomes, although these findings should be interpreted cautiously given the limited between-school power and substantial overlap among aggregated climate indicators. Overall, the findings are consistent with PGI being an important student-level pathway linking school climate to mental health in vocational education. Full article

Residential college (RC) activities represent a creative form of engagement beyond formal classroom teaching, integrating experiential, social, and community-based learning. China is promoting holistic education through the RC activities. Student motivation directly influences their engagement in practice-based learning. Yet, the motivation profile of Chinese students’ participation in RC activities remains largely unexplored. To address this gap, the exploratory cross-sectional study involved 403 undergraduates from an RC-based university in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. Based on a standardized questionnaire, we explored descriptive patterns of three forms of motivation, namely intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation, as well as four influencing factors: activity logistics, experiential value, outcome expectations, and social context. We then conducted hierarchical linear regression analyses with the three motivation types as outcomes. The primary results indicated that intrinsic motivation was the dominant motivation type among RC students. Experiential value emerged as a key influencing factor, positively associated with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and negatively associated with amotivation. Additionally, activity hosting experience was identified as another important correlate, positively linked to both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Motivational patterns further varied across gender, academic year, ID place, weekly RC stay duration, and part-time employment. The findings provide empirical support for more targeted RC activity planning aimed at boosting student motivation in the Chinese context. Full article

The Automated Essay Scoring (AES) systems confront two fundamental challenges: opaque “black-box” decision-making that limits educator trust, and insufficient validation across linguistically diverse educational contexts. This study proposes IRT-AESF, an innovative framework that bridges educational measurement theory and artificial intelligence by integrating item response theory (IRT) with deep learning. The framework generates three theoretically grounded psychometric parameters: student ability, item difficulty, and item discrimination, which provide transparent and interpretable explanations for scoring decisions. We rigorously evaluated IRT-AESF through 5-fold cross-validation on three large-scale datasets comprising 41,328 authentic essays from English and Chinese educational settings, including both classroom assessments and high-stakes examinations. Results demonstrate statistically significant improvements over competitive baseline models, achieving an 8.4% relative increase in quadratic weighted kappa while maintaining robust cross-lingual performance. This research advances the development of transparent, trustworthy automated assessment systems that deliver not only scores but meaningful diagnostic insights for educational practice. Full article