Search Results (981)

Brief campus-based interventions for university students with elevated internet gaming disorder (IGD) symptoms have received little study. This randomized trial evaluated a five-session group program focused on gaming motives, self-regulation, and alternative sources of competence and self-worth. Sixty-three adult students at a Chinese vocational college who scored at least 20 on an adapted Gaming Disorder Scale for Adolescents were randomized to the program (n = 31) or an information-only control condition (n = 32). Assessments were scheduled at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and one month later. Because post-randomization outcome data were unavailable for 19 participants, the comparative analyses were restricted to 44 completers. The originally planned baseline-adjusted ANCOVA showed a lower adjusted T1 IGD score in the intervention group than in the control group (adjusted difference = −4.62, 95% CI −7.33 to −1.91, p = 0.0013). In a post hoc linear mixed-effects model, the between-group difference in change from baseline to post-intervention was −5.16 points (95% CI −7.81 to −2.51; Hedges g = −1.03). At one month, the difference was smaller and not statistically significant (−1.67 points, 95% CI −4.31 to 0.98). None of the secondary outcomes showed a significant interaction. Overall attrition was 30.2%. These preliminary findings concern selected completers rather than an intention-to-treat effect, and the between-group difference was not evident at one month. Retrospective registration, unavailable outcomes for non-completers, and post hoc analyses limit the strength of the inference. The trial was retrospectively registered in UMIN-CTR (UMIN000055209) on 9 August 2024. Full article

Public generative artificial intelligence (GenAI)–student datasets invite contested links between AI intensity, usage style, and grades, yet many analyses treat predictive accuracy or significant coefficients as sufficient evidence while skipping prior achievement, co-outcome leakage checks, and absolute effect-size thresholds. This paper presents a construct-audit protocol that treats associational claim survival as a reproducible labeling task: a feature-role taxonomy, forbidden-feature gates, nested out-of-fold change-in-$R^2$ materiality thresholds, and operational labels (stable, vanished, artifact-born—the last defined but not positively observed here), with predictive models used as instruments rather than as the scientific product. On the public ai_student_impact_dataset, treated as a construct-audit sandbox (possibly synthetic or engineered; no campus-population or causal claims), a five-seed Ridge-primary run is used to validate those rules rather than to estimate GenAI effects: all eight primary intensity and style claims are non-material under locked absolute gates (AI joint change-in-$R^2\approx 0.0064$ versus prior grade-point-average lift $\approx 0.859$), while a kitchen-sink OLS significance foil stars $12/19$ coefficients that the inventory does not promote. A report-only Random Forest check shows that style and joint-block clearance can depend on the modeling instrument; inventory labels remain Ridge-primary under the locked metric. The protocol can therefore withhold GenAI–GPA claims when absolute gates fail, and a six-step laptop workflow is specified so educational researchers can apply the same checks without reproducing the full validation schedule. Full article

Emotional eating (EE) is associated with poor dietary quality and weight gain among university students. Therefore, exploring innovative, non-invasive interventions to support healthier food-related responses is essential. While multisensory environments show promise in influencing food-related responses, their effectiveness in managing stress-induced EE remains understudied. Grounded in the Environment–Organism–Health (EOH) model, this study used an immersive virtual reality (VR) platform and recruited 49 Chinese university students. After emotional induction tasks, participants were randomly assigned to VR campus environments with varying wall colors and environmental sounds. The study combined physiological indicators and subjective questionnaires to evaluate the effects of color–sound combinations on emotional responses, physiological recovery, food preferences, and food cravings. Food preference was assessed via an image-selection task, and food healthiness was rated by an expert panel (n = 7). A mixed-design analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a significant interaction between wall color and sound. Natural sounds were associated with reduced negative emotions and higher healthy food preference scores under several color conditions, while both color and sound influenced food craving. Independent t-tests revealed significant differences according to gender and emotional eating tendency on multiple outcomes. This study suggests that multisensory environments may offer a novel approach to influencing stress-related emotional responses, food preferences, and food cravings. Full article

Historic university campuses increasingly face simultaneous demands for functional renewal and heritage conservation amid rapid urbanization. However, the relationship between campus landscape perceptions and students’ built heritage conservation intention, together with the psychological pathways underlying this relationship, remains insufficiently understood. This cross-sectional study examines the association between Campus Landscape and Built Heritage Conservation Intention, focusing on the mediating roles of Place Identity and Place Dependence. Using a multidimensional place-attachment framework, the proposed model was tested with structural equation modeling (SEM) based on 569 student questionnaires collected at the Jungong Road Campus of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (formerly Hujiang University), which contains the Hujiang University modern architectural complex, designated as a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level in China. Campus Landscape was positively associated with Built Heritage Conservation Intention. Place Identity showed a significant positive indirect association, whereas the indirect association through Place Dependence was not statistically significant. In subgroup analyses, the estimated indirect association through Place Dependence was positive among undergraduates and negative among postgraduates, but it was not statistically significant in either subgroup and should therefore be interpreted as exploratory. These findings highlight the significant indirect association through Place Identity and offer illustrative implications for campus landscape planning that is attentive to place identity and for the conservation of historic campuses in active use. Full article

Transnational higher education (TNE) partnerships between Chinese and UK universities continue to expand. However, the structural conditions that shape teaching quality and the governance arrangements through which they are managed remain under-theorised from a faculty-centred perspective. Drawing on a survey-based mixed-methods cross-sectional study of 56 teaching staff (80% response rate) at a Sino-British dual-degree engineering programme in western China, this study provides single-case evidence that teaching workload was the strongest observed negative correlate of perceived institutional support/satisfaction. Total weekly teaching load was moderately and negatively associated with the overall support/satisfaction composite (Spearman’s ρ = −0.49, p < 0.001). Non-parametric paired comparisons showed that teaching facilities were the only support dimension that differed significantly between the two institutional contexts, with a moderate effect; the remaining dimensions showed no significant differences. Internal consistency was acceptable to good. Qualitative thematic analysis identified three faculty adaptation strategies: simplifying and contextualising course materials, using bilingual instructional resources, and scaffolding peer-based discussion. Exploratory teaching-method comparisons involving 13 paired tests, interpreted descriptively, indicated higher reported use of reflection exercises and project-based learning at the joint school campus. An exploratory, perception-based engagement paradox also emerged: faculty reported a higher proportion of students showing >75% active participation at the joint school campus (85.7%) than at the parent institution (70.4% of valid responses), despite rating joint-school infrastructure lower. This finding requires student-level validation. The study contributes an empirically grounded, faculty-centred account of workload governance in transnational partnerships, using the Sino-British case as an illustrative test site. Full article

This qualitative study explored the conditions that shape effective volunteer activity organisation by emerging adult university students (aged 18–25) in a religiously and ethnically diverse Thai setting. The study was conducted at Prince of Songkla University (PSU), Hat Yai Campus, where Buddhist and Muslim students form the two largest religious communities. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 30 purposively selected student volunteer leaders and analysed using a hybrid deductive-inductive content analysis approach. Four conditions emerged as foundational: (1) motivational readiness to engage across cultural boundaries; (2) substantive knowledge of cross-cultural communication, both verbal and non-verbal; (3) the capacity to examine and adjust one’s own cultural assumptions; and (4) active, structurally expressed respect for religious and cultural diversity. The findings reveal that family-transmitted stereotypes, knowledge gaps regarding Islamic practice, and the absence of institutional accommodation jointly constrain inclusive participation. Drawing on Cultural Intelligence (CQ) theory and Putnam’s social capital framework, the study advances two arguments: first, that intercultural competence among emerging adult volunteers cannot be reduced to individual skill and disposition; and second, that institutional programme design—schedules, catering arrangements, and physical infrastructure—constitutes an independent determinant of inclusion that CQ frameworks have not yet adequately theorised. The four-condition model offers a structured, trainable framework for volunteer leadership development and extends the literature on civic formation and intercultural learning during the formative years of emerging adulthood. Full article

With the continued advancement of low-carbon campus transformation and the increasing penetration of renewable energy, campus integrated energy systems have become key infrastructure for green campus development. However, the highly random nature of student behavior causes dynamic fluctuations in electricity, heating, and cooling loads, creating major challenges for real-time supply-demand balance and economic system scheduling. To address this problem, this paper takes student behavior uncertainty as the core disturbance factor and proposes a flexible architecture-driven autonomous adaptation and multi-energy complementary optimization strategy. A closed-loop operation paradigm of signal–response–complementarity–regulation is established, in which dynamic electricity price signals, comfort-oriented guidance, and campus functional energy-zone division are combined to form a multi-level autonomous response chain. To improve solution efficiency, the electromagnetic wave propagation algorithm is further enhanced, and a Multi-Objective Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Algorithm (MEMWPA) is developed. Wave-impedance matching and energy-flux-density feedback mechanisms are introduced to strengthen convergence performance in complex multi-objective optimization problems. Comparative case studies show that the proposed strategy can effectively smooth the net load curve, reduce the campus peak load by 26.73%, and increase the load factor by 14.533 percentage points, thereby improving both operational flexibility and energy efficiency. Full article

Background: Medical students are vulnerable to sleep disturbance and nocturnal eating behaviors that may jointly increase psychiatric and metabolic morbidity. Comprehensive sleep-eating evaluations in Turkish medical students remain limited. To determine the prevalence of poor sleep quality and night eating syndrome (NES) risk and to examine their cross-sectional associations with insomnia, anxiety, emotional eating, restless legs symptoms, chronotype, and lifestyle factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted from March to December 2023, included 265 medical students who completed validated instruments assessing sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]), night eating syndrome (NES) risk (a score of ≥25 indicating high risk), insomnia severity, daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS]), anxiety, emotional eating, Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) symptoms, and chronotype. Group comparisons, Spearman’s correlation analyses, and multiple linear regression were conducted. Results: Poor sleep quality (PSQI > 5) affected 50.2% of participants, and high NES risk affected 14.7%. PSQI correlated with NEQ (r = 0.301; p < 0.001), insomnia severity (r = 0.538), anxiety, and emotional eating. Mean NEQ was higher in the poor-sleep group (18.67 ± 8.00 vs. 15.38 ± 6.36; p < 0.001; Cohen’s d = 0.455). Females had higher PSQI and ESS scores, anxiety, and emotional eating scores; high NES risk was numerically more frequent in males (18.6% vs. 11.8%; p = 0.175). RLS symptoms (score > 0) were present in 34.7% (mild 22.6%; moderate 7.9%; severe 4.2%). In the primary multivariable model (PSQI and sex), PSQI was the strongest independent correlate of NEQ (standardized β = 0.325; p < 0.001); sensitivity analyses showed stable PSQI estimates after additional covariate adjustment, whereas sex coefficients were non-significant and unstable across models. A secondary model excluding PSQI identified alcohol use as a significant lifestyle correlate (standardized β = 0.167; p = 0.014). R² = 0.148 for the full covariate model and R² = 0.108 for the primary model. Conclusions: Sleep disturbance and NES risk are prevalent and cross-sectionally associated in Turkish medical students. Poor sleep quality was the strongest independent correlate of night eating scores. Integrated campus screening targeting sleep, eating behavior, anxiety, and comorbid sleep symptoms may facilitate prevention and referral. Full article

Background and Objectives: Sleep is a potentially modifiable correlate of student mental health, but associations may be inflated by content overlap between sleep and mental health measures. We examined four self-reported sleep characteristics in relation to depressive symptoms and well-being, with sensitivity analyses reducing item overlap. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, questionnaire data were collected from 389 Kuwait University students recruited by convenience from students who were concurrently participating in a campus-based physical-assessment study. Depressive symptoms used a nine-item PHQ-9-based measure (items 3, 9 modified); well-being used five WHO-5 items with modified frequency anchors. Associations used multivariable linear regression with sequential covariate adjustment. Results: For PHQ-9-based scores, independent associations were found for better sleep quality (B = −1.22, 95% CI −1.84 to −0.60; β = −0.20), more frequent disturbance (1.11, 0.49 to 1.73; β = 0.18), longer sleep duration (−0.48, −0.74 to −0.21; β = −0.17), and longer latency (0.54, 0.08 to 0.99; β = 0.11). Quality (4.01, 1.72 to 6.30; β = 0.19) and duration (1.35, 0.37 to 2.33; β = 0.14) were associated with well-being. No statistically significant sleep-by-sex interactions were detected; latency was not robust to item-3 removal. Conclusions: These findings support considering sleep health within university mental health initiatives; longitudinal studies are needed to establish directionality and intervention effects. Full article

American universities have always reached beyond knowledge development. They are constituted through and often defenders of rights central to free and fair democracy. This article makes a novel case for reinvigorated commitments to democratic civic education, including a normative commitment to the dignity of all persons that is institutionalized through equality before the law. The analysis cuts through contemporary pieties of the left and right. The focus is US higher education, including relationships with governments, law, policy, and civil society, proceeding in six significant sections. After defining key terms and the plan of this paper, I clarify the relatively recent innovation of rights and their absence around the world. Rights are foundational for free and fair democracy. I then review critical moments among state, civil society, the rule of law, and higher education across US history, demonstrating that values commitments are essential to establishing basic freedoms for a functioning democracy. The legal and cultural architecture of the rights tradition also undergirds sacred ideals in higher education, including academic freedom and institutional autonomy. That analysis leads to two highly contested issues—national security and policing—to suggest how contemporary institutional patterns undermine progress on critical university goals: deepened insight and/or principled disagreement. Evidence indicates courses related to policing and its critiques are siloed within curricula, student self-selection and institutional socioeconomic sorting undermine potentially related democratic dialogue, and both connect to position campus discourse out of step with marginalized communities. These issues intersect with a key point of this article: individual rights and the formal, legal embrace of shared dignity require government entities. In the final sections, I focus on institutional-level recommendations for civic education that expands commitments to human dignity and the rule of law within a free and fair democracy. Full article

In higher education, there is growing recognition that mental health support should be responsive to students’ lived experiences, educational contexts, and disciplinary norms. For instance, engineering students report high levels of distress and underutilize professional mental health services when compared to students in other disciplines, reflecting a culture that normalizes excessive workload, self-reliance, and academic rigor. Therefore, this case study examined the impact of a 15-min contextualized, classroom-based mental health presentation tailored to undergraduate engineering students at a large Southeastern U.S. university. Grounded in the Integrated Behavioral Model of Mental Health Help-Seeking, the presentation integrated findings from the literature on engineering culture and its influence on student well-being. Across two years, the presentation was delivered to nearly 4500 engineering students, reaching an average of 82% of enrolled engineering students. The study evaluated this impact by comparing presentation and non-presentation groups among students who completed surveys in Spring 2023 (n = 431) and Spring 2024 (n = 132). The presentation group showed significant improvements in perceived and objective knowledge of mental health and help-seeking resources, whereas help-seeking beliefs, mechanisms, and intention did not significantly change, likely due to the deeply culturally ingrained nature of these constructs. These findings underscore the value of contextualized approaches to mental health promotion and provide support for scalable, classroom-embedded presentations and other interventions within engineering education and higher education more broadly. Full article

Background: Transitional age youth aged 18–25 years are more likely to engage in risky behaviors, displaying significantly higher alcohol and illicit drug use levels than adolescents and older adults. College students are particularly vulnerable at this critical life juncture as transitioning to adulthood may impact emotional health and well-being, contributing to anxiety, depression, and feelings of hopelessness, all of which are linked to increased risk of substance use and disorders. Objective: This study characterizes the design and status of the MAPme Project, a prospective project centered on substance use and emotional wellness during and beyond college. Herein, we describe the 2018–2024 pilot cohort that was followed during the first two years of college, remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, and upon the return to campus. We also describe our latest 2025+ cohort with ongoing data collection. Participants: The 2018–2024 cohort comprised 301 college freshmen who completed online assessments at baseline (Wave 1). The 2025+ cohort has currently enrolled 618 students and counting. Methods: We provide descriptive information on both cohorts, along with preliminary associations of pre- and early collegiate substance use outcomes, psychopathology, sleep patterns, and personality traits. Results: Approximately 64% of first-year students reported use of a substance in the 90 days leading up to college in 2018. Alcohol and cannabis were the most prevalent substances used in both cohorts with males consuming more alcohol than females. Females reported greater levels of daily stressors and mood symptoms. Other health and personality characteristics and observed associations between psychosocial risk and protective factors are described. Prior studies demonstrate the ability to test research hypotheses in the social, health, and clinical areas of psychology with robust statistical power. Conclusions: Substance use and emotional well-being vary considerably upon entry into college/university and at any particular moment in time. The MAPme Project encourages the engagement of students to address challenges associated with lack of awareness, inclusivity, and acceptance of scientific research. Overcoming barriers of inclusivity and empowering the community is key to the successful adoption and implementation of campus health and community-oriented research programs and systematically enhancing research training. Full article

University canteens occupy a structurally significant position within European higher education, functioning simultaneously as food security infrastructures, socioeconomic equalizers, and community-building spaces. Yet, access to these services remains deeply uneven, shaped by financial constraints, logistical barriers, and a frequently underexplored cultural and symbolic dimension that precedes and overrides direct experiential evaluation. Drawing on 56 semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with university students in Milan between April and May 2025, this paper investigates how students organize and experience their midday lunch break and what motivates them to access or exclude themselves from the university canteen service. The findings reveal that the student sample departs substantially from the dominant framing in the contemporary literature of the canteen as an existential food-security resource, instead deploying a range of domestic and commercial food tactics that bypass institutional catering entirely. More significantly, the data demonstrates that canteen avoidance is driven less by objective assessments of food quality or pricing than by a stratification of memories in which childhood memories of institutional dining spaces trigger pre-emptive rejection of the university facility before any direct engagement takes place. Against this backdrop, peer socialization emerges as a particularly salient counterforce for overriding both affective aversion and economic and logistical inconvenience, symbolically transforming the canteen from a regimented site of institutional constraint into a shared territory of collective belonging. Taken together, these findings suggest that improving canteen access requires intervention not only at the level of food quality and pricing, but at the level of spatial culture, service typology, and the culinary imagery that students carry with them to campus. Full article

Background: Despite the WHO’s recognition of Gaming Disorder in the ICD-11, epidemiological data on its prevalence and neuropsychiatric correlates among Saudi Arabian university students remain limited. Such data are critical for calibrating campus mental health resources and developing evidence-based screening protocols. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) in a sample of Saudi university student gamers and evaluate the clinical utility of impulsivity and resilience as case-detection tools. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey of students who engaged in electronic gaming for at least one hour per week (N = 207; 58.9% male), participants completed the IGDS9-SF, CD-RISC-10, and S-UPPS-P scales. Data were analyzed using binary logistic regression and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves to identify predictors and compare the discriminative validity of the constructs. Results: Among these student gamers, the overall IGD prevalence was 18.4%, with significantly higher rates in males (24.6%) than females (9.4%; χ²(1) = 7.71, p = 0.006). Significant predictors of IGD included sex, daily gaming hours, higher impulsivity, and lower resilience. ROC analysis revealed that a composite impulsivity-resilience index (AUC = 0.80) outperformed single-construct screening using only impulsivity (AUC = 0.71) or resilience (AUC = 0.68). Cases exhibited markedly higher impulsivity and lower resilience than non-cases. Conclusions: Among Saudi university student gamers, IGD prevalence is clinically significant, particularly among heavier and male gamers. A composite impulsivity-resilience screening index showed superior detection accuracy in this sample and warrants further validation for integration into university mental health assessment protocols. Full article

University campus design frequently emphasizes environmental comfort metrics, like shade provision and solar exposure, to optimize outdoor space usage. Nonetheless, the degree to which these ambient elements affect real user behavior remains ambiguous in relation to the functional attributes of space. This study examines the correlation between environmental factors and student spatial behavior on a university campus. Shadow and solar-hour assessments were performed to pinpoint regions providing optimal climatic comfort. Behavioral observations were utilized to record patterns of student presence and activity in various campus locations. The findings indicated a significant divergence between environmental performance and user conduct. Enclosed courtyards demonstrated the greatest shade levels and little solar exposure, signifying enhanced environmental comfort. Nonetheless, students primarily congregated in locations adjacent to the campus cafeteria, despite increased solar exposure and little shading. Users often congregated beneath dispersed trees instead of moving to the more comfortable enclosed courtyards. The data indicate that functional attractors, especially those related to food services and social contact, have a greater impact on occupancy patterns than environmental comfort by itself. The research contends that effective design of university open spaces must combine environmental efficacy with an awareness of activity generators and social hubs. The findings enhance current discourse on human-centered environmental design by illustrating that spatial function may exert a more significant influence than climatic comfort on outdoor behavior. Full article