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. 2018 May 16;18(1):632.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5526-2.

Lifestyle choices and mental health: a longitudinal survey with German and Chinese students

Julia Velten  1 , Angela Bieda  2 , Saskia Scholten  2 , André Wannemüller  2 , Jürgen Margraf  2
Affiliations

Lifestyle choices and mental health: a longitudinal survey with German and Chinese students

Julia Velten et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: A healthy lifestyle can be beneficial for one's mental health. Thus, identifying healthy lifestyle choices that promote psychological well-being and reduce mental problems is useful to prevent mental disorders. The aim of this longitudinal study was to evaluate the predictive values of a broad range of lifestyle choices for positive mental health (PMH) and mental health problems (MHP) in German and Chinese students.

Method: Data were assessed at baseline and at 1-year follow-up. Samples included 2991 German (Mage = 21.69, SD = 4.07) and 12,405 Chinese (Mage = 20.59, SD = 1.58) university students. Lifestyle choices were body mass index, frequency of physical and mental activities, frequency of alcohol consumption, smoking, vegetarian diet, and social rhythm irregularity. PMH and MHP were measured with the Positive Mental Health Scale and a 21-item version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. The predictive values of lifestyle choices for PMH and MHP at baseline and follow-up were assessed with single-group and multi-group path analyses.

Results: Better mental health (higher PMH and fewer MHP) at baseline was predicted by a lower body mass index, a higher frequency of physical and mental activities, non-smoking, a non-vegetarian diet, and a more regular social rhythm. When controlling for baseline mental health, age, and gender, physical activity was a positive predictor of PMH, smoking was a positive predictor of MHP, and a more irregular social rhythm was a positive predictor of PMH and a negative predictor of MHP at follow-up. The good fit of a multi-group model indicated that most lifestyle choices predict mental health comparably across samples. Some country-specific effects emerged: frequency of alcohol consumption, for example, predicted better mental health in German and poorer mental health in Chinese students.

Conclusions: Our findings underline the importance of healthy lifestyle choices for improved psychological well-being and fewer mental health difficulties. Effects of lifestyle on mental health are comparable in German and Chinese students. Some healthy lifestyle choices (i.e., more frequent physical activity, non-smoking, regular social rhythm) are related to improvements in mental health over a 1-year period.

Keywords: Alcohol; Anxiety; Body mass index; Depression; Lifestyle; Physical activity; Positive mental health; Smoking; Social rhythm; Stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Depending on the data assessment method, participants gave their informed consent written or online after being informed about anonymity and voluntariness of the survey. All procedures were carried out in accordance with the provisions of the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (2013). The Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Psychology of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum approved the study in total. Since the data were anonymized from the beginning of data collection, no statement by an ethics committee was required in China. The participating Chinese Universities were informed and acknowledged the approval by the German ethics board. The Chinese sample included students below age 18. Chinese laws grant inscribed University students of all ages the rights to decide for themselves about study-related issues including participation in studies. Thus, no consent to participate was collected from the parents or guardians.

Competing interests

The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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