Browsing by Author "Oliveira, Ana Paula"
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- Mental Health Literacy and Positive Mental Health in Adolescents: A Correlational StudyPublication . Nobre, Joana; Calha, António; Luis, Henrique; Oliveira, Ana Paula; Monteiro, Francisco; Ferré-Grau, Carme; Sequeira, CarlosThis study aimed to assess adolescents0 Mental Health Literacy (MHL) level, Positive Mental Health (PMH) level, the association between sociodemographic variables and the MHL and PMH levels, and the relationship between adolescent`s MHL and PMH levels. A quantitative, crosssectional, correlational study was conducted with a convenience sample of 260 adolescents studying in the 5th to 12th years of school. The Mental Health Knowledge Questionnaire, the Mental HealthPromoting Knowledge, and the Positive Mental Health Questionnaire were used for data collection. Most of the adolescents were female (55.8%) with a mean age of 14.07 years. The participants showed good levels of MHL (MHKQ). The participants showed good levels of MHL (MHKQ x = 60.03; MHPK-10 x = 4.49) and high levels of PMH (x = 128.25). The adolescents with higher levels of MHL were the oldest, in a higher year of school, female, those whose mothers are employed, those who have healthy eating habits, and those who have a better body image self-perception. Adolescents in a lower year of school, with adequate sleep habits, who spend fewer hours a day in front of a screen or online, and who have a better self-perception of mental and physical health and body image were the ones with higher PMH levels. These findings suggest the need to implement experimental or quasi-experimental studies to ascertain the effectiveness of interventions that promote adolescent`s positive mental health literacy.
- Psychological Vulnerability Indices and the Adolescent’s Good Mental Health Factors: A Correlational Study in a Sample of Portuguese AdolescentsPublication . Nobre, Joana; Luis, Henrique; Oliveira, Ana Paula; Monteiro, Francisco; Cordeiro, Raul; Sequeira, Carlos; Ferré-Grau, CarmeBackground: Psychological vulnerability (PV) indicates the individual’s inability to adapt to stressful situations. Adolescents experience negative impacts on their future mental health if they do not acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to have good mental health during their developmental stage. Aim: To compare the PV index among the three stages of adolescence and to explore the factors involved in good mental health, including the relationship between adolescents’ PV indices and sociodemographic variables, and the relationship between adolescents’ PV index and their knowledge of the factors that characterize good mental health. Method: An exploratory, cross-sectional, correlational study was carried out in three public schools in a region of Portugal, using online self-completed questionnaires: the Psychological Vulnerability Scale (PVS) and the Mental Health-Promoting Knowledge (MHPK-10). Results: Our convenience sample consisted of 260 adolescents, with a mean age of 14.07 years who were students between 5th and 12th grades, mostly female. Moderate PV indexes were obtained that were higher in late adolescence, i.e., in older adolescents, who were females in a more advanced school year, with worse self-perceptions of their physical and mental health and body image, and who frequently used a health service due to mental health problems. The association between the PV index and the level of knowledge about the factors involved in good mental health did not reach a statistical significance (p = 0.06). Conclusions: These results suggest a need for a design of personalized interventions that promote adolescents’ mental health literacy, that prevent PV, and that should be initiated in early adolescence.
- Social Media Use and Its Association with Mental Health and Internet Addiction among Portuguese Higher Education Students during COVID-19 ConfinementPublication . Oliveira, Ana Paula; Nobre, Joana Rita; Luis, Henrique; Luis, Luis Soares; Pinho, Lara Guedes; Albacar-Riobóo, Núria; Sequeira, CarlosThe use of social media was one of the most common way to keep in touch with friends and family during confinement. For higher education students, the fact that their universities were closed was a major change in their lives. The aim of this study is to relate the prevalence and type of social media with Internet addiction and mental health of university students in a district of Portugal during COVID-19 confinement. Mental health was studied by applying the reduced version of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) and to measure the Internet use and dependence, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) was used. The study (cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational) used an online questionnaire, conducted on Google® Forms and the link was sent to 4450 students, in the months of April to June 2020, during the confinement. A total of 329 valid questionnaires were obtained. We can conclude that regarding mental health, students in the 18–24 age group, single or divorced and who are not in a relationship, and with worse academic results, show worse levels of mental health. It is noteworthy that the students with the same characteristics also have the highest levels of addiction to internet. © 2022 by the authors.
- The Impact of COVID-19 Confinement on Substance Use and Mental Health in Portuguese Higher Education StudentsPublication . Oliveira, Ana Paula; Luis H, Soares; Soares Luis, Luis; Nobre, Joana Rita; Pinho, Lara Guedes; Albacar-Riobóo, Núria; Sequeira, CarlosThe mental health of higher education students is a constant concern, and the pandemic situation caused by COVID-19 has intensified this concern. The social measures imposed to control and minimize the disease have led, among other things, to the reconfiguration of higher education students’ academic life habits, which has naturally altered their emotional balance, mental health, and substance abuse. This cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational study assesses the influence of higher education students’ personal characteristics on their (self-reported) use of addictive substances (alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and pharmaceutical drugs) before and during their first compulsory confinement in Portugal, as well as its relationship with mental health. An online questionnaire was applied between 15 April and 20 May 2020, to students from various study cycles of higher education institutions in one region of Portugal (northern area of Alentejo), which included the Mental Health Inventory in its reduced version (MHI-5) and questions (constructed by the authors) on personal characterization and on the use of addictive substances before and during confinement. The convenience sample included 329 mostly female health care students between the ages of 18 and 24. In our results, we found a statistically significant decrease in tobacco, alcohol, and drug use; however, there was an increase in tobacco use among older students and an increase in anxiolytic use among students with higher academic achievement and among students who exhibited more active social behavior in the period prior to confinement. Students who took anxiolytics during confinement had higher MHI-5 scores and students who used the most addictive substances during confinement had lower MHI-5 scores than the other students.