School of Humanities and Management, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, China.
School of Humanities, Taiwan National Chi Nan University, Taiwan, China.
Front Public Health. 2024 Oct 8;12:1446225. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1446225. eCollection 2024.
Cancer, as the second leading cause of death worldwide, poses significant challenges to human health and socio-economic development. In recent years, the incidence of cancer has shown a trend toward younger populations, drawing attention to cancer prevention education among college students. However, research on the specific impact of cancer prevention education on the mental health of college students is limited. This study aims to explore the impact of cancer prevention education on the mental health of college students, revealing the mediating role of disease awareness and the moderating roles of psychological resilience and cultural differences.
A difference-in-differences (DID) approach was used, involving 1,670 freshmen from a Chinese university, divided into an experimental group ( = 835) and a control group ( = 835). The experimental group received a semester-long cancer prevention education program. Data were collected monthly from November 2022 to June 2023 using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) and a custom Disease Awareness Scale.
The study found a significant improvement in mental health scores among the experimental group, with an average increase of 14.738 points on the DASS-21 scale ( < 0.001), representing a 23% reduction in stress, anxiety, and depression levels compared to the control group. Disease awareness in the experimental group improved by 17%, as measured by the Disease Awareness Scale, with a mediation effect of 3.563 points ( < 0.001). Furthermore, psychological resilience and cultural differences moderated the impact of the education program, with those scoring higher in resilience showing an additional 8% improvement in mental health scores (moderation effect = 0.892, < 0.001), and cultural differences accounting for a 5% variance (moderation effect = 0.756, < 0.001) in the outcomes.
This study demonstrates that systematic and scientific cancer prevention education has a significant positive impact on the mental health of college students. Universities should promote comprehensive and personalized health education strategies to improve disease awareness, foster psychological resilience, and emphasize cultural differences, thereby enhancing the overall physical and mental health of college students and promoting their holistic development. This finding provides important empirical support and theoretical basis for the design and implementation of health education in universities.
癌症作为全球第二大死亡原因，对人类健康和社会经济发展构成重大挑战。近年来，癌症发病率呈现年轻化趋势，这引起了人们对大学生癌症预防教育的关注。然而，关于癌症预防教育对大学生心理健康影响的具体研究较为有限。本研究旨在探讨癌症预防教育对大学生心理健康的影响，揭示疾病认知的中介作用以及心理弹性和文化差异的调节作用。
采用差分法（DID），对一所中国大学的 1670 名大一新生进行研究，分为实验组（n=835）和对照组（n=835）。实验组接受了一学期的癌症预防教育课程。从 2022 年 11 月至 2023 年 6 月，采用抑郁焦虑压力量表（DASS-21）和定制的疾病认知量表每月收集一次数据。
研究发现实验组的心理健康评分显著提高，DASS-21 量表平均增加 14.738 分（<0.001），表明与对照组相比，压力、焦虑和抑郁水平降低了 23%。实验组的疾病认知提高了 17%，通过疾病认知量表衡量，中介效应为 3.563 分（<0.001）。此外，心理弹性和文化差异调节了教育计划的影响，心理弹性得分较高的人心理健康评分提高了额外的 8%（调节效应=0.892，<0.001），文化差异解释了结果中 5%的方差（调节效应=0.756，<0.001）。
本研究表明系统科学的癌症预防教育对大学生心理健康有显著的积极影响。高校应推广全面个性化的健康教育策略，提高疾病认知，培养心理弹性，强调文化差异，从而提高大学生身心健康水平，促进其全面发展。这一发现为高校健康教育的设计和实施提供了重要的实证支持和理论依据。
