BackgroundThis study aimed to assess the effects of restricting mobile phone use before bedtime on sleep, pre-sleep arousal, mood, and working memory. MethodsThirty-eight participants were randomized to either an intervention group (n = 19), where members were instructed to avoid using their mobile phone 30 minutes before bedtime, or a control group (n = 19), where the participants were given no such instructions. Sleep habit, sleep quality, pre-sleep arousal and mood were measured using the sleep diary, the Pittsburgh sleep quality index, the Pre-sleep Arousal Scale and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule respectively. Working memory was tested by using the 0-,1-,2-back task (n-back task). ResultsRestricting mobile phone use before bedtime for four weeks was effective in reducing sleep latency, increasing sleep duration, improving sleep quality, reducing pre-sleep arousal, and improving positive affect and working memory. ConclusionsRestricting mobile phone use close to bedtime reduced sleep latency and pre-sleep arousal and increased sleep duration and working memory. This simple change to moderate usage was recommended to individuals with sleep disturbances.

Background This study aimed to investigate the relationship between driver-passenger communicative stress and psychological distress among bus drivers, as well as whether job burnout mediates the effect of driver-passenger communicative stress on psychological distress. Methods A questionnaire consisting of a 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), a one-item driver-passenger communicative stress scale, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), as well as sociodemographic and work factors, was distributed to 310 bus drivers in Shanghai, of which 307 completed it (99.0% response rate). A parallel multiple mediation model with bootstrap approach, was calculated to test the mediating effect. Results Driver-passenger communicative stress, emotional exhaustion and cynicism were positively associated with psychological distress. Communicative stress was significantly positively linked with two of the three dimensions of burnout (emotional exhaustion and cynicism) and dependent variable. Emotional exhaustion and cynicism were positively associated with the dependent variable. The results indicate that emotional exhaustion and cynicism partially mediated the effect of communicative stress on psychological health, and that 60.0% of this effect can be explained by mediating effects, in which emotional exhaustion and cynicism weighed 63.2% and 36.8%, respectively. Conclusions Communicative stress had effects on psychological distress among Chinese bus drivers, and job burnout was a mediator in this relationship.

Peacekeepers are inherently exposed to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) in the line of duty. However, little is known about whether PTEs during peacekeeping missions may foster post‐traumatic growth (PTG) among peacekeepers and its mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate the association between PTEs and PTG among Chinese peacekeepers, as well as the mediating role of coping style and the moderating role of resilience. Five hundred ninety‐five Chinese peacekeepers completing the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in South Sudan and returning to China were recruited to complete Peacekeeping Traumatic Stress Exposure Scale, Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire and the Chinese version of Connor and Davidson's Resilience Scale. PTEs were positively associated with PTG among Chinese peacekeepers. Coping style partially mediated the association between PTEs and PTG. Resilience moderated the association between coping style and PTG. Specifically, at a lower level of resilience, positive coping style was more effective in predicting PTG. This study contributes to understanding the complex association between PTEs in peacekeeping missions, coping style, resilience and PTG by focusing on the experiences of Chinese peacekeepers and adds value to the current literature on psychological health in peacekeepers.

Background: Depression is associated with declining duty performance, suicide and other serious problems in the army. Prolonged deployment at high altitude may result in depression among military personnel. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of depression among Chinese military plateau drivers and determine the associated factors.Methods: The participants were military drivers selected from Golmud motor transport base (high altitude group) and Fuzhou motor transport base (low altitude group). All participants were asked to complete a self-administrated questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic and working characteristics, the Self Rating Depression Scale (SDS), the 14-item Fatigue Scale (FS-14), the Global Assessment of Migraine Severity (GAMS), the numeric rating scale (NRS) for dyspnea, and item three of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9-item (PHQ-9) for screening sleep disturbance.Results: A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed (200 for each group); 400 questionnaires were collected (the response rate was 100%). After eliminating 16 invalid questionnaires, 194 plateau drivers and 190 lowland drivers provided valid response (96.0%). In comparison to lowland drivers, the plateau drivers had severer fatigue (t = 4.298, p < 0.001), severer migraine (t = 11.440, p < 0.001), severer breathlessness (t = 12.094, p < 0.001), severer sleep disturbance (t = 3.353, p = 0.001), and higher prevalence of depression symptoms (χ2 = 15.123, p < 0.001). The possibility of having depression symptoms was significantly higher among military plateau drivers who were suffering severer fatigue (OR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.01-1.29), migraine (OR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.13-2.95), breathlessness (OR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.04-1.73), and sleep disturbance (OR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.03-3.07).Conclusion: Prevalence of depression was high among Chinese military plateau drivers. The risk factors were fatigue, severity of migraine, severity of breathlessness, and poor sleep quality. It is essential to become aware of these risk factors and their causes to intervene and help prevention of depression among Chinese military plateau drivers.

Background: Job burnout among military personnel is associated with many negative consequence including depression, various forms of job withdrawal, and poor job performance. The present study aimed to investigate how chronic exposure to HA, fatigue, and deployment duration may influence burnout among Chinese military personnel. Methods: Military plateau drivers at Golmud (average altitude: 2,890m) as high altitude group (N = 194) and military drivers at Fuzhou (average altitude: 84m) as low altitude group (N = 190) completed the self-administrated questionnaires. Path analysis with ordinary least squares regression procedures were used to test the mediating effect of fatigue and moderating effect of deployment duration.Results: A simple mediation from altitude to burnout through fatigue was supported by the results. Military personnel at high altitude experienced severer fatigue than those at low altitude (B = 1.215, t = 4.303, p < 0.001), and fatigue in turn caused greater job burnout (B = 0.347, t = 6.132, p < 0.001). The mediating effect of fatigue was significant (M = 0.421, Boot LLCI = 0.207, Boot ULCI = 0.668) and explained 15.21% of the total effect of altitude on burnout. However, the moderating effects of deployment duration were not supported in the present study. Conclusion: The problem of job burnout among military personnel on the plateau may be diminished by relieving their mental and physical fatigue induced by chronic exposure to high altitude and increasing the number of vacation days away from plateau.