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Background: Medical students are at risk of poor mental health and burnout compared to general population age- and education-matched peers, which has future implications for patient care. Research has suggested that demographic factors can predict mental illness and burnout among medical students. However, less is known about predictors of mental health and how they compare to predictors of burnout, and few studies have examined multiple demographics simultaneously. Objectives: This study examined and compared demographic predictors (gender, ethnicity, age, level of education, year of study and proposed specialty) of mental health and burnout in first to fourth year Canadian medical students. Method: Medical students (n = 129) completed online surveys comprised of validated questionnaires. Results: Multiple regression indicated that third year [Beta] = -0.243, p = 0.013) negatively predicted mental health (R[superscript 2] = 15.0%). Female gender ([Beta] = 0.242, p = 0.005), 'other' ethnicities ([Beta] = 0.189, p = 0.028), third year ([Beta] = 0.391, p < 0.001) and fourth year ([Beta] = 0.212, p = 0.023) positively predicted burnout (R[superscript 2] = 32.7%). Female gender and fourth year predicted mental health and burnout differently. 'Other' ethnicity, second year and third year predicted mental health and burnout similarly. Conclusion: Findings fill gaps in the literature and may inform medical stakeholders in developing targeted programmes for improving medical students' mental health and burnout. Medical students with greater well-being can progress into physicians who will be more likely to promote well-being in their patients.

Background The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exacerbated mental health challenges among physicians and non-physicians. However, it is unclear if the worsening mental health among physicians is due to specific occupational stressors, reflective of general societal stressors during the pandemic, or a combination. We evaluated the difference in mental health and addictions health service use between physicians and non-physicians, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods and findings We conducted a population-based cohort study in Ontario, Canada between March 11, 2017 and August 11, 2021 using data collected from Ontario's universal health system. Physicians were identified using registrations with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario between 1990 and 2020. Participants included 41,814 physicians and 12,054,070 non-physicians. We compared the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 11, 2020 to August 11, 2021) to the period before COVID-19 pandemic (March 11, 2017 to February 11, 2020). The primary outcome was mental health and addiction outpatient visits overall and subdivided into virtual versus in-person, psychiatrists versus family medicine and general practice clinicians. We used generalized estimating equations for the analyses. Pre-pandemic, after adjustment for age and sex, physicians had higher rates of psychiatry visits (aIRR 3.91 95% CI 3.55 to 4.30) and lower rates of family medicine visits (aIRR 0.62 95% CI 0.58 to 0.66) compared to non-physicians. During the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of outpatient mental health and addiction (MHA) visits increased by 23.2% in physicians (888.4 pre versus 1,094.7 during per 1,000 person-years, aIRR 1.39 95% CI 1.28 to 1.51) and 9.8% in non-physicians (615.5 pre versus 675.9 during per 1,000 person-years, aIRR 1.12 95% CI 1.09 to 1.14). Outpatient MHA and virtual care visits increased more among physicians than non-physicians during the first 18 months of the pandemic. Limitations include residual confounding between physician and non-physicians and challenges differentiating whether observed increases in MHA visits during the pandemic are due to stressors or changes in health care access. Conclusions The first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a larger increase in outpatient MHA visits in physicians than non-physicians. These findings suggest physicians may have had larger negative mental health during COVID-19 than the general population and highlight the need for increased access to mental health services and system level changes to promote physician wellness., Author(s): Daniel T. Myran 1,2,3,*, Rhiannon Roberts 1, Eric McArthur 4, Nivethika Jeyakumar 4, Jennifer M. Hensel 5, Claire Kendall 1,2,3,6, Caroline Gerin-Lajoie 7,8, Taylor McFadden 7, Christopher Simon 7, [...]

Physical Activity Counselling (PAC) is a Motivational Interviewing (MI)-based counselling intervention that has been shown to promote motivation for physical activity (PA), PA behaviour, and reduce depressive symptoms. However, no studies have looked at positive psychological variables, such as self-compassion (SC) within PAC. Moreover, no research has examined SC's association with PA in the PAC context. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of PAC over time on SC (total and subcomponents), and PA (total, moderate and strenuous), and to see if any improvements in SC and PA variables were sustained at 1-month follow-up. Lastly, this study examined the relationship between SC at endpoint and PA at follow-up. Insufficiently active individuals participating in the PAC program (N = 31) completed validated online questionnaires before, immediately after, and 1-month following PAC. Paired samples t-tests and repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance tests revealed that there were significant increases in total SC, self-kindness, and total, moderate, and strenuous PA from baseline to endpoint, as well as decreases in self-judgement, and isolation. These improvements were all sustained at 1-month follow-up. Finally, no significant relationship was found between SC and PA, likely due to the fact that self-compassionate individuals might prioritize other health behaviors such as sleep or healthy eating over PA. This provides preliminary experimental evidence to support MI-based PAC as an effective means to increase not only PA behaviour, but also SC, an important psychological resource that has been linked to a myriad of positive health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous work has shown that exposure to a high fat diet dysregulates the protein degradation process in the hypothalamus of male rodents. However, whether this occurs in a sex-independent manner is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of a short-term obesogenic diet on the ubiquitin-proteasome mediated protein degradation process in the hypothalamus of female rats. We fed young adult female rats a high fat diet or standard rat chow for 7 weeks. At the end of the 7th week, animals were euthanized and hypothalamus nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions were collected. Proteasome activity and degradation-specific (K48) ubiquitin signaling were assessed. Additionally, we transfected female rats with CRISPR-dCas9-VP64 plasmids in the hypothalamus prior to exposure to the high fat diet in order to increase proteasome activity and determine the role of reduced proteasome function on weight gain from the obesogenic diet. We found that across the diet period, females gained weight significantly faster on the high fat diet than controls and showed dynamic downregulation of proteasome activity, decreases in proteasome subunit expression and an accumulation of degradation-specific K48 polyubiquitinated proteins in the hypothalamus. Notably, while our CRISPR-dCas9 manipulation was able to selectively increase some forms of proteasome activity, it was unable to prevent diet-induced proteasome downregulation or abnormal weight gain. Collectively, these results reveal that acute exposure to an obesogenic diet causes reductions in the protein degradation process in the hypothalamus of females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rates of mental illness among Canadian medical students are higher than age-, gender-, and education-matched peers. One predictor of mental health is physical activity; though the relationship between different intensities of physical activity and mental health has not been investigated in medical students. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between physical activity and mental health profiles in a sample of Canadian medical students. A total of N = 125 students completed an online survey. Latent profile analysis was performed to identify distinct profiles using four continuous latent profile indicators (emotional well-being, social well-being, psychological well-being,resilience). Three mental health profiles emerged, showing low (n = 18), moderate (n = 72) and high (n = 36) self-reported ratings of mental health. The classification quality was good (entropy = 0.81). Individuals in the high mental health profile engaged in more mild physical activity (M = 144.28 mins/week; SD = 22.12) and less moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (M = 195.86 mins/week; SD = 25.67) compared to students in the moderate and low profiles, though not significantly. This suggests that mild physical activity might be the most effective intensity in supporting mental health among medical students, though further research is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth sport programme structures and processes can directly influence participation outcomes, including mental health and well-being. Researchers have found that programme quality and basic needs satisfaction foster psychosocial outcomes; however, limited research has examined the mechanisms that facilitate mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between programme quality, basic needs satisfaction, and mental well-being in competitive youth sport. Youth (N = 160, 89 males, 71 females; Mage = 15.36, SD = 2.50) completed questionnaires at mid-season, with questions related to quality of their sport programming, and at programme end, with questions pertaining to basic needs satisfaction and mental well-being. Structural equation modelling was used to test the direct relationships between programme quality and mental well-being (r =.46, p <.001; model 1) and between basic needs satisfaction and mental well-being (r =.63, p <.001; model 2). Using several fit indices, results showed an adequate fit of both models to the data, suggesting that programme quality significantly predicted basic needs satisfaction and basic needs satisfaction significantly predicted mental well-being. Bootstrapping analysis was used to test if basic needs satisfaction mediated the relationship between programme quality and mental well-being. Results supported mediation, with a large effect (k2 = 0.28). The study findings help to emphasise the value of structuring youth sport programmes to satisfy basic needs, which may have positive implications on youth mental health. This is important because supporting mental well-being at an earlier age may facilitate mental health and well-being in adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is the most common and prevalent mental disorder today, affecting an estimated 1 in 4 Canadians at some point in their lifetime. Physical activity is recommended as a primary treatment for mild to moderate depression and a secondary treatment for moderate to severe depression. Despite this, specific guidelines are still lacking on how to best promote physical activity in this population. Accordingly, this policy brief provides evidence-based recommendations for primary care providers and allied health professionals to promote lifelong physical activity in individuals with depression. Recommendations include asking for permission to discuss physical activity with the individual; framing physical activity as something that they have control over in order to feel better; clarifying that incorporating even a few more minutes of weekly physical activity is better than nothing and that mild forms are enough to achieve mental health benefits; and providing choices of activities to try and accompanying them on their first few sessions. Moreover, this article highlights the importance of promoting physical activity enjoyment for this population, which can be done by guiding the individual to slowly build up the frequency, duration and intensity of activity; encouraging them to be self-compassionate toward physical activity; suggesting they engage in outdoor activity, listen to music, and/or participate with a buddy or group; and incorporate self-monitoring or journalling to solidify the link between physical activity and improved mood. Practitioners are encouraged to use these evidence-informed recommendations--especially maximizing choices, enhancing physical activity enjoyment and emphasizing personal preferences--to help individuals with depression move, recover and flourish. These recommendations may also be used to tailor future interventions and inform policy guidelines to reduce depression rates in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Physical activity (PA) remains under prescribed by physicians. Motivation and confidence are clear drivers of frequency of promoting PA. Research shows demographic differences in physicians' preventive practices, yet none have included medical students who form habits during training.Objectives: Study objectives were to (i) examine how Canadian medical students' motivation to recommend PA to future patients differs according to six demographic variables (i.e. gender, ethnicity, year of study, university, proposed specialty and academic background) and (ii) examine how Canadian medical students' confidence to recommend PA to future patients differs according to these same demographic variables.Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. First to fourth year medical students from three medical schools responded to an online survey (N = 221).Results: Female participants were more motivated to counsel patients on PA and refer to an exercise specialist compared to males (P < 0.01). Second year students were more motivated to assess a patients' level of PA compared to third and fourth year students (P < 0.01). Students pursuing family medicine were more confident to assess and counsel compared to students pursuing paediatrics (P < 0.01).Conclusion: Given that motivation and confidence have a positive influence on frequency-promoting PA, these results suggest where future efforts should focus, to improve PA promotion in medical practice. Physical inactivity continues to be a major issue worldwide, and medical students as future physicians have a unique opportunity to enhance PA amongst the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This article presents secondary outcome variables from a randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of two guided self-help interventions for the treatment of depression: behavioral activation (BA) and physical activity (PA). Both interventions resulted in significant reductions in depressive symptoms compared to the wait-list control group, however the mechanisms by which these interventions influenced depression were not presented. Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to compare changes in secondary outcome variables to gain insight into the mechanisms by which reactivation interventions reduce depressive symptoms. Results: Mixed-model analysis of variances (ANOVAs) revealed significant increases in life satisfaction (Main effect: F(3, 91.71) = 4.63, p < 0.01) and self-efficacy (Main effect: F(3, 91.32) = 4.05, p < 0.01) as well as significant decreases in negative affect (Main effect: F(2, 75.88) = 5.24, p < 0.01) and loneliness (Main effect: F(2, 71.78) = 7.49, p < 0.01) in both interventions at pre-, mid-, post-intervention and follow-up. The group x time interactions were not significant, suggesting that the PA and BA interventions had comparable effects over time. Conclusion: These findings provide insight into the potential mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of guided self-help PA and BA interventions on depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]