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The main objectives were to associate between social media news consumption during these unstable times and depression, as well as suicidal ideation among a sample of Lebanese adults, in addition to associate between fear of Covid-19, depression and suicidal ideation. Secondary objectives aimed to check the mediating effect of depression in the association between time spent on social media to get the news and the presence of suicidal ideation. This is a cross-sectional study executed between April and May 2021. It involved 402 Lebanese citizens aged 18 years and above, selected randomly from all Lebanese districts. Having cancer (Beta = 0.20) or lung disease (Beta = 0.27), more fear of COVID-19 (Beta = 0.16), a higher time spent on social media for news (Beta = 0.13) and a higher household crowding index (Beta = 0.29) were significantly associated with more depression, whereas having a pet in the house (Beta = -0.13) and working in the medical field (Beta = -0.17) were significantly associated with less depression. Higher depression (aOR = 1.19) was significantly associated with higher odds of having suicidal ideation, whereas more fear of COVID-19 (aOR = 0.84) and older age (aOR = 0.96) were significantly associated with less odds of having suicidal ideation. Depression did not mediate the association between time spent on social media to get the news and suicidal ideation. This study showed that more time spent on social media reading the news is associated with higher depression but not suicidal ideation. Fear of Covid-19 is associated with more depression, but less suicidal ideation. Further studies are needed to identify the causality between social media news consumption, depression and suicidal ideation. Moreover, awareness campaigns should be organized to teach people how to consume social media news in a responsible way, without letting it affect their emotions directly, which may cause psychological disorders., Author(s): Yara El Frenn [sup.1] , Souheil Hallit [sup.1] [sup.2] [sup.3] , Sahar Obeid [sup.4] , Michel Soufia [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.444434.7, 0000 0001 2106 3658, School of Medicine [...]

Background: Substance use is prevalent among medical students and could affect their academic performance. This study aimed to determine whether a relationship exists between quality of life and substance use among medical students in Lebanon. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 465 medical students in Lebanon during the academic year 2022–2023. It was based on an online questionnaire about quality of life, and dependence on alcohol, nicotine, waterpipe, and cannabis. Results: Alcohol was the most used substance by medical students (83.2%) followed by cigarettes (27.5%), waterpipe (18.1%), and cannabis (16.1%). We reported alcohol dependence in 14%, cannabis use disorder in 4.1%, high nicotine dependence in 23.4%, and waterpipe dependence in 11% of students. Physical and mental health scores were below average. Poor physical health was associated with higher dependence on nicotine and waterpipe. Conclusion: Medical students in Lebanon have poor mental and physical health and engage in substance use. Awareness campaigns promoting better mental and physical quality of life are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A limited amount of studies exists today on the prevalence of orthorexia nervosa (ON) and associated factors in adolescents. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the correlation of body dissatisfaction, self-esteem, anxiety and depression with ON tendencies and behaviors among a sample of Lebanese adolescents (15 to 18 years old), suggesting body dissatisfaction and self-esteem as co-moderators among these factors. This cross-sectional study, conducted between May and June 2020, enrolled 555 Lebanese adolescents, using a proportionate sample from all Lebanese governorates. The results of a first linear regression, taking the ON score as the dependent variable, showed that more anxiety, following a diet to lose weight, starving oneself to lose weight and feeling pressured by media to lose weight were significantly associated with more ON. When entering the interaction body dissatisfaction by depression/anxiety as independent variables, the results showed that following a diet to lose weight, starving oneself to lose weight and feeling pressured by media to lose weight were significantly associated with more ON, whereas higher body dissatisfaction and more depression were significantly associated with less ON. Moreover, the interaction depression by body dissatisfaction showed significance with ON; in patients with high depression, high body dissatisfaction was significantly associated with higher ON. In this study, a significant strong and equivocal interactive correlation was found between ON and different demographic, sociocultural and psychological factors. Although the obtained findings remain preliminary, being taken from a limited sample from one Arabic country, they may still add to the scarcity of the literature about ON and its screening tools, as well as they may pave a way for future research in the field of the eating psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]