| Objective: Previous studies have found that psychotic-like experiences(PLEs)in adolescence is closely related to subsequent mental disorders,which suggested the great importance of PLEs in early prevention and treatment of mental disorders.Considering insufficient studies on PLEs and associated influencing factors in Chinese college students so far,this study aims to describe the epidemiological characteristics of PLEs in target college students,and to explore socio-demographic and social-psychological influencing factors of PLEs,as well as to compare the influencing factors of PLEs within sex,in order to provide clues for prevention and treatment of mental disorders in general population.Method: Cross-sectional online survey was conducted among freshmen of three types of colleges(including one public university,one private college and one technical college).Following information was collected,including demographic characteristics,PLEs(within a month),childhood trauma,negative life events,resilience,social support and school climate.Demographic characteristics were collected by self-compiled questionnaires including age,sex,ethnicity,residence,family income,parents’ education level,parents’ marital status,single child status,‘left-behind’ children,family history of mental disorders,history of mental disorders,history of chronic physical diseases.The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences-Positive 15-items Scale(CAPE-P15)was used to evaluate current PLEs(within a month).Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-28 item Short Form(CTQ-SF)was used to evaluate childhood trauma before age 16.Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Check-list(ASLEC)was applied to the assessment of the impact of negative life events.The Resilience Scale Chinese Adolescent(RSCA)was used to assess the resilience of college students.Social support was evaluated by Perceived Social Support Scale(PSSS),and the school climate perceived by participants was assessed by the Delaware School Climate Survey-Student(DSCS-S).Descriptive analysis was used to describe the demographic characteristics of the sample and prevalence of current PLEs.Independent Samples t-test and Chi-square test were used to compare demographic characteristics and social-psychological factors between students with PLEs and those without.Binary logistic regression was used to explore associated factors of PLEs in the whole sample and then in males and females,respectively.Result: A total of 4,242 valid questionnaires were yielded,with a response rate of 89.1%.The mean age of participants was 19.0±0.9 years old,with 1894 males(44.6%).A total of 78.1% of these students experienced at least one PLE in the past month,and 19.7% of these students had frequent PLEs.The number of those with current PLEs(frequency scores > 1.57)was492(11.6%).The result of single factor analysis showed that there were no differences in the following factors between students with current PLEs and those without: age,sex,ethnicity,residence,parents’ education level,parents’ marital status and only child.Significant differences were found in the following factors: family income,‘left-behind’ children,family history of psychiatric illnesses,history of mental disorders,history of chronic physical diseases,childhood trauma,negative life events,resilience,social support and school climate(all the p-values above <0.05).Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that college students with older age(OR=0.89,95%CI=0.79-0.99),and better resilience(moderate: OR=0.72,95%CI=0.57-0.91;high: OR=0.49,95%CI=0.35-0.68),those who have received higher social support(moderate: OR=0.68,95%CI=0.53-0.87;high: OR=0.70,95%CI=0.50-0.87),and better school atmosphere situation(moderate: OR=0.56,95%CI=0.44-0.72;high: OR=0.42,95%CI=0.31-0.57)suffered lower risk of current PLEs.The students whose mother’s level of education was college or above(OR=1.55,95%CI=1.01-2.38),those who had a history of mental disorders(OR=1.94,95%CI=1.17-3.23),those who experienced moderate or severe levels of childhood trauma(moderate: OR=1.64,95%CI=1.18-2.28;severe: OR=1.84,95%CI=1.31-2.59),those who suffered moderate or severe level of negative life events in the past 12months(moderate: OR=1.86,95%CI=1.30-2.67;severe: OR=5.11,95%CI=3.70-7.05)would increase the risk of current PLEs.No significant differences were found in other factors in the multivariate analysis.In the group of females,the following factors showed statistically significance,including age(OR=0.83,95%CI=0.71-0.98),childhood trauma(moderate: OR=1.60,95%CI=1.03-2.49),negative life events(moderate: OR=2.05,95%CI=1.22-3.43;severe: OR=5.78,95%CI=3.57-9.35),resilience(moderate: OR=0.73,95%CI=0.53-0.99;high: OR=0.51,95%CI=0.32-0.81),social support(moderate:OR=0.66,95%CI=0.48-0.91;high: OR=0.53,95%CI=0.34-0.82)and school climate(moderate: OR=0.54,95%CI=0.39-0.74;high: OR=0.43,95%CI=0.29-0.65).In the group of male,the following factors showed statistically significance,including mother’s level of education(OR=2.18,95%CI=1.14-4.16),history of mental disorders(OR=2.93,95%CI=1.13-7.63),childhood trauma(moderate: OR=1.72,95%CI=1.03-2.88;severe: OR=2.28,95%CI=1.37-3.79),negative life events(moderate: OR=1.86,95%CI=1.10-3.14;severe: OR=4.86,95%CI=3.10-7.62),resilience(high: OR=0.49,95%CI=0.30-0.79),social support(moderate: OR=0.67,95%CI=0.45-0.99),and school climate(moderate: OR=0.59,95%CI=0.39-0.87;high:OR=0.39,95%CI=0.24-0.63).Conclusion: About one in ten college students experienced PLEs in target college students.The protective factors of current PLEs were older age,better psychological resilience,higher social support and better campus atmosphere,while risk factors were history of mental disorders,moderate or severe trauma in childhood,and moderate or severe negative life events in the past 12 months.These findings provide targets spot for intervention among the PLEs population in the future.Additionally,difference in the influencing factors between male and female suggests that different intervention strategies should be adopted within different sex. |
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