Excess Weight in Relation to Lifestyle Habits in Spanish First-Year University Students: Differences between Pre- and Post-COVID-19-A Serial Cross-Sectional Study Based on uniHcos Project.

The objective of this research was to study the relationship between the body weight and diet, physical activity, and other habits among freshmen students by sex, and to determine whether these habits have changed during the post-era of the COVID-19 pandemic. A serial cross-sectional study with data from 11 Spanish universities was carried out. In total, 10,096 first-year university students (73.2% female, mean age = 19.0 ± 1.5 years) completed an online self-administered questionnaire between 2012 and 2022. For some analyses, questionnaires were categorized by the year in which the survey was filled out as Before COVID-19, Lockdown, and New Normal. In total, 72.9% of participants were within the normal weight range, and 17.7% of men and 11.8% of women were overweight (p < 0.001). The students who did not meet the WHO criteria of physical activity, spent more than 7 h per day sitting, and skipped breakfast had a higher prevalence of obesity (p < 0.05). According to the period of study, the prevalence of overweight/obesity Before COVID-19 was 16.1% (95% CI: 15.4-16.9%), while in Lockdown the prevalence was significantly higher (20.2, 95% CI: 17.1-23.8) and in New Normal it was 18.9% (CI: 15.7-22.5). Moreover, the study suggests that during the Lockdown period, there was a reduction in the practice of physical activity and an increase in the prevalence of a healthy diet. For all these, it is necessary to propose public health interventions that improve the lifestyles of university students.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Evolution of Prevalence and Patterns of Cannabis Use among First-Year University Students in Spain-UniHcos Project.

Among university students there has been evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic increased their psychological distress, exacerbated by social restrictions. The main objective of this study was to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence and patterns of cannabis use among university students, in contrast to previous trends since 2012. Data from 10,522 first-year university students (73.3% female, Mage 19 (SD = 1.6)) from eleven Spanish universities collected between 2012 and May 2022 was analysed. Prevalences of cannabis use and their differences by sex were studied, as well as changes in patterns of use and its use for coping during the pandemic. It was found that during lockdown, all prevalence rates of cannabis use decreased in both sexes, showing no statistically significant differences and increasing again in the new normal period in both. Among regular cannabis users, 79.7% reported maintaining or increasing their cannabis use during the pandemic, and of these, half reported using cannabis to cope. Moreover, cannabis use in the usual household increased during the lockdown. These results show that although the overall prevalence of cannabis use was reduced during the lockdown, regular users tended to maintain or increase cannabis use. This could imply two different patterns of use among students, one social and occasional versus the other regular, providing new lines of research for prevention and the implementation of social policies.

The Fear of COVID-19 Scale: A Reliability Generalization Meta-Analysis.

A reliability generalization meta-analysis was carried out to estimate the average reliability of the seven-item, 5-point Likert-type Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), one of the most widespread scales developed around the COVID-19 pandemic. Different reliability coefficients from classical test theory and the Rasch Measurement Model were meta-analyzed, heterogeneity among the most reported reliability estimates was examined by searching for moderators, and a predictive model to estimate the expected reliability was proposed. At least one reliability estimate was available for a total of 44 independent samples out of 42 studies, being that Cronbach's alpha was most frequently reported. The coefficients exhibited pooled estimates ranging from .85 to .90. The moderator analyses led to a predictive model in which the standard deviation of scores explained 36.7% of the total variability among alpha coefficients. The FCV-19S has been shown to be consistently reliable regardless of the moderator variables examined.