TY - JOUR
T1 - UNIversity students' LIFEstyle behaviours and Mental health cohort (UNILIFE-M)
T2 - study protocol of a multicentre, prospective cohort study
AU - Schuch, Felipe B.
AU - Waclawoscky, Aline
AU - Tornquist, Debora
AU - Oyeyemi, Adewale L.
AU - Sadarangani, Kabir P.
AU - Takano, Keisuke
AU - Teychenne, Megan
AU - Balanza-Martinez, Vicent
AU - O'neil, Adrienne
AU - Romain, A. J.
AU - Mcgrath, Aisling
AU - Alselmi, Alejandro
AU - Andrade-Lima, Aluisio
AU - Zanetti, Ana Carolina Guidorizzi
AU - Trompetero-Gonzalez, Andrea-Catalina
AU - Heissel, Andreas
AU - Silva, Angel Fonseca Da
AU - Benavides, Angela Carolina Zambrano
AU - Ruusunen, Anu
AU - Cristi-Montero, Carlos
AU - Weise, Cornelia
AU - Pires, Daniel Alvarez
AU - Silva, Danilo R. P.
AU - Pelupessy, Dicky C.
AU - Dos Santos, Eduarda Bitencourt
AU - Caputo, Eduardo Lucia
AU - Critselis, Elena
AU - Dragioti, Elena
AU - Matthews, Evan
AU - De Jesus-Moraleida, Fabianna Resende
AU - Gomes, Fabiano Alves
AU - Bachtiar, Farahdina
AU - Silva-Junior, Fernando Lopes E.
AU - Sallem, Hebasala
AU - Moura, Helena
AU - Womboh, Idoo
AU - Grabovac, Igor
AU - Meyer, Jacob D.
AU - Ramos-Diaz, Jano
AU - Bueno-Antequera, Javier
AU - De Oliveira, Jenifer
AU - Deenik, J.
AU - Soto-Sanchez, Johana
AU - Van Der Kaap-deeder, Jolene
AU - Leo Ng, Jonathan
AU - Lopez-Gil, Jose Francisco
AU - Firth, Joseph
AU - Teixeira, Julia Amaral
AU - Nikonov, Juan Ramiro
AU - Hoyer, Jurgen
AU - Et al.
PY - 2026/1/12
Y1 - 2026/1/12
N2 - Introduction Students enrolling in higher education often adopt lifestyles linked to worse mental health, potentially contributing to the peak age onset of mental health problems in early adulthood. However, extensive research is limited by focusing on single lifestyle behaviours, including single time points, within limited cultural contexts, and focusing on a limited set of mental health symptoms.Methods and analysis The UNIversity students' LIFEstyle behaviours and Mental health cohort (UNILIFE-M) is a prospective worldwide cohort study aiming to investigate the associations between students' lifestyle behaviours and mental health symptoms during their college years. The UNILIFE-M will gather self-reported data through an online survey on mental health symptoms (ie, depression, anxiety, mania, sleep problems, substance abuse, inattention/hyperactivity and obsessive/compulsive thoughts/behaviours) and lifestyle behaviours (ie, diet, physical activity, substance use, stress management, social support, restorative sleep, environment and sedentary behaviour) over 3.5 years. Participants of 69 universities from 28 countries (300 per site) will be assessed at university admission in the 2023 and/or the 2024 academic year and followed up for 1, 2 and 3.5 years.Ethics and dissemination The study was first approved at a national level in Brazil (CAE:63025822.8.1001.5346). Study sites outside Brazil obtained additional ethics approval from their institutions using the main approval. Results from the UNILIFE-M cohort will be disseminated through scientific publications, presentations at scientific meetings, press releases, the general media and social media.
AB - Introduction Students enrolling in higher education often adopt lifestyles linked to worse mental health, potentially contributing to the peak age onset of mental health problems in early adulthood. However, extensive research is limited by focusing on single lifestyle behaviours, including single time points, within limited cultural contexts, and focusing on a limited set of mental health symptoms.Methods and analysis The UNIversity students' LIFEstyle behaviours and Mental health cohort (UNILIFE-M) is a prospective worldwide cohort study aiming to investigate the associations between students' lifestyle behaviours and mental health symptoms during their college years. The UNILIFE-M will gather self-reported data through an online survey on mental health symptoms (ie, depression, anxiety, mania, sleep problems, substance abuse, inattention/hyperactivity and obsessive/compulsive thoughts/behaviours) and lifestyle behaviours (ie, diet, physical activity, substance use, stress management, social support, restorative sleep, environment and sedentary behaviour) over 3.5 years. Participants of 69 universities from 28 countries (300 per site) will be assessed at university admission in the 2023 and/or the 2024 academic year and followed up for 1, 2 and 3.5 years.Ethics and dissemination The study was first approved at a national level in Brazil (CAE:63025822.8.1001.5346). Study sites outside Brazil obtained additional ethics approval from their institutions using the main approval. Results from the UNILIFE-M cohort will be disseminated through scientific publications, presentations at scientific meetings, press releases, the general media and social media.
KW - MENTAL HEALTH
KW - Behavior
KW - Health
KW - SELF-REPORT SCALE
KW - PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY
KW - ADULT ADHD
KW - SMOKING
KW - SLEEP
KW - TRAJECTORIES
KW - DEPRESSION
KW - DISORDER
KW - ALCOHOL
KW - SAMPLE
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-085006
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-085006
M3 - Article
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 16
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
IS - 1
M1 - e085006
ER -