At present, there is growing interest in research examining the relationship between occupational stress and mental health. Owing to the socioeconomic impact of occupational stress and the unique environment of petroleum workers in Xinjiang, a cross-sectional study was carried out between April and December 2015 to investigate the relationship between occupational stress, 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor (5-HTR2A) genotype, and mental health. A total of 1485 workers were selected. The Symptom Checklist 90 was used to assess nine classes of psychological symptoms. Work-related stressors were evaluated using the Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised Edition. Levels of 5-HTR2A (the Tl02C and A-1438G single nucleotide polymorphism in the 5-HTR2A gene) were measured by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The findings of the present study revealed a high prevalence rate of mental health problems (40.29%) in petroleum workers stationed in the arid desert, and suggested a strong correlation between occupational stress and mental health. The TC and CC genotype of Tl02C were found to be protective factors against mental health problems (odds ratio (OR) = 0.455, 95% confidence interval (CI): = 0.269–0.771, odds ratio (OR) = 0.340, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.162–0.716). AG and GG genotype of A-1438G [odds ratio (OR) 1 = 2.729, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.433–5.195; odds ratio (OR) 2 = 2.480, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.221–5.037] were revealed as risk factors. These data provide evidence that occupational stress and 5-HTR2A gene polymorphism contributes to the incidence of mental health problems.

Prenatal anxiety, prenatal depression, and pregnancy-related stress are prevalent among pregnant women. Across China, the prevalence rates of antenatal depression, anxiety, and pregnancy-related stress are 12.07–36.4%, 16%, and 94.48% respectively. As the most common psychological issues during pregnancy, these three often coexist, interweave, and form a vicious cycle. Social determinants refer to broad social, economic, political, psychosocial, and behavioral factors that directly or indirectly influence health outcomes. A large body of evidence indicates that social determinants are significantly associated with mental health outcomes. However, no studies have yet explored the network relationships among these three conditions and their social determinants in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China. Given that psychological problems during pregnancy may lead to short-term and long-term adverse outcomes for both mothers and infants, clarifying their network structure and core social determinants holds important public health significance for formulating regional intervention strategies. Network analysis is an emerging research tool that intuitively visualizes complex interactive relationships among multiple variables. It overcomes the limitation of traditional regression analysis, which only focuses on the association of a single variable, and can identify core nodes through indicators such as strength and expected influence, thus having unique advantages in analyzing the interactive relationships of complex psychological symptoms. This study aims to explore the associations between emotional symptoms and social determinants in the population of prenatal pregnant women in Xinjiang, China using network analysis, providing new population data and perspectives for research on maternal mental health. Subsequently, it identifies core nodes via centrality analysis, providing a basis for developing multi-dimensional psychological intervention programs for pregnant women in Urumqi, Xinjiang. A convenience sampling method was used to select 1,349 pregnant women who attended obstetric check-ups at a tertiary hospital in Urumqi, Xinjiang, from February 2023 to January 2024 as the research subjects. The inclusion criteria were: (1) aged 18–45 years; (2) clinically confirmed pregnancy by the obstetric department; (3) ability to understand and complete online questionnaires; (4) voluntary participation in this study with verbal informed consent. The exclusion criteria were: (1) pregnant women who refused to complete the questionnaire; (2) those with severe mental disorders or cognitive impairments that prevented them from effectively completing the questionnaire. Data collection was conducted via electronic questionnaires on the Wenjuanxing online survey platform, using a self-designed demographic scale, the Pregnancy Pressure Scale (PPS-30), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The proportions of pregnant women with prenatal depressive, anxiety, and pregnancy-related stress symptoms were 19.4%, 26.6%, and 92.3% respectively. Other Stressors (strength = 1.21, expected Influence = 1.19), Changes in physical activity (strength = 1.15, expected Influence = 1.15), and Friendship (strength = 1.2, expected Influence = 1.05) were the core nodes of the network. The strongest connections in the emotional symptom subnetwork were Restlessness-Changes in physical activity (weight = 0.17), Difficulty relaxing-stress (Maternal-Infant Health Dimension) (weight = 0.06), and Decreased concentration-stress (Parental Role Dimension) (weight = 0.08). Gestational Period and Friendship, Friendship and Educational Attainment, Relationship with Neighbors and Number of Live Births were the social determinants most strongly associated with depression, anxiety, and pregnancy-related stress respectively. This study is the first to systematically reveal the network characteristics of anxiety, depression, and pregnancy-related stress in prenatal women in Urumqi, identifying Other Stressors, Changes in physical activity, and Friendship as the core intervention targets in the network. The results suggest that targeted psychological interventions should focus on stress management and the construction of social support networks, while fully considering the impact of social determinants on intervention effects. These findings provide a theoretical basis and practical guidance for developing more precise and effective perinatal mental health interventions in Urumqi.

To investigate the characteristics of adolescents’ school adjustment and their associations with anxiety, depression, and stress, respectively, as well as their differences by gender. A convenience sampling method was used to measure 3,922 secondary school students from 10 secondary schools in five locations in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region using the Anxiety-Depression-Stress Scale and the School Adjustment Scale, and latent profile analysis was used to identify the subjects’ school adjustment categories, and network analysis was subsequently used to explore the relationship between different school adjustment categories and anxiety, depression, and stress, respectively, as well as their gender characteristics. In the symptom network of adolescents at risk for school maladjustment, “school emotions and attitudes” was the core symptom (Expected Impact Index: 0.86); in the co-morbidity network of school adjustment and anxiety, depression, and stress in adolescents at risk for school maladjustment, the core symptom was “uneasiness” (Expected Impact Index: 0.86); and “stress” (Expected Impact Index: 0.86) was the core symptom. “(EI: 1.12), “difficulty relaxing” (EI: 1.14) in males, and “depression” (EI: 1.06) in females, all with significant gender differences. Significant gender differences were found. Adolescents’ school adjustment was strongly associated with symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, with significant gender differences in the structure of the network of co-morbid symptoms.

Co-morbid anxiety and depression (CAD) is defined as the co-existence of anxiety and depression. During pregnancy, women are more prone to negative emotions, such as anxiety and depression, than the general female population. The incidence of CAD during pregnancy is 1-26 %. The aims of this study were to investigate the incidence and influencing factors of CAD during pregnancy. The study cohort included 3053 pregnant women who underwent maternity check-ups at a tertiary hospital in China. Demographic characteristics, level of social support, and psychological characteristics were collected from participants via a self-reported questionnaire, which included the General Demographic Information Questionnaire, Pregnancy Stress Scale, the Generalized Anxiety Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Perceived Social Support Scale. A binary logistic regression model and a categorical decision tree based on the Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detector algorithm were used to identify factors influencing CAD during pregnancy, and the differences between the two models were analysed and compared. The results of the logistic regression and decision tree models identified pregnancy stress, social support, pregnancy knowledge, couple relationship satisfaction, advanced maternal age, and occupation as factors influencing CAD during pregnancy. Pregnancy stress was the most influential factor. The areas under the curve of the classification decision tree and logistic regression models were 0.801 (95 % CI: 0.778-0.823) and 0.827 (95 % CI: 0.807-0.847), respectively, with specificities of 63 and 77 %, and sensitivities of 83.9 and 76.3 %. Logistic regression excels when dealing with linear relationships, while decision trees are particularly useful when dealing with nonlinear relationships. Therefore, combining logistic regression and decision trees can achieve some degree of model diversity, thus improving predictive power and confidence in the results.

The incidence of psychological problems among occupational groups is becoming increasingly more serious, and adverse psychological conditions will seriously affect the working ability of occupational groups and harm the health of their bodies. This study adopted a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method to conduct a cross-sectional survey on the mental health of 3631 oil workers in Karamay, Xinjiang from March 2017 to June 2018. The mental health status of oil workers was evaluated using the Symptom Checklist-90, and mental health risk factors were evaluated. The correlation between the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene and mental health was analyzed, and the DNA methylation level of the MAOA gene was compared between the normal group and the abnormal group. The results show the incidence of mental health problems among oil workers according to differences in age, nationality, type of work, length of service, professional title, shift work, and marital status. The evaluation of mental health risk factors revealed that shift work, occupational stress, and high payment/low return affect mental health. The somatization scores of different genotypes of rs6323 in the MAOA gene were statistically significant (p < 0.05), suggesting that the somatization scores of different genotypes of rs6323 were different. According to the average rank, the TT genotype group had the highest score, followed by the GT genotype group, and the GG genotype group had the lowest score. The level of DNA methylation in the abnormal group was lower than that in the normal group (p < 0.05). The results suggested that occupational mental health can be enhanced by improving shift work, reducing stress, and balancing effort and reward. This preliminary investigation suggests that methylation status can affect mental health, indicating that methylation level may be a predictor of mental health status.

Pregnancy is a period of high risk for women's mental health problems, and the high prevalence and severity of pregnancy-related stress and depressive symptoms have become an important public health and social issue globally. In addition, pregnant women generally report low levels of quality of life (QoL), and there is a strong bidirectional association between QoL and mental health (pregnancy stress, depression): low QoL exacerbates the risk of mental health problems, while high QoL is protective. Despite the significant associations, existing studies have focused on specific gestational stages, single factors, or outcome effects, and there is a lack of studies examining the substantive associations and core symptoms of pregnancy stress, depressive symptoms, and quality of life across the entire gestational stage. Therefore, the aim of this study was to reveal the specific symptom network relationships and core symptoms of pregnant women's pregnancy stress, depressive symptoms and quality of life by themselves and among the three, using a network analysis methodology that integrates the early, middle and late stages of pregnancy, in order to deepen the understanding and to guide precise health interventions. From February 2023 to January 2024, a convenience sampling method was used to conduct a cross-sectional study of 1,349 pregnant women in a tertiary hospital in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China using the Patient Health Questionnaire Depressive Symptom Cluster and the Stress in Pregnancy and Health-Related Quality of Life Scale, to construct a network to perform network estimation, and to determine core nodes of the network structure based on the centrality indexes. Maternal pregnancy stress score (1.71 ± 0.55), depressive symptoms (15.36 ± 4.70), and quality of life had the highest social functioning score (74.45 ± 12.63) and the lowest physical functioning score (65.18 ± 26.75). There was a statistically significant difference in depressive symptoms among pregnant women with different literacy levels, living environments, types of occupation, gestational cycles, number of fetuses and sleep (P < 0.05), pregnancy stress among pregnant women with different ages, living environments, total monthly family income, gestational cycles, number of fetuses and sleep (P < 0.05), and the quality of life among pregnant women with different gestational cycles (P < 0.05). In the network of maternal pregnancy stress and depressive symptoms, “difficulty sleeping, restlessness, or sleeping too much” had the strongest correlation with “feelings of stress stemming from ensuring the health and safety of the mother and child” (egde = 0.07), and in the network of depression and quality of life “Irritability, fidgeting, moving around to the point where others perceive individual behavior or talking slowly” had the strongest correlation with “affective functioning” (egde = -0.07); In the stress and quality of life network was the strongest correlation with “affective function” (egde = -0.05); “other factors” was the core symptom of the whole network. This study suggests that psychological intervention programs for pregnant women should focus on increasing their confidence in taking care of their children and becoming competent mothers, fostering the spirit of “teamwork” between husband and wife, and improving the quality of life and mental health of pregnant women.