Dietary Behaviour, Coping Style and Fatigue among College Students with Normal Mental Status: A Cross-Sectional Study in Southern China

Abstract

Fatigue has been found to be typical prevalent among college students. However, untill now, studies on the effect of dietary behaviour and coping style on fatigue among college students are still few, especially for those with normal mental status. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the association of dietary behaviour and coping style with fatigue among college students with normal mental status. Based on a cross-sectional survey, 778 college students with normal mental status were recruited. Fatigue was examined by the Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFS). Clustered mutiple liner regressions were used to explre the association of dietary behaviour and coping style with fatigue. Better dietary behaviour was significantly associated with the lower physical fatigue (PF), mental fatigue (MF) and total fatigue (TF) scores, and its independent contribution accounted for 36.6%, 20.5% and 31.9%, respectively. Those who tended to take positive coping style had the lower PF, MF and TF scores, but negative coping style was the opposite, and the independent contribution accounted for 28.2%, 31.6% and 30.9%, respectively. Dietary behaviour and coping stytle are in a degree the independent predictors of fatigue among college students with normal mental status.