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 - Balanzá-Martínez, Vicent
AU - O'Neil, Adrienne
AU - Romain, A. J.
AU - McGrath, Aisling
AU - Alselmi, Alejandro
AU - Andrade-Lima, Aluísio
AU - Zanetti, Ana Carolina Guidorizzi
AU - Trompetero-González, 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, Jênifer
AU - Deenik, J.
AU - Soto-Sánchez, Johana
AU - van der Kaap-Deeder, Jolene
AU - Leo Ng, Jonathan
AU - López-Gil, José Francisco
AU - Firth, Joseph
AU - Teixeira, Julia Amaral
AU - Nikonov, Juan Ramiro
AU - Hoyer, Jürgen
AU - Carneiro, Lara
AU - Zou, Liye
AU - Farrer, Louise M.
AU - Woud, Marcella L.
AU - Solmi, Marco
AU - Guimarães, Maria Eduarda Adornes
AU - Gerber, Markus
AU - Reichert, Markus
AU - Jenkins, Matthew
AU - Savage, Matthew J.
AU - Hoffmann, Mauricio Scopel
AU - Hutchesson, Melinda
AU - Gonzalez Henao, Milton Enrique
AU - Chong, Moises Jonathan Magos
AU - Morina, Nexhmedin
AU - Galvão-Coelho, Nicole L.
AU - Heinrichs, Nina
AU - Montoya-Hurtado, Olga L.
AU - Ewah, Patrick Ayi
AU - Salameh, Pascale
AU - De Boni, Raquel
AU - Cheung, Rebecca Y.M.
AU - Monteiro-Junior, Renato Sobral
AU - White, Rhiannon Lee
AU - Haider, Sandra
AU - Baldew, Se Sergio
AU - Gow, Shawn
AU - Rosenbaum, Simon
AU - Hallit, Souheil
AU - Piccinin, Stéfany Giacomelo
AU - Heinzel, Stephan
AU - Torres, Susan
AU - Rashid, Tabassum
AU - Matias, Thiago Sousa
AU - Rohe, Tim
AU - Meireles, Tony
AU - Reyes-Ferrada, Waleska
AU - Zhang, Yanjie
AU - Frei, Anna Katharina
AU - Deslandes, Andrea
AU - Wolf, Sebastian
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2026. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ Group.
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 - Behavior
KW - Health
KW - MENTAL HEALTH
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105027196315
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-085006
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-085006
M3 - Article
C2 - 41526014
AN - SCOPUS:105027196315
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 16
SP - e085006
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
IS - 1
ER -
