Physical Activity and Mental Health in University Students
by Carly Bright
Physical Activity and Mental Health in University Students
Abstract
Mental health issues are one of the biggest concerns when it comes to worldwide health and treatments for these issues are constantly evolving. Physical activity (PA) has shown promise to improve mental well-being in a wide range of different ways including enhancing self image, expanding social communities, and reducing anxiety and depression symptoms. Problems revolving around mental health are very prominent in younger ages and the pressures that university students experience on a daily basis put their well-being at risk. Physical activeness has links to higher productivity rates, higher life satisfaction, better cognitive function, and many more great benefits that with the correct manipulation, PA can be used as a preventative or coping mechanism against mental health problems in university students
Keywords: Mental Health, Physical Activeness, Productivity Rates, Well-being
Introduction
A review of current research determined that there is a surplus of information that supports using PA as a mechanism to improve mental health. There is also data to reinforce that the stressful environments that students reside in can have negative impacts on mental health. A research article by (Congsheng, et al., 2022) emphasized that “physical activity has a significant and positive influence on the mental health of youth,” that is why university students are the intended audience as mental illness is so common in younger ages but proper care for mental health is often scarce. Other research showed that PA has the capacity to influence cognitive abilities as it aids “intellectual capacity, functional capacity and abstract thought processes” (Brown, et al., 2017). The main problem noticed was that there is not a lot of this information being advertised to the appropriate communities in order to positively impact mental health practices.
Methodology
A survey was done on a small group of university students aged 18-25 to determine average levels of physical activeness and corresponding state of mental well-being. Participants were asked a series of self-reported questions regarding their mental health as well as how physically active they are. Participants in this study were recruited through a Communications and Rhetoric class (CORH 205) offered at UBC Okanagan in order to ensure ethical data is collection from university students. This audience is the most appropriate as university students withstand large amounts of stress and yet still have the ability to properly understand the importance of mental health. The purpose of this research was to prioritize the intended group as (Keyes, 2009) explains that “our youth is our nation’s future.”
Survey Results
In one question, students were asked to report how often they felt a certain emotion on a weekly basis. From this data we can infer that students rarely have feelings of worthlessness but as hypothesized, extreme stress, anxiety and depression is very common amongst the lives of university students. Throughout the research I have done, several studies have proven that an
average of about “150 minutes” of PA can greatly increase one’s mental health and “reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression” (Siefken, et al., 2019). As for feelings of loneliness, especially in group/team sports, PA has shown to have “positive effects on self-esteem and the sense of belonging” (Mazereel et al., 2021)
Participants were then asked to self-report on the rate of occurrence in daily life when it comes to feeling the specified emotions. Results showed that these negative emotions usually disrupt daily living in university students. Other data that I extracted from my survey was that physical activity is not everyone’s idea of ‘fun’ and that was expected.
In fact about 45% of participants were unsure or disliked working out. One of the main parts of my project was to emphasize the many different forms of physical activity and how finding the right type could greatly benefit your mental health.
Conclusion
Physical activity has extremely beneficial impacts when it comes to influencing mental health and this data can be used to positively influence mental health in students. From the study above, it is clear that students struggle with mental health on a regular occasion and it often interferes with their daily living. Additionally, other studies have shown a multitude of psychological benefits including “increased academic performance, confidence, well-being, mood, work efficiency along with decreased anger, depression, confusion, stress response” (Taylor, et al.,1985). For future implications, it would be important to determine which specific variations of physical activity are most beneficial towards mental health and how to properly acclimate it into daily living for students.
References
Brown, K A., Patel, D R., & Darmawan, D. (2017). Participation in sports in relation to adolescent growth and development. Translational Pediatrics. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5532200/
Congsheng, L., Kayani, S., & Khalid, A. (2022). An empirical study of physical activity and sports affecting mental health of university students. Frontiers. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9478583/
Keyes, C. (2009). The Nature and Importance of Positive Mental Health in America’s Adolescents. Handbook of Positive psychology in schools. Google Books. https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=1pKOAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA9&dq=importance+of+good+mental+health&ots=9LvMopxN56&sig=BtAZ58DT0oXe2xGe1PykHN-Rogk#v=onepage&q&f=false
Mazereel, V., Vansteelandt, K., Menne-Lothmann, C., Decoster, J., Derom, C., Thiery, E., Rutten, B. P. F., Jacobs, N., van Os, J., Wichers, M., De Hert, M., Vancampfort, D., & van Winkel, R. (2021). The complex and dynamic interplay between self-esteem, belongingness and physical activity in daily life: An experience sampling study in adolescence and young adulthood. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 21, 100413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2021.100413
Siefken, K., Junge, A., & Laemmle, L. (2019). How does sport affect mental health? An investigation into the relationship of leisure-time physical activity with depression and anxiety. Human movement, 20(1), 62-74. https://www.termedia.pl/How-does-sport-affect-mental-health-An-investigation-into-the-relation ship-of-leisure-time-physical-activity-with-depression-and-anxiety,129,33840,1,1.htmlTaylor, C B., Sallis, J F., & Needle, R. (1985). The relation of physical activity and exercise to mental health. Public Health Reports. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1424736/?page=3