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Research Paper | Nursing | India | Volume 11 Issue 9, September 2022
Correlation between Mental Health and Physical Activity among Adolescents
Amalnath G | Shija K
Abstract: Adolescence is a transitional period of development between childhood and adulthood1. About 50 million Indian children suffer from mental disorders and this number will increase if they are not attended in right time.2 There?s a general concept that; physical activity improves both physical and mental wellbeing. Physical activities have positive effect on psychological state and there are studies that are supportive and contradictory to this concept. This is a descriptive correlational study conducted to find the correlation between mental health and physical activity among adolescent students belonging to the age of 14 - 16 years. Methods: Participants were 270 school going adolescents of Alappuzha district. Socio personal data were collected using structured questionnaire. Assessment of mental health and physical activity were done using Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ11 - 17), Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ - A) respectively. Association between mental health and physical activity to the socio personal variables of adolescents was also found. Data were analyzed using descriptive, inferential statistics. Results: Mean age of the participants was 15.04years. Majority of them (92.2%) have good mental health and 70.4% have moderate physical activity. No significant correlation was found between mental health and physical activity (rs=0.08). There was statistically significant association between mental health of adolescents and socio personal variables like nature of residential area (?2= 13.2, p=0.039), type of school (?2=15.60, p=0.004), sector of school (?2=15.45, p=0.004), mode of stay (?2=26.2, p=0.001), and history of substance use (?2=9.1, p=0.01). Statistically significant association was there between physical activity and socio personal variables like Age (?2=9.4, p=0.05), gender (?2=15.2, p=0.001), type of school (?2=41.15, p=0.001) and sector of school (?2=20.8, p=0.001). Conclusion: Adolescent students have shown good mental health and moderate physical activity; but there was no significant correlation between mental health and physical activity of adolescents. Measures to enhance physical activity among adolescents can be taken, regardless of types / sectors of school. Since mental health and physical activity have significant association with type and sector of schools, school based initiatives can be planned to improve both the elements.
Keywords: Mental health, physical activity, adolescents
Edition: Volume 11 Issue 9, September 2022,
Pages: 120 - 125