Relationship between physical activity, lifestyles, and symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression in students of chemical sciences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69665/iss.v48i1.140Keywords:
physical activity, lifestyles, stress, anxiety, depression, university studentsAbstract
Recently, there has been an increase in mental disorders among university students, which constitutes a public health problem. Therefore, factors such as unhealthy lifestyles and academic pressure significantly influence the emotional well-being of this population. An analytical, observational, and cross-sectional study at an exploratory level was conducted. This study aimed to analyse the relationship between Physical Activity, lifestyle, and mental health (anxiety, depression, and stress) in 60 chemical sciences students (25 men and 35 women, 22 ± 2.33 years old). The DASS-21 mental health assessment scale, the FANTASTIC lifestyle questionnaire, and the IPAQ-short Physical Activity questionnaire were administered. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and Spearman correlation coefficients. The results showed that 90% of participants met the WHO recommendations for Physical Activity. No associations were found between Physical Activity and emotional symptoms. In contrast, a significant relationship was found between lifestyle and symptoms of depression (p = 0.003), anxiety (p = 0.035), and stress (p = 0.004). Students who reported an excellent lifestyle had a higher proportion of moderate-to-severe symptoms across all three subscales. This finding, although limited by the sample size (n = 60), suggests the need to explore whether the lifestyles and characteristics of chemical science students could act as potential psychological risk factors in this population. The results indicate that, in the sample studied, lifestyle showed a stronger association with mental health outcomes than physical activity.
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