Citation

Congsheng L, Kayani S, Khalid A. Front. Psychol. 2022; 13: e917503.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Frontiers Research Foundation)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2022.917503

PMID

36118484

PMCID

PMC9478583

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) and sports are extremely essential elements for physical and mental health among adolescents. Around 30% of 16 years old and above in Malaysia have mental health issues. For this purpose, 512 university students from Malaysia were surveyed through social media, with 74% response rate. Structural equation model partial least square (SEM-PLS) was used to examine the effect of PA and sports on mental health. The results revealed that both PA (b = 0.402, p < 0.001) and sports (b = 0.330, p < 0.001) significantly predict mental health among university students. The model explained 35.8% variance in mental health. The study suggests that PA and sports activity need to be promoted among university students to control prevailing mental health issues in adolescents.

Language: en

Keywords

mental health; Malaysia; physical activity; SEM-PLS; sports activity