@article{ref1,
title="Effects of 16 weeks of cheerleading on physical self-esteem and mental health of female college students",
journal="Frontiers in psychology",
year="2022",
author="Deng, Chenliang and Yu, Qiaoyan and Luo, Ganglin and Lu, Shuiping",
volume="13",
number="",
pages="e925162-e925162",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the influence of cheerleading on female college students' physical self-esteem and mental health. <br><br>MATERIALS AND METHODS: In total, 63 female college students from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China were trained in cheerleading for 16 weeks. The scores of each sub-field of physical self-esteem and psychological symptoms were analyzed by using Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP) and Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90), respectively, at 0 and 16 weeks of the experiment. <br><br>RESULTS: After 16 weeks of cheerleading exercise, female college students had significant differences in physical attractiveness (T = 4.18), physical quality (T = 4.39), and physical self-worth (T = 3.35) before and after the experiment (P < 0.01). There were significant differences in physical condition (T = 3.87) and athletic ability (T = 2.88) before and after the experiment (P < 0.05). Somatization (T = 6.485), obsessive-compulsive symptoms (T = 11.716), interpersonal sensitivity (T = 10.077), depression (T = 8.403), anxiety (T = 10.767), hostility (T = 10.866), terror (T = 9.260), paranoia (T = 10.414), psychosis (T = 9.610), sleep and eating disorders (T = 9.323), total symptom index (T = 13.245), and mean score of positive symptoms (T = 12.237) were significantly different (P < 0.01). <br><br>CONCLUSION: Cheerleading can significantly improve the level of female college students' physical self-esteem, especially the self-esteem level of physical attractiveness, physical quality, and physical self-worth. They also experienced significant improvement in their psychological disorders, especially somatization, depression, and sleep and eating disorders, which effectively improved their overall mental health.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1664-1078",
doi="10.3389/fpsyg.2022.925162",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.925162"
}