AUTHOR=Congsheng Lu , Kayani Sumaira , Khalid Amna 

TITLE=An empirical study of physical activity and sports affecting mental health of university students

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.917503

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.917503

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>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 (<italic>b</italic> = 0.402, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) and sports (<italic>b</italic> = 0.330, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 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.</p>