AUTHOR=Deng Chenliang , Yu Qiaoyan , Luo Ganglin , Lu Shuiping 

TITLE=Effects of 16 Weeks of Cheerleading on Physical Self-Esteem and Mental Health of Female College Students

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.925162

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.925162

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Objective</title><p>This study aimed to analyze the influence of cheerleading on female college students’ physical self-esteem and mental health.</p></sec><sec><title>Materials and Methods</title><p>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.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>After 16 weeks of cheerleading exercise, female college students had significant differences in physical attractiveness (<italic>T</italic> = 4.18), physical quality (<italic>T</italic> = 4.39), and physical self-worth (<italic>T</italic> = 3.35) before and after the experiment (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01). There were significant differences in physical condition (<italic>T</italic> = 3.87) and athletic ability (<italic>T</italic> = 2.88) before and after the experiment (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05). Somatization (<italic>T</italic> = 6.485), obsessive-compulsive symptoms (<italic>T</italic> = 11.716), interpersonal sensitivity (<italic>T</italic> = 10.077), depression (<italic>T</italic> = 8.403), anxiety (<italic>T</italic> = 10.767), hostility (<italic>T</italic> = 10.866), terror (<italic>T</italic> = 9.260), paranoia (<italic>T</italic> = 10.414), psychosis (<italic>T</italic> = 9.610), sleep and eating disorders (<italic>T</italic> = 9.323), total symptom index (<italic>T</italic> = 13.245), and mean score of positive symptoms (<italic>T</italic> = 12.237) were significantly different (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>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></sec>