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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1586278
This article is part of the Research TopicMotivations For Physical Activity - Volume IIIView all 15 articles
EFFECT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ON MENTAL TOUGHNESS AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN GENDER-SPECIFIC PARTICIPANTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL EXAMINATION
Provisionally accepted- 1Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
- 2Shaqra University, Shaqraa, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 3University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
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Background and Aims: Mental toughness is a psychological construct related to resilience and perseverance, and quality of life encompasses physical, emotional, and social well-being, which are critical indicators of overall health and well-being. This study aims to investigate the effects of different levels of physical activity on mental toughness and quality of life in both male and female participants. Methods: This cross-sectional study consists of 220 participants with the age range of 18-31 years. The data were collected using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, the Mental Toughness Questionnaire, and the World Health Organisation Quality of Life. Gender specific differences were determined using an independent t-test (two-tailed). The effect of varying levels of physical activity in male and female participants was determined by analysis of variance. Results: Significant differences were found between male and female participants for physical activity levels as high (t=4.21,p=<.001, d=871.80), moderate (t=3.72,p=<.001, d=1309.59), and low (t=3.21,p=.002, d=520.91) physical activity participants. Statistically significant differences were also found between gender for mental toughness parameters {handling pressure (t=17.96, p=<.001,d=1.25), concentration (t=16.07,p=<.001,d=1.22), mental rebounding (t=13.34,p=<.001,d=1.45), winning attitude (t=12.01,p=<.001,d=1.17)} and quality of life parameters {physical (t=13.16,p=<.001,d=1.58), mental (t=6.17,p=<.001,d=1.69), social (t=4.58,p=<.001,d=2.05), environmental (t=8.35,p=<.001,d=4.95)}. Conclusion: Statistically significant differences were found between genders in levels of physical activity, mental toughness, and quality of life. Future research should aim to unravel the complex interlink between physical activity, mental toughness, and quality of life, using longitudinal designs and diverse populations to validate the findings and explore the underlying mechanisms further.
Keywords: physical activity, Mental Health, Mental toughness, Quality of Life, sex differences
Received: 02 Mar 2025; Accepted: 10 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ahsan, Alzahrani, Alhusayni and Aljohany. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mohammad Ahsan, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
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