Dataset Information

Assessment of Subjective Well-Being in a Cohort of University Students and Staff Members: Association with Physical Activity and Outdoor Leisure Time during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: Time spent outdoors and physical activity (PA) promote mental health. To confirm this relationship in the aftermath of COVID-19 lockdowns, we explored individual levels of anxiety, depression, stress and subjective well-being (SWB) in a cohort of academic students and staff members and tested their association with sport practice, PA at leisure time and time spent outdoors. Our cross-sectional study collected data during the COVID-19 outbreak (April-May 2021) on 939 students and on 238 employees, who completed an online survey on sociodemographic and lifestyle features, depression, anxiety, stress, and SWB. Results showed that the students exhibited higher levels of anxiety, depression, and stress, and lower levels of SWB (p < 0.001 for all domains) compared to the staff members. Correlation analysis confirmed that PA and time spent in nature were associated to high mental health scores among staff and, more consistently, among students. Finally, mediation analyses indicated that the time spent in nature, social relationships, and levels of energy play a mediator role in the relationship between sport practice and SWB. Our evidence reinforces the protective role of time spent in nature in improving mental health, and provides support for policymakers to make appropriate choices for a better management of COVID-19 pandemic consequences.

SUBMITTER: Quarta S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9025284 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Assessment of Subjective Well-Being in a Cohort of University Students and Staff Members: Association with Physical Activity and Outdoor Leisure Time during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Quarta Stefano S Levante Annalisa A García-Conesa María-Teresa MT Lecciso Flavia F Scoditti Egeria E Carluccio Maria Annunziata MA Calabriso Nadia N Damiano Fabrizio F Santarpino Giuseppe G Verri Tiziano T Pinto Paula P Siculella Luisa L Massaro Marika M

International journal of environmental research and public health 20220414 8

Time spent outdoors and physical activity (PA) promote mental health. To confirm this relationship in the aftermath of COVID-19 lockdowns, we explored individual levels of anxiety, depression, stress and subjective well-being (SWB) in a cohort of academic students and staff members and tested their association with sport practice, PA at leisure time and time spent outdoors. Our cross-sectional study collected data during the COVID-19 outbreak (April−May 2021) on 939 students and on 238 employees ...[more]

PMID: 35457652

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Project description:Identification of social risk factors and the promotion of stress coping mechanisms and mental resilience are topics of interest in the field of mental health. The relationships between risk- or tolerability-associated factors and task-related hemodynamic responses in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in adolescents may have important implications for mental health challenges. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between task-related PFC hemodynamic activities and subjective well-being or lifestyle habits using wearable near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). In this study, after sample refinement to reduce heterogeneity, 20 university students were included in verbal working memory (VWM) task analyses and 21 were included in spatial working memory (SWM) task analyses. The task-related hemodynamic responses were detected using wearable NIRS. To assess the risk- or tolerability-associated factors, the levels of positive and negative affect were assessed using the Subjective Well-Being Inventory (SUBI) and lifestyle habits (such as gaming) were evaluated using a nine-item questionnaire. There was a positive correlation between SUBI positive affect and VWM task-related oxy-hemoglobin signal changes in the right dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC), underlining the significance of subjective well-being as an important independent emotional domain and suggesting the possibility of the differential objective evaluations of subjective well-being in the right PFC. Negative correlations between PFC activities during both VWM and SWM tasks at the left DLPFC and the number of game playing days in 1 week were also statistically significant, suggesting the presence of modality-non-specific hemodynamic regulation by habitual game playing. Each correlation was still robust after the elimination of major confounding impacts. Although further replication studies are warranted to confirm these preliminary results, this investigation of the relationship between task-related PFC hemodynamic activities and emotional domains or lifestyle habits might have clinical significance with regard to primary prevention of mental health issues in university students. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of these relationships with the use of wearable NIRS, which enables measurement under near natural conditions and is easy to use in schools or workplaces.

Project description:Objectives To investigate changes in moderate and vigorous physical activity (PA), and find correlation with psychological well-being and perceived health status in university students prior to versus 4–6 weeks following the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic Methods Registered students to the 2020/2021 academic year participated in an online survey representing four Hungarian universities in the framework of “COVID-19 International Student Well-being Study” project. Moderate and vigorous PA were measured with a single question, psychological well-being was evaluated using the Center for Epidemiological Studies − Depression Scale (CES-D) short form and perceived health status on the 11-point Cantril ladder respectively. Statistical analyses were calculated using SPSS 26.0 software Results A total of 2779 Hungarian citizen students completed the questionnaire and 2162 (27.7% males) provided full information on PA. Mean age was 24.52 (SD = 7.15) years. A significant decrease was observed in moderate PA prior to and during social isolation (Z = -14.956; p < .001). Students mean well-being was 10.23, SD = 5.28)/32. After analyzing changes (decreased, unchanged, increased) of PA in the context of well-being, it was found students with reduced PA had significantly less favorable scores on well-being scale than students who unchanged or increased their PA level, both in moderate (F = 32.35; p < .001) and vigorous (F = 21.44; p < .001) PA. Regarding the perceived health status there was significant reduction during the pandemic (M = 7.58, SD = 2.19) compared to the preceding period (M = 7.94, SD = 1.85; p < .001). This reduction was most notable in the group that reduced PA Conclusions The closure of universities and sport facilities unfavorably influenced the students’ previous PA level. Based on the result, there is a negative relationship between PA and psychological wellbeing also between PA and perceived health status. Universities may pay more attention to keep their students physically active even during a pandemic as it may be far from being over yet.

Dataset Information

Assessment of Subjective Well-Being in a Cohort of University Students and Staff Members: Association with Physical Activity and Outdoor Leisure Time during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Publications

Assessment of Subjective Well-Being in a Cohort of University Students and Staff Members: Association with Physical Activity and Outdoor Leisure Time during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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