The association of mental health with physical activity and its dimensions in Chinese adults: A cross-sectional study.

PLoS One

Department of Physical Education, Wenzhou University, Chashan Higher Education Park, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China.

Published: October 2024

Background: Selecting the most efficient type of physical activity that improves mental health can assist in choosing appropriate interventions. Hence, the objective of this study was to evaluate the associations between physical activity and its various aspects, including weekly physical activity, weekly walking and exercise sessions, and the frequency of walking and exercise per week, with the mental health of Chinese adults.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Hangzhou (2023) involving 512 adults aged 18 and 64. Each participant received a self-completed questionnaire comprising three sections. The initial section focused on gathering basic information about the participants, such as gender, age, annual income, and marital status. The second section consisted of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), which aimed to evaluate the mental health status of the participants. Lastly, the third section included the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Version (IPAQ-SV), which assessed the metabolic equivalent (MET) of activities like walking, moderate-intensity exercises, and high-intensity exercises.

Results: The study found that mental health problems affected 25.74% of adults, while physical inactivity was prevalent in 49.63% of adults. The statistical model was highly significant (F = 25.143, p < 0.001), suggesting that at least one predictor has a significant impact on mental health. The model accounted for 39% of the variance in mental health, with all variables showing predictive value. Notably, the number of walking days per week emerged as the most influential predictor of mental health (β = -0.392), followed by level of weekly physical activity in MET, the number of exercise training sessions per week, weekly exercise training in MET, and weekly walking in MET (β = -0.312, -0.301, -0.212, and -0.202, respectively).

Conclusions: Adults can allocate more days per week to walking and their usual physical activity to improve their mental health.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11458050PMC
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0311535PLOS

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

mental health
36
physical activity
28
health
10
physical
8
cross-sectional study
8
mental
8
weekly physical
8
weekly walking
8
walking exercise
8
days week
8

Similar Publications

The Mental Well-Being of Graduate Students in Canada: A Scoping Review.

Am J Health Promot

March 2025

Social Justice in Mental Health Research Lab, School of Occupational Therapy, Western University, London, ON, Canada.

To review the literature exploring the mental health of graduate students in Canada. Data Source: Articles identified in EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Medline, Sociological Abstracts, Nursing and Allied Health, and ERIC.Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria:Two independent reviewers screened articles that: (1) focused on graduate students' mental wellbeing; (2) used empirical study designs (3) were published in English; (4) were conducted in Canada.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ability and utility of the Physician Well-Being Index to identify distress among Chinese physicians.

Ann Med

December 2025

Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and National Center for Mental Disorders, the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Background: Despite the high prevalence of mental stress among physicians, reliable screening tools are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the capability of the Physician Well-Being Index (PWBI) in identifying distress and adverse consequences among Chinese physicians.

Methods: This cross-sectional online survey recruited 2803 physicians from Southern Mainland China snowball sampling between October and December 2020.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Temporal Dynamics of Depressive Symptoms, Apathy, Daily Activities, and Cognitive Decline in Older People From the General Population: A Network Analysis.

Am J Geriatr Psychiatry

February 2025

Department of Psychiatry (AJCS, EJG), Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands; Health Campus The Hague (EJG), Department of Public Health & Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. Electronic address:

Background: The prevalence of depressive symptoms, apathy, and cognitive decline increases with age. Understanding the temporal dynamics of these symptoms could provide valuable insights into the early stages of cognitive decline, allowing for more timely and effective treatment and management.

Methods: Participants from the Prevention of Dementia by Intensive Vascular Care (preDIVA) trial cohort with baseline and ≥3 follow-up measurements were included, with a median of 7.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The importance of health literacy in personal health management is widely recognised in the general population, yet remains poorly understood in some patient groups, including people with spinal cord injury or disorder (SCI/D).

Objectives: The systematic review had two objectives: (1) to determine the health literacy levels of individuals with SCI/D, and (2) to identify facilitators and barriers to developing health literacy in this group.

Methods: Seven databases (CINAHL, Embase, Emcare, ProQuest, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science) were searched from inception, with an updated search completed on January 21, 2025.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!