Enhancing mental health through physical education: A college-level study
Description
Postgraduate students are experiencing more mental health issues due to academic stress and lifestyle changes. Thus, the study aims to assess the effect of structured physical education (PE) activities on mental health, academic stress, self-esteem, social support, and depression in postgraduate students. The research employed an experimental design consisting of a pre-test and a post-test. A total of 94 postgraduate students were randomly assigned into two different groups (Control Group=47, Intervention Group=47) and were involved in an 8-week intervention program. The psychological variables were measured by employing GHQ-12, PASS, RSES, MSPSS, and PHQ-9 instruments and were analyzed by employing Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Post-test results showed a significant increase in the experiment group’s self-esteem (M = 31.00 vs. 25.77) and social support (M = 66.89 vs. 54.51). There was also a positive change in the experiment group’s mental health, indicated by a reduction in GHQ-12 (M = 8.83 vs. 15.60), where a lower score represents a better mental health. Academic stress (M= 38.91 vs. 50.34) and depression (M=11.53 vs. 16.97) are reduced after the intervention in the experimental group. The novelty of this research is its integration of multiple psychological constructs measured by standardized scales in a single PE intervention, showing strong causal effects with high effect sizes. This research has provided empirical support for PE as a cost-effective intervention in improving mental health among postgraduates.
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Major Project on Philosophy and Social Science Research in Higher Education Institutions in Hubei Province (21ZD102)