The Importance of Physical Activity in the Protection of the Mental Health of Students of Faculty of Sport Sciences

Abstract

The purpose of the present research is determining the psychological symptoms observed among the students of the Faculty of Sports Sciences and to define the effects of physical activity on the mental health of the students. The sample of the research consists of 222 volunteer students (n=75 female and n=147 male) who study at Adnan Menderes University Faculty of Sports Sciences in 2017-2018 Academic Year. International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used to define the physical activity levels of students and Symptom Distress Check List (SCL-90-R) was used to define the psychological symptoms of the students. SPSS 22.0 package program was used for the statistical analysis of the data collected for the present research. According to the findings of the statistical analyses, the most frequent psychological symptoms observed among students respectively were obsessive-compulsive symptoms (70.3%, n=156), paranoid thoughts (63.1%, n=140), interpersonal sensitivity (51.8%, n=115) and anger hostility (51.4%, n=114). It was also found that there was a significant negative correlation between the physical activity levels of the students and general symptom averages and the psychological symptoms such as obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression, anxiety, anger hostility at 0.01 level (p>0.05). According to the findings of the present research, symptoms, such as obsessive-compulsive symptoms, paranoid thoughts, interpersonal sensitivity and anger hostility are observed, and general symptom average was high among students of Faculty of Sports Sciences and psychological symptoms such as obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression, anxiety, anger hostility, phobic reaction decreased as the physical activity level of the students increased. Psychological symptoms other than psychotics were mostly among female students. Participation in meditation, yoga, music therapy, exercise and physical activity programs as well as applied lessons in the curriculum can contribute to the prevention of mental problems among students with these symptoms.