Mental Health and Physical Fitness during Adolescence in a Region of Southeastern Spain

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

A well presented work, with a fine English. There is a missing part related to psycho-phisical condition during lockdown restriction. May I suggest some papers as

- Pascucci, T. (2021). Humour in the time of Coronavirus. Epidemiologia e Prevenzione. 45 (3), 205-213

- Soneson, E., Puntis, S. Chapman, N., Mansfield, K. L., Jones, P. B. & Fazel, M. (2023). Happier during lockdowm: a descriptive analysis of self-reported wellbeing  in 17000 UK schools students during Covid-19 lockdown. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 32 (6), 1131-1146

Author Response

A well presented work, with a fine English. There is a missing part related to psycho-phisical condition during lockdown restriction. May I suggest some papers as

- Pascucci, T. (2021). Humour in the time of Coronavirus. Epidemiologia e Prevenzione. 45 (3), 205-213

- Soneson, E., Puntis, S. Chapman, N., Mansfield, K. L., Jones, P. B. & Fazel, M. (2023). Happier during lockdowm: a descriptive analysis of self-reported wellbeing  in 17000 UK schools students during Covid-19 lockdown. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 32 (6), 1131-1146

Response: Following your recommendation, a paragraph has been added mentioning the psychophysical state of children and adolescents during confinement. (Lines 48-59)

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Thanks for the opportunity to review the paper "Mental Health and Physical Fitness during adolescence in a region of southeastern Spain"

A very interesting and topical subject for the age group studied. I'm going to make comments and suggestions for improving the paper to make it more qualified.

Introduction 

In the last paragraph of the introduction, the sentence is incomplete.

Materials and Methods 

The whole second paragraph concerns the results section and not this section. They should reword it and put it in the results section. Just like table 1, it should be in the results. In table 1, they should standardise the decimal places and put the m and Kg in the legend.

Results 

This section lacks a sample selection flowchart. 

The title of table 2 should be reworded as it does not cover all the variables and is data relating to SWLS.

Table 2 and 5 is never referenced in the text.

The interpretation of tables 2, 3 and 4 should be more summarised, as what is in the text is literally what is in the table.

The legend for table 3 and 5 is missing.

The title of table 4 is not appropriate for what it represents.

Discussion 

The first paragraph of the discussion does not meet the objectives of the study. You should rephrase this paragraph.

There is no real discussion of the results in this section. You should revise it in line with the objectives and results obtained.

Conclusions 

The conclusion does not respond to the objectives under study, they should review this aspect.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Minor editing of English language required

Author Response

Thanks for the opportunity to review the paper "Mental Health and Physical Fitness during adolescence in a region of southeastern Spain"

A very interesting and topical subject for the age group studied. I'm going to make comments and suggestions for improving the paper to make it more qualified.

Introduction 

In the last paragraph of the introduction, the sentence is incomplete.

Response: Following your suggestion, this recommendation has been completed. (Lines 102-108)

Materials and Methods 

The whole second paragraph concerns the results section and not this section. They should reword it and put it in the results section. Just like table 1, it should be in the results. In table 1, they should standardise the decimal places and put the m and Kg in the legend.

Response: Following your recommendation, these suggestions have been rectified. See Section 3 “Results”.

Results 

This section lacks a sample selection flowchart. 

Response: We understand your recommendation, however since the participants were selected by convenience sampling, it is a non-probability sample. We relied on the ease of access to the student body and to obtain as large a sample as possible, so we believe that a flow chart depicting the selection would not provide the reader with any information.

The title of table 2 should be reworded as it does not cover all the variables and is data relating to SWLS.

Response: The title has been reworded following your recommendation.

Table 2 and 5 is never referenced in the text.

Response: You are absolutely right. The tables have been mentioned in the text following your correction.

The interpretation of tables 2, 3 and 4 should be more summarised, as what is in the text is literally what is in the table.

Response: Following your recommendation, the explanation of these tables in the text has been summarized for easier reading.

The legend for table 3 and 5 is missing.

Response: Following your recommendation, the footers of the tables have been completed.

The title of table 4 is not appropriate for what it represents.

Response: Following your recommendation, this suggestion have been rectified.

Discussion 

The first paragraph of the discussion does not meet the objectives of the study. You should rephrase this paragraph.

Response: You are absolutely right. Following your recommendation, this paragraph has been rewritten with reference to the objectives of the study.

There is no real discussion of the results in this section. You should revise it in line with the objectives and results obtained.

Response: Following your recommendation the Discussion section has been completely rewritten.

Conclusions 

The conclusion does not respond to the objectives under study, they should review this aspect.

Response: The conclusions have been rewritten following their recommendation.

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Minor editing of English language required

Response: English has been reviewed by experts in the field.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The aim of the study was to assess the impact of gender and the context to which the population belongs on its outcomes. This is a very interesting research project. 

The order of the chapters in the article is correct. The content written in the chapters appropriately matched to the subsequent chapters of the publication. The authors have selected the study group well, it is quite a large group. They correctly described the methodology of the study, the research procedure, the instruments used and the statistical analysis tools chosen correctly.

The results presented in the table are easy to analyse. In contrast, the results presented in the text are difficult to analyse. It would have been better to present them in a table or in graphical form. 

In the Discussion, the authors have compared their results well with the data from the publications. It is good that the authors wrote what the limitations were during the development of this project and what practical implications arise from this research. 

Author Response

The aim of the study was to assess the impact of gender and the context to which the population belongs on its outcomes. This is a very interesting research project. 

The order of the chapters in the article is correct. The content written in the chapters appropriately matched to the subsequent chapters of the publication. The authors have selected the study group well, it is quite a large group. They correctly described the methodology of the study, the research procedure, the instruments used and the statistical analysis tools chosen correctly.

The results presented in the table are easy to analyse. In contrast, the results presented in the text are difficult to analyse. It would have been better to present them in a table or in graphical form. 

Response: Following your recommendation, we have simplified and summarized the results shown in the text in order to facilitate comprehension and reading.

In the Discussion, the authors have compared their results well with the data from the publications. It is good that the authors wrote what the limitations were during the development of this project and what practical implications arise from this research. 

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Physical activity was and continues to be an important factor of development. Particularly, in adolescence; particularly, in our digital times when children spend more time with gadgets than having outdoor activities.

In this sense the paper addresses important issues. Though it would be nice if authors would add more regional context, common lifestyle of those students as long as they put the region in the aim of the study.

Major comments:

1. Background section is too brief and hardly uncovers the problem. As a developmental psychologist I know that 12-year-old teenagers are only in the process of formation of their self-concept, as well as the very idea of life satisfaction. They are just switching from external self-esteem to internal. So when you say that LS is one of the major factors that affects development I would disagree, as they are only on the way to this concept. So I would suggest that you would add strong rationalle about LS in teenagers and adolescents. Another background questions is that positive association of LS and PA are well-established in different age population. Overall, I couldn't remeber a study where PA would had any negative effects. So again, you need to strengthen your theoretical position and explain what is new in your study, what it adds to the field.

2. The aim of the study is unclear - you put it as a study of association of LS and PA in certain region. But if we know and expect there would be positive association, why do we need to study it in a particular region? Why you expect different results from the studies conducted in other regions?

3. The sample you described was 12 to 18, but if we take a look at mean and SD we find that most sample fall into the period from 12 to 15. In adolescentce each year makes a difference as it is pubertat period and those aged 18 would be way different from those aged 12. If the amount of students over 15 is not too big, maybe it would be reasonable to exclude them from the sample and make the results more profound?

4. Another question corresponds to the height and weight. What information can we get from average height and weight in a sample from 12 to 18 where teenagers undergo one of the most significant phisical and physiological changes throughout the whole life span? AMybe it would be better to make a table showing distribution of height and weight (or maybe some other measure like bmi) in age and gender groups (as we know that boys and girls have different developmental changes)?

5. As LS is only developing in adolescence (especially when we talk about 12-13 years-old), what if it is not PA that affects LS but vice versa? As regression analysis in cross-sectional studies do not really show any directions, this would be an important question to address.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Some phrases are not easy to understand, particularly those in the abstract.

Author Response

Physical activity was and continues to be an important factor of development. Particularly, in adolescence; particularly, in our digital times when children spend more time with gadgets than having outdoor activities.

In this sense the paper addresses important issues. Though it would be nice if authors would add more regional context, common lifestyle of those students as long as they put the region in the aim of the study.

Major comments:

1. Background section is too brief and hardly uncovers the problem. As a developmental psychologist I know that 12-year-old teenagers are only in the process of formation of their self-concept, as well as the very idea of life satisfaction. They are just switching from external self-esteem to internal. So when you say that LS is one of the major factors that affects development I would disagree, as they are only on the way to this concept. So I would suggest that you would add strong rationalle about LS in teenagers and adolescents.

Response: We understand your recommendation and the confusion it may generate, however, our intention is to express that there are several factors that influence development, such as LS, and not that it directly affects development: “Various factors influence and determine the personal development of individuals as they grow” (Line 29-30). Therefore, following your recommendation, we have omitted the term determine and added new information on LS during adolescence (Lines 60-68).

Another background questions is that positive association of LS and PA are well-established in different age population. Overall, I couldn't remeber a study where PA would had any negative effects. So again, you need to strengthen your theoretical position and explain what is new in your study, what it adds to the field.

Response: We fully understand your recommendation, which is why we have indicated what gap in the literature the study covers. As you rightly point out, the relationship between PA and SL has been examined, but not the possible association between self-perceived physical fitness and SL: “Despite these findings, no studies have examined the relationship between adolescent PF and LS, so this study focuses on exploring this association, in addition to studying the effect of these two variables differentiated by gender and living environment”

2. The aim of the study is unclear - you put it as a study of association of LS and PA in certain region. But if we know and expect there would be positive association, why do we need to study it in a particular region? Why you expect different results from the studies conducted in other regions?

Response: We understand your recommendation. The hypotheses of the study and their justification have also been added at the end of the introduction: “Therefore, it is hypothesized that there is a significant association between LS and self-perceived physical condition, being higher in female students and those residing in rural environments. In this way, the pedagogical strategies developed and implemented in the region can be adapted to the characteristics of the target population and the environment in which they are developed.”

3. The sample you described was 12 to 18, but if we take a look at mean and SD we find that most sample fall into the period from 12 to 15. In adolescentce each year makes a difference as it is pubertat period and those aged 18 would be way different from those aged 12. If the amount of students over 15 is not too big, maybe it would be reasonable to exclude them from the sample and make the results more profound?

Response: Thank you for the recommendation. As Table 1 indicates, students in the four years of Secondary Education were evaluated, eliminating those students above the age range of 12-16 years. However, in order to carry out the sample calculation necessary to obtain a representative sample, the regional government data only provided information on the number of students between the ages of 12 and 18, so this figure was taken as a reference for estimating the minimum sample.

4. Another question corresponds to the height and weight. What information can we get from average height and weight in a sample from 12 to 18 where teenagers undergo one of the most significant phisical and physiological changes throughout the whole life span? AMybe it would be better to make a table showing distribution of height and weight (or maybe some other measure like bmi) in age and gender groups (as we know that boys and girls have different developmental changes)?

Response: We understand the doubts raised. In another study in the process of publication, we propose the moderating effect of body mass index on the relationship between LS and self-perceived physical condition, since we have verified in previous studies the relationship between self-concept and BMI. However, in this study we preferentially describe how the association between LS and FP differs as a function of gender and environment. But such sociodemographic questions were administered to the students, so we describe the procedure as it was carried out.

5. As LS is only developing in adolescence (especially when we talk about 12-13 years-old), what if it is not PA that affects LS but vice versa? As regression analysis in cross-sectional studies do not really show any directions, this would be an important question to address.

Response: We understand your recommendation. We have added this question to the future lines of research in the manuscript: “Finally, it is necessary to explore the direction in which the relationship between self-perceived physical fitness and SL occurs, therefore, future analyses should shed light on whether it is SL that influences self-perceived PF or vice versa”

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Some phrases are not easy to understand, particularly those in the abstract.

Response: English has been reviewed by experts in the field.

 

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Thank you for the opportunity to review the paper again "Mental Health and Physical Fitness during adolescence in a region of southeastern Spain".

With all the changes that have been made, the paper is much clearer, easier to read and understand.

Thank you for understanding and accepting our suggestions.

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Thank you for clatifications.