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The Effects of Leisure Activities on Mental Health of Children and Youth

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 May 2023) | Viewed by 8286

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Chia-Ming Chang

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Guest Editor

Department of Physical Education, Health & Recreation, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 62103, Taiwan
Interests: leisure behavior study; leisure sport education; sport psychology; sport management

Dr. Huey-Hong Hsieh

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Guest Editor

Department of Leisure Management, Taiwan Shoufu University, Tainan 72153, Taiwan
Interests: leisure psychology; leisure education; recreational sport management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Children and youths experience dramatic physical and psychological growth. During childhood and adolescence, they often encounter academic learning stress, social adaption and social-network-related problems. Previous studies have revealed that the mental health of adults was affected by their experiences of leisure in their youth. Research has shown that people highly involved in leisure activities were less likely to have depression, emotional disorders or dementia. It is evident that leisure activities can contribute to emotion stabilization. It would be interesting to determine whether the benefits on mental health that leisure has are temporary or have long-lasting effects. Through appropriate activity design and encouragement, we can increase children's and youth’s engagement in leisure activities, and thus, the benefits they gain from their involvement will increase. Therefore, the purpose of this Special Issue is to encourage theoretical and practical reflections on the broad topic of the effects of leisure activities on the mental health of children and youths.

Prof. Dr. Chia-Ming Chang
Dr. Huey-Hong Hsieh
Guest Editors

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Keywords

children and adolescence
leisure activities
mental health

Published Papers (3 papers)

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11 pages, 577 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Online Video Sport Spectatorship on the Subjective Well-Being of College Students: The Moderating Effect of Sport Involvement

by Yi-Hsiu Lin, Chen-Yueh Chen, Yen-Kuang Lin, Chen-Yin Lee and Chia-Yi Cheng

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 4381; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054381 - 1 Mar 2023

Viewed by 1524

Abstract

Individuals’ engagement in sports and sport-related entertainment is reported to improve their subjective well-being (SWB). We investigated whether online video sport spectatorship (OVSS) enhances the SWB of college students and whether sport involvement moderates the correlation between OVSS and SWB. For this, a pretest–posttest experimental design with a 3-week-long intervention (OVSS) was adopted. Two groups, intervention and control, were formed. The findings revealed that OVSS improved SWB (p = 0.017). Furthermore, sport involvement moderated the correlation between OVSS and SWB (p = 0.024). Specifically, participants with high levels of sport involvement in the intervention group exhibited better SWB (M = 5.51) than did the corresponding controls (M = 4.69). By contrast, among participants with low levels of sport involvement, only the intervention group showed improved SWB; however, it remained unchanged in the control group. The present study enriches the relevant literature and provides empirical evidence for the psychological benefits conferred by OVSS. Our findings may serve as a reference for designing interventions aimed at improving individuals’ overall quality of life. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Effects of Leisure Activities on Mental Health of Children and Youth)

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15 pages, 1656 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Associations between Meeting 24-Hour Movement Guidelines (24-HMG) and Mental Health in Adolescents—Cross Sectional Evidence from China

by Lin Luo, Xiaojin Zeng, Yunxia Cao, Yulong Hu, Shaojing Wen, Kaiqi Tang, Lina Ding, Xiangfei Wang and Naiqing Song

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(4), 3167; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043167 - 10 Feb 2023

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2363

Abstract

(1) Background: This study determined the prevalence of adolescents that meet 24-HMGs alone and in combination, and their association with the risk of developing adolescent anxiety and depression. (2) Methods: Participants were drawn from 9420 K8 grade adolescents (age 14.53 ± 0.69 years; 54.78% boys) from the China Education Tracking Survey (CEPS) 2014–2015 tracking data. Data on depression and anxiety were collected from the results of the questionnaire in the CEPS for the adolescent mental health test. Compliance with the 24-HMG was defined as: physical activity time (PA) ≥ 60 min/day was defined as meeting the PA. Screen time (ST) ≤ 120 min/day was defined as meeting the ST. Adolescents aged 13 years achieved 9–11 h of sleep per night and adolescents aged 14–17 years achieved 8–10 h of sleep per night, defined as meeting sleep. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between meeting and not meeting the recommendations and the risk of depression and anxiety in adolescents. (3) Results: Of the sample studied, 0.71% of adolescents met all three recommendations, 13.54% met two recommendations and 57.05% met one recommendation. Meeting sleep, meeting PA+ sleep, meeting ST + sleep, and meeting PA + ST + sleep were associated with a significantly lower risk of anxiety and depression in adolescents. Logistic regression results showed that differences in the effects of gender on the odds ratio (ORs) for depression and anxiety in adolescents were not significant. (4) Conclusions: This study determined the risk of developing depression and anxiety in adolescents who met the recommendations for 24-HMG alone and in combination. Overall, meeting more of the recommendations in the 24-HMGs was associated with lower anxiety and depression risk outcomes in adolescents. For boys, reducing the risk of depression and anxiety can be prioritised by meeting PA + ST + sleep, meeting ST + sleep and meeting sleep in the 24-HMGs. For girls, reducing the risk of depression and anxiety may be preferred by meeting PA + ST + sleep or meeting PA+ sleep and meeting sleep in 24-HMGs. However, only a small proportion of adolescents met all recommendations, highlighting the need to promote and support adherence to these behaviours. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Effects of Leisure Activities on Mental Health of Children and Youth)

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12 pages, 920 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Relationships among Sport Participation Level, Flow Experience, Perceived Health Status and Depression Level of College Students

by Suh-Ting Lin, Ying-Hua Hung and Meng-Hua Yang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 251; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010251 - 23 Dec 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2075

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between sport participation level, flow, perceived health status and depression using gender and grades as control variables of college students in Taiwan. Based on previous research, the study established the proposed model: using sport participation level and flow experience as predicting variables, perceived health status and depression as dependent variables, and gender and grades as control variables. A total of 700 structured questionnaires were distributed to college students using convenience sampling among seven universities in Taiwan with a valid return rate of 86.5%. Structural equation modeling was used to test the relationships among the above-mentioned variables. The study found: 1. Male students had higher self-rated health perception than female students. 2. Students with higher grades perceived higher levels of depression than those with lower grades. 3. Among all variables, the level of sport participation had a positive predicting power of perceived health status and a negative predicting power of depression level; perceived health status had a negative predicting power of depression; while flow had no moderating effect among sport participation level, perceived health status and depression. In the model, the predicting variables had a predicting power of 0.58 (R²) for depression, indicating a good model. Conclusions and implications were made according to the findings of the study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Effects of Leisure Activities on Mental Health of Children and Youth)

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