The Relationship Between Physical Activity And Mental Health Levels In Adolescents In The Post-covid-19 Era

It has been proved that physical activity (PA) significantly contributes to mental health (MH) of adolescents. Furthermore, research has also shown that the COVID-19 pandemic influenced MH of adolescents. However, it remains largely unexplored how PA and COVID-19 infection jointly impact mental health of adolescents. Purpose: This study aimed to examine the associations between the number of COVID-19 infections (NCI), PA, and MH in adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 333 middle school students (mean age = 13.18, 55% females) from 8 provinces in China. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires measuring NCI, PA and MH. PA was derived from the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A). MH was assessed using various scales: the Brief Multidimensional Student Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS-PTPB), Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), and Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale (KADS-11). These MH variables were used as dependent variables in regression analysis to investigate the factors associated with the MH of adolescents. A series of multiple regression models were performed with MH variables as the dependent variable and PA as the predictor. Subsequently, NCI was introduced as additional predictor of these models. Gender, age, and maternal education level (MEL) were included in all models as covariates. Results: PA significantly predicted all MH variables (p’s > 0.001). After including NCI as additional predictor, PA still significantly predicted MH (p’s > 0.001), while NCI significantly predicted subjective happiness (β = -0.178, p = 0.02) and adolescent depression (β = 1.380, p = 5.25e-04). Regarding covariates, MEL showed a significant correlation with life satisfaction (β = 0.776, p = 0.02), while age showed a significant correlation with adolescent depression (β = 0.883, p = 0.03). After including NCI, MEL remained significantly correlated with life satisfaction (β = 0.799, p = 0.01). Conclusion: PA has a positive association with life satisfaction, subjective happiness and depression in adolescents even when accounting for the impact of COVID-19 infection, suggesting that regular engagement of PA may serve as a protective factor, buffering adolescents against the psychological stressors induced by the pandemic.