Physical Activity As A Predictor Of Adolescent EPOCH Well-Being Characteristics In Nine Countries

Well-being (WB) stems not just from the absence of psychopathologies, but from fostering strengths like engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness (EPOCH). Across cultures, these factors contribute to lifelong WB and can be acquired and solidified during adolescence. The physical, mental, and cognitive health benefits of engaging in physical activity (PA) are well documented and can contribute to global adolescent WB and optimal development. PURPOSE: To explore how PA predicts EPOCH WB in adolescents globally, noting that existing EPOCH research focuses on Western, industrialized countries. METHODS: The sample includes 1,076 adolescents (52% female) from nine countries (China, N = 150; Colombia, N = 80; Italy, N = 191; Jordan, N = 101; Kenya, N = 75; Philippines, N = 87; Sweden, N = 72; Thailand, N = 83; United States, N = 237) from the Parenting Across Cultures (PAC) study. PA and WB were assessed at age 16, using an adapted European Health and Behaviour Survey and EPOCH measure, respectively. Linear regression was used to test the hypothesis that more PA would predict greater WB, and meta-analysis assessed how replicable the effects were across countries. RESULTS: The country-specific regression models revealed that there was a significant, positive effect of higher levels of PA on WB in two of the nine countries and in the full sample. The meta-analysis showed that the pooled association between PA and adolescent WB was not statistically significant (β = 0.10, p = .08). The between-study heterogeneity was estimated at τ2 = 0.02 (95% CI [<.001, 0.06]), with an I2 value of 64% (95% CI [15%–80%]), indicating significant between-country heterogeneity. The prediction interval ranged from g = −0.21–0.41. CONCLUSION: The link between PA and WB in adolescents is not globally consistent, highlighting the difficulty of replicating this effect across countries, and the importance of considering cultural differences in such research.Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant RO1-HD054805 and Fogarty International Center Grant RO3-TW008141. This research also was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant P30 DA023026, (Grant 695300-HKADeC-ERC- 2015-AdG)