25 THE IMPACT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION INTERVENTION ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH OF ADOLESCENT SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS

Abstract Background Although traditional schizophrenia medication has achieved certain results in controlling symptoms, it still has limitations in improving patients’ social functioning and enhancing their quality of life. Therefore, exploring non-pharmacological treatment methods is of great significance for promoting the mental health of adolescent schizophrenia patients. Related studies have shown that physical activity can promote the secretion of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin in the body, and has been widely proven to have a positive effect on improving the mental health level of adolescents. The study aims to explore the impact of physical education intervention on the mental health of adolescent patients with schizophrenia. Methods The study selected 80 students with schizophrenia from a high school in a certain city that provided physical exercise education, aged between 15-18 years old. The study randomly divided patients into an experimental group and a control group, with 40 people in each group. The experimental group received intervention treatment through physical exercise, while the control group only received conventional antipsychotic medication intervention treatment. Both treatment periods are a complete semester, once a week for 40 minutes each time. The study used the Physical Activity Rating Scale-3 (PARS-3) and the Middle School Students’ Mental Health Scale (MSMH Scale) as evaluation tools. Results The PARS-3 and MSMH Scale scores of patients in the experimental and control groups before and after a one semester intervention are shown in Table 1. According to Table 1, the experimental group receiving physical exercise education therapy showed significant improvement in both PARS-3 and MSMH Scale scores, and the improvement effect was significantly better than that of the control group. Among them, the PARS-3 score of the experimental group before intervention was 33.51 ± 2.14 points, and after intervention, the score decreased to 22.65 ± 2.21 points, with a statistical difference between the two (P<0.05). Meanwhile, there was a statistically significant difference (P<0.05) in the MSMH Scale scores of the experimental group before and after intervention. In addition, in the inter group comparison, the experimental group had significantly lower scores on various scales after intervention compared to the control group. Discussion The research results indicate that using physical exercise as a treatment method has a significant clinical intervention effect on patients with schizophrenia. Physical education intervention can enhance patients’ self-efficacy and social communication skills, alleviate feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Overall, physical education intervention has significant advantages in improving treatment effectiveness, reducing drug side effects, promoting emotional expression and social function recovery in patients, providing new perspectives and methods for the treatment of schizophrenia.