IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i7p4282-d786351.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Influence of Physical Exercise on Psychological Well-Being of Young Adults: A Quantitative Study

Author

Listed:
  • Jesús Granero-Jiménez

    (Observation Unit, Emergency Department, Torrecárdenas University Hospital, 04009 Almería, Spain)

  • María Mar López-Rodríguez

    (Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

  • Iria Dobarrio-Sanz

    (Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

  • Alda Elena Cortés-Rodríguez

    (Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

Abstract

Physical activity is a key element in people’s health as it provides important physical benefits, as well as improves mental health and quality of life. However, recent years have seen an increase in the percentage of young adults showing high levels of inactivity. Although, it has been observed that the motivation to perform physical activity seems to be an important factor when starting and then keeping it up. Thus, the general aim of this work was to explore the association between physical activity, motivation, and psychological well-being in young adults. To do this, a descriptive cross-sectional correlational study was carried out together with a multiple linear regression analysis. An online survey was applied between December 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, in which the level of activity, motivation, and psychological well-being of the participants were measured. Starting from a final sample of 489 subjects aged between 18 and 35 years, a higher level of physical activity was found to be related to higher psychological well-being. In addition, motivation, and more specifically intrinsic motivation, was an important determinant of psychological well-being, gaining greater influence among male participants who had a higher level of physical activity. This study therefore emphasizes the clear influence of physical activity on the psychological well-being of young adults and highlights the need to work on intrinsic motivation to improve levels of physical activity.

Suggested Citation

  • Jesús Granero-Jiménez & María Mar López-Rodríguez & Iria Dobarrio-Sanz & Alda Elena Cortés-Rodríguez, 2022. "Influence of Physical Exercise on Psychological Well-Being of Young Adults: A Quantitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:7:p:4282-:d:786351
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4282/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4282/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Željko Pedišić & Zrinka Greblo & Philayrath Phongsavan & Karen Milton & Adrian E Bauman, 2015. "Are Total, Intensity- and Domain-Specific Physical Activity Levels Associated with Life Satisfaction among University Students?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(2), pages 1-21, February.
    2. Abeer Ahmad Bahathig & Hazizi Abu Saad & Nor Baizura Md Yusop & Nurul Husna Mohd Shukri & Maha M. Essam El-Din, 2021. "Relationship between Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Anthropometric Measurements among Saudi Female Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-14, August.
    3. Kun Tao & Wenxi Liu & Shanying Xiong & Lodewyk Ken & Nan Zeng & Qingwen Peng & Xiaoni Yan & Junli Wang & Yizhong Wu & Mingzhi Lei & Xianxiong Li & Zan Gao, 2019. "Associations between Self-Determined Motivation, Accelerometer-Determined Physical Activity, and Quality of Life in Chinese College Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Rafael Marfil-Carmona & Manuel Ortega-Caballero & Félix Zurita-Ortega & José Luis Ubago-Jiménez & Gabriel González-Valero & Pilar Puertas-Molero, 2021. "Impact of the Mass Media on Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet, Psychological Well-Being and Physical Activity. Structural Equation Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-13, April.
    5. Tianzhi Liao & Saizhao Tang & Yunsik Shim, 2022. "The Development of a Model to Predict Sports Participation among College Students in Central China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-11, February.
    6. Hsin-Yu An & Wei Chen & Cheng-Wei Wang & Hui-Fei Yang & Wan-Ting Huang & Sheng-Yu Fan, 2020. "The Relationships between Physical Activity and Life Satisfaction and Happiness among Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-10, July.
    7. Young Choi & Jae Woo Choi, 2022. "Changes in the Frequency of Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity and Subsequent Risk of All-Cause and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, January.
    8. Alicja Monika Jodczyk & Grzegorz Gruba & Zuzanna Sikora & Przemysław Seweryn Kasiak & Joanna Gębarowska & Natalia Adamczyk & Artur Mamcarz & Daniel Śliż, 2021. "PaLS Study: How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Influenced Physical Activity and Nutrition? Observations a Year after the Outbreak of the Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-15, September.
    9. Juan González-Hernández & Manuel Gómez-López & José Antonio Pérez-Turpin & Antonio Jesús Muñoz-Villena & Eliseo Andreu-Cabrera, 2019. "Perfectly Active Teenagers. When Does Physical Exercise Help Psychological Well-Being in Adolescents?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-16, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Collins Opoku Antwi & Michelle Allyshia Belle & Seth Yeboah Ntim & Yuanchun Wu & Emmanuel Affum-Osei & Michael Osei Aboagye & Jun Ren, 2022. "COVID-19 Pandemic and International Students’ Mental Health in China: Age, Gender, Chronic Health Condition and Having Infected Relative as Risk Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Dongliang Yang & Shuxian Hu & Mingna Li, 2022. "The Influence of Family Socioeconomic Status on Adolescents’ Mental Health in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Katarzyna Kotarska & Celina Timoszyk-Tomczak & Leonard Nowak & Katarzyna Sygit & Izabela Gąska & Maria Alicja Nowak, 2022. "Self-Assessment of Physical Fitness and Health versus Motivational Value of Physical Activity Goals in People Practicing Fitness, Football, Martial Arts and Wheelchair Rugby," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-14, September.
    4. Chanté Johannes & Nicolette V. Roman & Sunday O. Onagbiye & Simone Titus & Lloyd L. Leach, 2024. "Relationship between Psychosocial Factors and Physical Activity among Undergraduate Students from a South African University," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(4), pages 1-20, April.
    5. Zinka Kosec & Stella Sekulic & Susan Wilson-Gahan & Katja Rostohar & Matej Tusak & Marta Bon, 2022. "Correlation between Employee Performance, Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction in Sedentary Jobs in Slovenian Enterprises," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-14, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xiuqiang Wang & Si Man Lei & Shenglong Le & Yanxiang Yang & Boyi Zhang & Wu Yao & Zan Gao & Sulin Cheng, 2020. "Bidirectional Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdowns on Health Behaviors and Quality of Life among Chinese Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Raquel Pérez-Ordás & Javier Piñeiro-Cossio & Óscar Díaz-Chica & Ester Ayllón-Negrillo, 2022. "Relevant Variables in the Stimulation of Psychological Well-Being in Physical Education: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-26, July.
    3. Hyuma Makizako & Shoma Akaida & Saki Shono & Ryuhei Shiiba & Yoshiaki Taniguchi & Daijo Shiratsuchi & Yuki Nakai, 2021. "Physical Activity and Perceived Physical Fitness during the COVID-19 Epidemic: A Population of 40- to 69-Year-Olds in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-9, April.
    4. Supa Pengpid & Karl Peltzer, 2019. "Sedentary Behaviour, Physical Activity and Life Satisfaction, Happiness and Perceived Health Status in University Students from 24 Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-7, June.
    5. I-Hua Chu & Yu-Ling Chen & Pei-Tzu Wu & Wen-Lan Wu & Lan-Yuen Guo, 2021. "The Associations between Self-Determined Motivation, Multidimensional Self-Efficacy, and Device-Measured Physical Activity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-11, July.
    6. Dararatt Anantanasuwong & Supa Pengpid & Karl Peltzer, 2022. "Prevalence and Associated Factors of Successful Ageing among People 50 Years and Older in a National Community Sample in Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-8, August.
    7. Marcin Hachuła & Michał Kosowski & Kaja Zielańska & Marcin Basiak & Bogusław Okopień, 2023. "The Impact of Various Methods of Obesity Treatment on the Quality of Life and Mental Health—A Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-13, January.
    8. Won-Sang Jung & Hun-Young Park & Sung-Woo Kim & Kiwon Lim, 2020. "Sex-Specific Energy Intakes and Physical Activity Levels According to the Presence of Metabolic Syndrome in Korean Elderly People: Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2016–2018," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-12, July.
    9. Yao Zhang & Yi Yin & Jianxiu Liu & Ming Yang & Zeshi Liu & Xindong Ma, 2020. "Impact of Combined Theory-Based Intervention on Psychological Effects and Physical Activity among Chinese Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-15, April.
    10. Yuanzheng Lin & Bin Zhao & Xiujie Ma, 2022. "The Influence of Guozhuang Dance on the Subjective Well-Being of Older Adults: The Chain Mediating Effect of Group Identity and Self-Efficacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-15, November.
    11. Osamu Katayama & Sangyoon Lee & Seongryu Bae & Keitaro Makino & Ippei Chiba & Kenji Harada & Yohei Shinkai & Hiroyuki Shimada, 2021. "Life Satisfaction and the Relationship between Mild Cognitive Impairment and Disability Incidence: An Observational Prospective Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-14, June.
    12. Shih-Huei Syue & Hui-Fei Yang & Cheng-Wei Wang & Shih-Yu Hung & Pei-Hsuan Lee & Sheng-Yu Fan, 2022. "The Associations between Physical Activity, Functional Fitness, and Life Satisfaction among Community-Dwelling Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-9, June.
    13. Janhavi Ajit Vaingankar & Falk Müller-Riemenschneider & Anne Hin Yee Chu & Mythily Subramaniam & Linda Wei Lin Tan & Siow Ann Chong & Rob M. van Dam, 2020. "Sleep Duration, Sleep Quality and Physical Activity, but Not Sedentary Behaviour, Are Associated with Positive Mental Health in a Multi-Ethnic Asian Population: A Cross-Sectional Evaluation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-12, November.
    14. Giulia Di Martino & Carlo della Valle & Marco Centorbi & Andrea Buonsenso & Giovanni Fiorilli & Giuseppe Calcagno & Enzo Iuliano & Alessandra di Cagno, 2024. "Enhancing Behavioural Changes: A Narrative Review on the Effectiveness of a Multifactorial APP-Based Intervention Integrating Physical Activity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(2), pages 1-15, February.
    15. Miloš Ilić & Huiwen Pang & Tomislav Vlaški & Maja Grujičić & Budimka Novaković, 2022. "Motives and Barriers for Regular Physical Activity among Medical Students from the Western Balkans (South-East Europe Region)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-21, December.
    16. Maria Gacek & Agnieszka Wojtowicz & Grażyna Kosiba & Magdalena Majer & Joanna Gradek & Agnieszka Koteja & Olga Czerwińska-Ledwig, 2023. "Satisfaction with Life and Nutritional Behaviour, Body Composition, and Functional Fitness of Women from the Kraków Population Participating in the “Healthy Active Senior” Programme," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-13, January.
    17. Haolin Wang & Wendy Y. Huang & Yanan Zhao, 2022. "Efficacy of Exercise on Muscle Function and Physical Performance in Older Adults with Sarcopenia: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-16, July.
    18. Yixuan Liu & Xinyan Yang & Yinghui Wu & Yanling Xu & Yiwei Zhong & Shujuan Yang, 2023. "The Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Depressive Symptoms among Chinese Adults Aged 35–60 Years: The Mediating Role of Subjective Well-Being and Life Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-13, January.
    19. Manuel Pulido-Martos & Daniel Cortés-Denia & Juan José de la Rosa-Blanca & Esther Lopez-Zafra, 2020. "The Shirom-Melamed Vigor Measure for Students: Factorial Analysis and Construct Validity in Spanish Undergraduate University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-13, December.
    20. Abeer Ahmad Bahathig & Hazizi Abu Saad, 2022. "The Effects of a Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Body Image Intervention on Girls in Intermediate Schools in Saudi Arabia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-15, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:7:p:4282-:d:786351. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.