Exploring the Psychological and Mental Health Benefits of Exercise: A Focus on Green and Indoor Exercise

Year 2024, Volume: 13 Issue: 4, 381 - 388, 30.10.2024

Serdar Alemdağ , Ceyhun Alemdağ , Eylül Şafak

https://doi.org/10.22282/tojras.1481391

Abstract

The exercise environment may differ according to the location of the exercise (indoor/outdoor). Exercise in natural and open spaces is defined as green exercise in the literature. While green exercise participants prefer parks, forests or green areas, indoor exercise participants prefer artificial areas such as gyms (fitness, etc.) or homes. The aim of this study is to examine the psychological and mental well-being of green exercise and indoor exercise participants. In this study, which was planned with a quantitative research approach, the survey method and the survey technique frequently used in this method were utilised. The sample group of the study consisted of a total of 332 people, 100 women and 232 men, aged 18 and over, who participated in exercise in the natural (green) areas of Trabzon and Rize cities and in fitness centres in Trabzon. In addition to personal information form, ‘Psychological well-being scale’ and ‘Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale’ were used as data collection tools. The data were collected by the researchers at the end of the exercise. Descriptive statistics, T test and correlation analysis were used to analyse the data. As a result of the study, it was found that the mean psychological and mental well-being scores of green exercise participants were higher than the mean scores of individuals who exercised indoors. In addition, the difference between the mean mental well-being scores of green and indoor exercise participants was significant (this finding was the same for both genders). It was concluded that there was a moderate positive and significant relationship between psychological well-being and mental well-being of green exercise and indoor exercise participants.

Keywords

Fitness, Well-being, Psychology, Green exercise, Mental health.

Ethical Statement

For this article the necessary permissions have been obtained from Trabzon University Social Sciences and Humanities Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Committee and the journal's writing rules, publication principles and journal ethics rules have been followed. The responsibility for any violations that may arise regarding the article belongs to the author(s).

Thanks

Bu makalenin yayın sürecine katkı sunacak olan tüm hakem heyeti ve editör kuruluna şimdiden teşekkür eder iyi çalışmalar dilerim.

Egzersizin, Psikolojik ve Zihinsel Sağlıkla İlişkisi: Yeşil Egzersiz ve Kapalı Alan Egzersizi Örneği

Abstract

Egzersiz ortamı, egzersizin yapıldığı yere göre (açık/kapalı alan) farklılık gösterebilir. Doğal ve açık alanlarda yapılan egzersiz, literatürde yeşil egzersiz olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Yeşil egzersiz katılımcıları parkları, ormanları ya da yeşil alanları tercih ederken, kapalı alanda egzersiz yapanlar daha çok spor salonları (fitness vb.) ya da ev gibi yapay alanları tercih etmektedirler. Bu araştırmanın amacı, yeşil egzersiz ve kapalı alan egzersiz katılımcılarının psikolojik ve zihinsel iyi oluşlarının incelenmesidir. Nicel araştırma yaklaşımıyla planlanan bu çalışmada tarama yöntemi ve bu yöntemde sıklıkla kullanılan anket tekniğinden faydalanılmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklem grubunu Trabzon ve Rize şehirlerinin doğal (yeşil) alanlarında ve Trabzon’daki fitness salonlarında egzersize katılan 18 yaş ve üzerinde 100’ü kadın ve 232’si erkek olmak üzere toplam 332 kişi oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada veri toplama araçları olarak, kişisel bilgi formu yanında, “Psikolojik iyi oluş ölçeği” ve “Warwick-Edinburgh mental iyi oluş ölçeği” kullanılmıştır. Veriler bizzat araştırmacılar tarafından egzersizin hemen bitiminde toplanmıştır. Verilerin analizinde, betimsel istatistikler, T testi ve Korelasyon analizi kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın sonucunda, yeşil egzersiz katılımcılarının psikolojik ve mental iyi oluş puan ortalamalarnın kapalı alanda egzersiz yapan bireylerin ortalamalarından yüksek olduğu bulunmuştur. Ayrıca yeşil ve kapalı alan egzersiz katılımcılarının mental iyi oluş puan ortalamaları arasındaki fark anlamlıdır (bu bulgu her iki cinsiyette de aynıdır). Yeşil egzersiz ve kapalı alan egzersiz katılımcılarının psikolojik iyi oluş ve mental iyi oluşları arasında orta düzeyde pozitif ve anlamlı bir ilişkinin olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

Keywords

Fitness, İyi oluş, Psikoloji, Yeşil egzersiz, Zihinsel sağlık.

Ethical Statement

Bu makale için Trabzon Üniversitesi sosyal ve beşeri bilimler, bilimsel araştırma ve yayın etik kurulu tarafından gerekli izinler alınmış olup, dergi yazım kurallarına, yayın ilkelerine ve dergi etik kurallaörına uyulmuştur. Makaleyle ilgili ortaya çıkabilecek ihlallerin sorumluluğu yazar(lar)’a aittir.

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