The Relationship between Depression, Anxiety and Physical Activity Level among University Students
Abstract
The purpose of the present research is studying the relationship between depression, anxiety and physical activity among young individuals who study at secondary schools. On voluntary basis, 202 male and 253 female; a total of 455university students at20,69±1,96 average age participated in the research. The data related to physical activity variable were collected with “IPAQ Long Form – International Physical Activity Questionnaire”; data related to Depression variable were collected with “Beck Depression Inventory”, and data related to Anxiety variable were collected with “Beck Anxiety Inventory”. Statistical analyses revealed that 51,5% of male students, and 73,4% of female students were not physically active or didn’t have adequate physical activity levels; and physical activity level of male students were significantly higher than female students (Independent Sample T-test; p<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences across genders in terms of Anxiety and Depression scores (Independent Sample T-test; p<0.05), and physical activity classification (One Way ANOVA; p>0.05). There has been a positive directed low level significant correlation between physical activity with depression and anxiety in female students (Pearson correlation; p < 0,005). As a result, it can be said that physical activity level is quite low at university students and especially in female students. It is observed that if physical activity scores increase, depression scores also increase too.
Keywords
Physical Activity Level,Depression,Anxiety,University students
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