Are Exercise Habits Related to Mental Health in College Students?

Mental health is an umbrella term that refers to mental, cognitive, and psychological factors. Physical activity is a way to heal and improve a person’s health both mentally and physically. The purpose of this study is to measure the correlation between exercise habits and mental health in undergraduate college students attending the University of Dayton. It is essential to find if there is a positive relationship between the two that can improve the overall well-being of college students. The participants will be undergraduate college students from the University of Dayton, 18-22 years old. They completed a 20 question survey that included their demographics, current exercise habits, and their mental health status. The exercise questions include, frequency, time, and type of exercise, as well if they exercise in groups or individually. The survey will ask the participants if they ever feel stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, depressed, have low self esteem, body dysmorphia, never experience any of these feelings, or may experience other feelings. There will be questions asked using a scale from 1 being the lowest/worst to 5 being the highest/best about how exercise affects their mental health. Data collection will occur between March 28th and April 4th, therefore the results will be forthcoming.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/3703/thumbnail.jp