The Association between Physical Activity and Level of Depression among Youths in the United States
Prospectus: The Association between Physical Activity and Level of Depression among Youths in the United States
Introduction
According to a recent presentation by The Center for Disease and Control and Prevention, frequent physical activity among youths and adolescents is an important factor in enhancing strength, stamina and is helpful in building healthy bones and muscles (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). It was also discovered that physical activities are a critical factor in reducing stress and depression among the youths. Failing to engage in regular physical activity has been established to cause obesity and overweight as well as other health-related complications (Azevedo Da Silva et al., 2012). Thus implementing a regular physical activity program among the youths and adolescents is considered a necessary healthy intervention in lowering the rising trends of prevalence of depression status among the American youths and teenagers. Researchers define depression as a manifestation of the loss of interest, and/or pleasure by a person for more than two weeks. It is an alteration of mental functioning that manifests itself as having primary trouble in focus, eating, sleeping, self-worth and dynamism.
Background
Previous evidence that links presence or absence of physical activities to depression includes a study carried out by Dishman in 2006 among 12th-grade girls which entailed examining how self-concept and self-esteem intersect with sports involvement as a physical activity. Among the 1,250 students who took part in the study, it was noted that participating in sports as a physical activity has the potential to raise self-esteem and self-concept among young girls (Dishman, 2006). Physical self-concept was synonymous with body functionality and included body mass index, fitness and looks, all of which have been found to be key contributors of depression risks among girls. The study thus concluded that physical activity has a potential to diminish depression risks. A further research in 2008 by Martinsen which primarily focused on identifying the role played by physical activities in preventing depression indicated that major mental-health problems such as anxiety, and depressive anxiety can be minimized when individuals adopt advantageous lifestyle modifications that provide enhanced possibilities of these individual taking part in physical activities (Martinsen, 2008). This study indicated that physical activity interventions among the adults who displayed anxiety and depressive symptoms greatly influenced the recovery of such individuals. It was therefore concluded that perhaps, physical activities have a direct association with depression anxiety.
The above research findings were further supported by Taliaferro et al. who investigated hopelessness, suicidal deeds and depression tendencies, and it is the results revealed that individuals who exhibited decreased possibilities of ever being depressed, hopeless and suicidal individuals are more likely to be less inactive in physical activities (Taliaferro et al., 2009). More recent research carried out by Jorstad et al., and Penado and Dahn support the expanding literature body on the strong connection between physical activity and depression (Penedo & Dahn, 2005: Jerstad at al., 2010).
On the other hand, Allison, et al, in a study carried in 2005 found out that forceful vigorous physical activity significantly leads to social dysfunction, increased anxiety and depression among individuals (Allison et al., 2005). This shows physical activities are beneficial to individuals in reducing anxiety and depression while excessive and forced physical activities produce results that are undesirable. On a long-term basis, a physical activity's intervention program to reduce levels of depression among individuals has been found to be ineffective as it acts as a filter of chronic stress, but only helps in the physical wellness of an individual. For physical activity intervention to be effective Babiss and Gangwish suggested that individuals must be provided with sufficient motivation and chances to take part in sports and other physical activities rather than being forced to arbitrarily take part in such activities in which case, there will be no effectual desirable course (Babiss, L.A. & Gangwisch, 2009). This can be done through social assistance and enhanced self-esteem among participating youths.
Overall, the existing studies demonstrate a constant relationship between inferior mental conditions such as depression and anxiety and physical activities. While most of the studies suggest that physical activities are beneficial for the individuals, it has also been demonstrated by other research findings that certain types of physical activities performed especially using a negative way are more likely to cause negative outcomes (Rogers et al., 2012). The existing studies are therefore, inconclusive and especially among the youths where less research has been carried out. Youths and adolescents have significantly different characteristics to adults and therefore, studies that have been carried among adults cannot be fully generalized among the youths from different social-economic status and gender.
Problem statement
In the present scenarios in America, it has been noted that there has been a significant decline in physical activities among adolescents and youths in America, and this has reportedly contributed towards an increase in mental health (Biddle & Asare, 2011). Among the early studies, used to determine the levels of physical activities among the youths, it was established that vigorous physical activities among middle adolescent girls decreased from 5.9 hours weekly to 4.9 hours weekly and finally during late teenage it decreased from 5.1 to 3.5 hours weekly. Among the boys, their level of physical activities previously was 6.5 hours weekly but has declined to 5.1 hours weekly as at present. This level has also declined from the previous 15.2 to 11.4 hours weekly when they are in their late adolescent years. This was mainly attributed to an increase in computer usage, where girls working with computers increased from 8.8 to 11.1 hours weekly. It was also found out that the percentage of children aged 9-13 taking part in regular physical activities nationally was 77% (Neumark-Stzainer et al., 2006). Among high-school students in America, only 27% reported to participating in physical activities that had more than 60 minutes a day. Other recent research findings have also shown a consistent decline in physical activities among adolescents from middle age to late ages.
In other studies that have been carried among adolescents with symptoms of depression, it was found out that they significantly engaged in physical activities for fewer hours than their counterparts who had regular physical activities. A report card on the Physical activity among adolescents and youths in the United States for 2014 shows that America scored D- where more American youths and adolescents are less likely to fulfill their physical activity needs. Moreover, in the United States, the most common mental challenge is depression with approximately 2.6 million youths aged between 12 and seventeen years affected. This population was 10.75 of the American youth population that are aged between 12 and 17 years (National Institute of Mental Health, 2013). It was thus concluded that engaging in physical activity significantly helps in reducing possibilities of depression when one considers that youths who engaged in physical activities reported lower symptoms of depression.
Identification of Gap
Association between physical activity and depression has been investigated both among the youth and in the general population with most findings revealing contrasting outcomes. There is sufficient literature linking depression to physical activities in the adults as presented above. Most of these findings have focused on adults to substantiate the argument that there exist a noteworthy relationship between depression and physical activity. The exploration of the literature has shown that physical activity is associated with depression amount the young population. This warrants more studies to be carried out among the youths and to understand this phenomenon better.
One element that has missed significantly from the literature is information on the nature of the association, its magnitude and whether the association between the physical activity and depression among the young population is statistically significant. There is a need to understand the nature of the association. The primary assumption is that the association is linear. However, there is a need to understand whether the association is positive or negative. This will pave way for the drawing of conclusion on whether an increase in physical activity will result in a decrease or increase in the levels of depression.
There is also a need to understand the magnitude of the association; whether it is weak, moderate, or strong on either sides of the linear equation. This information is important because it offers guidance on the level of interventions required, their urgency, and the level of seriousness. Finally, there is need to determine the statistical significance of the association. The understanding of the statistical significance helps inform on whether the hypotheses upon which the study is based are correct or incorrect.
Significance
The goal of this dissertation is to establish the potential association between levels of depression and physical activities among the American adolescents and youths in the US. The results from this study can then be used for further investigations into this area in the future. The outcomes will particularly be important in strengthening the argument that there exist an association between physical activities and depression levels among the Youths. On the other hand, the outcomes can provide a stronger opposition the claim and in which case more research needs to be carried out in the future to support in using the variables that have been presented during this study.
The overall goals in physical activity priority area are to increase mental quality healthy life and achieve a preventive approach to depression among the American youths. The objective is to eliminate prevalence of depression and anxiety among the American youths due to misconceptions about the effect of physical activities on the mental health of the youths.
Framework
For the purposes of this study, a framework based upon a study by Jersted et al., which suggests that there exist a bidirectional correlation between physical activity, and depression will be adopted. The same concept was later strengthened by Stavrankis in 2011 by concluding that in an actual sense, the bidirectional relationship between physical activity and general depressive symptoms is inverse in nature (Stavrankis, 2011). This framework will, therefore, be used for this study to identify independent, dependent and manipulative variables to make the study a true experiment. While investigating, the relationship, the study will review studies and data records from secondary resources having this kind of a framework.
Research Hypothesis
The study’s qualitative hypothesis will be: There is a bidirectional association between physical activity and the level of depression among youths in the US.
The null hypothesis in this study will be that there exists no bidirectional relationship between depression and physical activity among the youths in America.
Research questions
The current study will be guided by two research questions as indicated below:
What is the association between physical activity and the level of depression among youths in the United States?
Is there a difference in the depression levels in young people who classified under different levels of physical activity?
Nature of study
The current is a quantitative study. The choice of the quantitative study is based on the need to test hypothesis and the appropriateness of the quantitative studies in testing hypotheses (Martin & Bridgmon, 2012). The study will use secondary data from multiple sources as listed elsewhere in the dissertation. The study will also evaluate instances where a physical activity intervention program had been implemented before to gain more understandings of its effectiveness. Here, schools that have implemented the physical activity programs will be treated as intervention groups while those who have not had such interventions will be taken as control groups. The observations will then be analyzed for observable patterns that suggest there is a connection between physical activity and depression.
Sources of information
This study will rely mostly on secondary sources as the primary data sources. These sources include:
Personal medical records of American youths along with the diaries, and emails they keep and write.
Data from Published reports from reliable government websites such as National Institute of Mental Health and Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as health organizations' websites.
Books, newsletters, periodicals and journals that provide relevant evidence on the subject matter in this study.
Video documentaries as additional sources of information about the subject of physical activity and depression.
Measurement of Variables
The dominant variables in the study are the physical activity of the youth and the depression levels. Answering the research questions requires the determination and the measurement of the variables of study. Physical activity in the study will be measured at three levels. The classifications are based on the intensity of the physical activities in which one is involved and how that relates to their lifestyles. The categorization is based on the allocation of time in terms of hours to various daily activities and the energy cost required to perform those activities. The product of the two variables is then divided by the total hours per day to determine the mean physical activity level. Young people categorized in the light activity or sedentary lifestyle have a physical activity level of between 1.40 and 1.69 (Food and Agricultural Organization, n.d).
The people in the moderately active or active lifestyle have a physical activity level of between 1.70 and 1.99 (Food and Agricultural Organization, n.d). Finally, the people classified in the vigorously or vigorously active lifestyles have a physical activity level of between 2.00 and 2.40 (Food and Agricultural Organization, n.d). Using these three classifications, the researcher will determine the physical activity levels of the subjects to participate in the study. This is a self-reporting exercise in which the subjects will be required to recall and indicate the amount of time required for each of the activities in the list. The researcher will then use the data on the time allocated for each of the activities to determine the physical activity levels and classify the subjects under their respective categories.
Numerous studies have explored the depression levels as a variable in determining the association between physical activity and the mental health of the young population. The measurement of the levels of depression will be carried out using the Zung self-rating depression scale (Nezu, Ronan, Meadows & McClure, 2000). This is a scale that is used to determine the severity of depression in an individual. This is achieved by rating the psychological, affective, and somatic symptoms in an individual using a questionnaire containing twenty items. The symptoms that are assessed using the questionnaire are commonly associated with depression. The items on the questionnaire are rated from a range of 1 to 4. 1 on the rating scale signifies ‘a little of the time.’ 2 stands for ‘some of the time.’ 3 stands for a ‘good part of the time.’
4 on the rating scale stands for ‘most of the time.’ The final self-rated scores of the participants can be as low as 20 or as high as 80. Subjects who score between 20 and 44 are considered to be of healthy mind with regards to depression. Subjects who score between 45 and 59 on the self-rating scale are considered as mildly depressed. The subjects who score between 60 and 69 on the self-rating scale are considered to be moderately depressed. The subjects whose cumulative score on the self-rating scale is equal to or more than 70 are considered to be severely depressed.
The use of this tool in the measurement of levels of depression comes highly recommended by Nezu et al., (2000). They determined that this approach of measuring depression levels had a high internal consistency. The alpha values for the internal reliability of the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale is 0.91for individuals in the category of family escorts (Nezu et al., 2000). The internal reliability for the depressed clients was determined at an alpha value of 0.88 (Nezu et al., 2000). The internal reliability for the non-depressed subjects was determined at an alpha value of 0.93 (Nezu et al., 2000).
Data Analysis Strategies
The analysis of the data will be performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. However, the researcher will also use Microsoft Excel as a data entry platform and to perform some of the analysis. The researcher will employ various statistical tests to achieve the objectives and aim of the study. Peripheral tests will include t-tests to determine the significance of the differences of the means of various variables of study. Descriptive statistics will be used to present measures of central tendency for the data. The main statistical tests that are central to answering the research question include the correlation.
In this respect, the author will determine the Pearson moment correlation coefficient to determine the nature of the association. This entails whether the linear association of the variables is positive or negative. The Pearson moment correlation will also help determine the magnitude of the association. The output of the Pearson moment correlation when performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences also includes data to be used in determining the statistical significance of the association between physical activity and depression.
Assumptions
Though physical activity may be identified to have a bidirectional association with depression, positive implications of this relation may not be observed due to other barriers such as youths having unconstructive life and health modification's concepts, lower motivational levels to take part in physical activities and deficient knowledge of the kinds of physical activities needed to change their perceptions about the benefit of physical activities (Rogers, Murphy, Bird, & Morris, 2012).
Reference
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