The Association between Physical Activity and Level of Depression among Youths in the United States proposal
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.
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 to 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 levels 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 who 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 takes into consideration that youths who engaged in physical activities reported lower symptoms of depression.
Association between physical activity and depression has been investigated both among the youth and in the general population with most findings revealing contrasting outcomes. Most of these findings have focused on adults to substantiate the argument that there exist a noteworthy relationship between depression and physical activity. This warrants more studies to be carried out among the youths and so as to understand this phenomenon better. Moreover, the research findings should be aimed at understanding if the relationship between depression and physical activities is uniform among youths from different genders, social-cultural status, and ethnicity. This dissertation will, therefore, aim at providing more evidence on the link between physical activities and the mental well-being of the American adolescents and youths. It will aim at establishing whether there is indeed a link between physical activities and levels of depression among the youths.
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 to further investigations around 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.
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 produces results that are undesirable. On a long term basis, a physical activities 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 to 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 e al., 2012). The existing studies are therefore inconclusive and especially among the youths where fewer research have 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.
Framework
For the purposes of this study, a framework based on 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 actual sense, the bidirectional relationship between physical activity and general depressive symptoms is inverse in nature (Stavrankis, 2011). This framework will, therefore, be used in this study so as 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 main question for this study will be: Is there a bidirectional association between physical activity and the level of depression among youths in the United States?
Other research questions in the study will be:
i. What effect does a physical activity intervention have on the student’s depression symptoms?
ii. What effect does varied cultural backgrounds have on reported depression by American youths?
iii. What effect does gender differences have on depression even when physical activity intervention has been introduced?
iv. Is bidirectional relationship between physical activity and depression uniform among American youths from all social economic status?
Nature of study
The study will adopt a study nature centered on quantitative research with the intention to understand and validate the hypothesis that there is a bidirectional relationship between physical activity and depression among the youths in the United States. The research makes use of the bidirectional association approach to complete data collection and analysis as described in the above section. The study will also evaluate instances where physical activity intervention program have been implemented before so as to gain more understanding of its effectiveness. Here, schools that have implemented physical activity program 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;
i. Personal medical records of American youths along with the diaries, and emails they keep and write
ii. 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.
iii. Books, newsletters, periodicals and journals that provide relevant evidence on the subject matter in this study
iv. Video documentaries as additional sources of information on the subject of physical activity and depression.
Data Analysis Strategies
So as to validate the relationship between independent and dependent variables in this study, statistical analysis such as regression technique will be used to characterize how and the circumstances in which dependent and independent variables are related. Regression analysis examines the association between variables by validating the unexpected outcome of one variable to another (CQ Press, 2015). It calculates the quantitative impact of one fundamental variable has on another.
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 modifications concepts, lower motivational levels to take part in physical activities and deficient knowledge about the kinds of physical activities needed to change their perceptions about the benefit of physical activities (Rogerson, Murphy, Bird, & Morris, 2012).
Reference
Allison, K.R. et al. (2005). Relationship of vigorous physical activity to psychological distress among adolescents. Journal of adolescent Health 37(2), 164-166. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2004.08.017.
Azevedo Da Silva, M. et al. (2012). Bidirectional association between physical activity and symptoms of anxiety and depression; the Whitehall II study. European Journal of Epidemiology 27(7), 537-546. doi: 10.1007/s10654-012-9692-8.
Babiss, L.A. & Gangwisch, J.E. (2009) Sports Participation as a Protective Factor against Depression and Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents as Mediated by Self-Esteem and Social Support. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics 30(5), 376-384. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0b013e3181b33659.
Biddle, S.J.H. & Asare, M. (2011). Physical activity and mental health in children and adolescents: a review of reviews. British Journal of Sports Medicine. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2011-090185.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Physical Activity Facts. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/facts.htm
CQ Press. (2015). Chapter 13. Investigating Relationships between Two Variables. Retrieved from http://college.cqpress.com/sites/psrm/Home/chapter13.aspx
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Taliaferro, T.A. et al. (2009). Associations Between Physical Activity and Reduced Rates of Hopelessness, Depression, and Suicidal Behavior Among College Students. Journal of American College Health 57(4), 427-436. doi: 10.3200/JACH.57.4.427-436.
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