IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i7p854-d1425690.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Physical Activity and Mental Health of Employed Adults: Mediation and Moderation Effects of Beliefs in the Benefits of Physical Activity

Author

Listed:
  • Dragan Glavaš

    (Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Croatia, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia)

  • Irena Pavela Banai

    (Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, 31 000 Osijek, Croatia)

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown physical activity (PA) improves psychological functioning and well-being. However, the underpinning processes and mediating variables are less known. There is evidence that beliefs about the benefits of PA contribute to physical health, regardless of actual PA. By applying these findings in the context of mental health, we sought to investigate the role of belief in the benefits of PA in the relationship between self-reported PA and mental health. A total of 381 employed adults completed the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and Anxiety subscale of the Emotional state scale. Furthermore, participants reported the degree to which they believe that PA has benefits for their psychological health. The mediation analysis shows that greater PA intensity was associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety. Additionally, belief in the benefits of PA on psychological health had a mediating role. Specifically, more intensive PA was related to a stronger belief in PA benefits, subsequently leading to reduced levels of depression and anxiety. We discuss the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the relationship between PA and mental health, alongside the significant role of mindset.

Suggested Citation

  • Dragan Glavaš & Irena Pavela Banai, 2024. "Physical Activity and Mental Health of Employed Adults: Mediation and Moderation Effects of Beliefs in the Benefits of Physical Activity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(7), pages 1-11, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:7:p:854-:d:1425690
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/7/854/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/7/854/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vaishnav Krishnan & Eric J. Nestler, 2008. "The molecular neurobiology of depression," Nature, Nature, vol. 455(7215), pages 894-902, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jia Luo & Changfa Tang & Xiaobin Chen & Zhanbing Ren & Honglin Qu & Rong Chen & Zhen Tong, 2020. "Impacts of Aerobic Exercise on Depression-Like Behaviors in Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress Mice and Related Factors in the AMPK/PGC-1α Pathway," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-12, March.
    2. Nahoko Kuga & Ryota Nakayama & Shota Morikawa & Haruya Yagishita & Daichi Konno & Hiromi Shiozaki & Natsumi Honjoya & Yuji Ikegaya & Takuya Sasaki, 2023. "Hippocampal sharp wave ripples underlie stress susceptibility in male mice," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Shaoqiang Han & Qian Cui & Ruiping Zheng & Shuying Li & Bingqian Zhou & Keke Fang & Wei Sheng & Baohong Wen & Liang Liu & Yarui Wei & Huafu Chen & Yuan Chen & Jingliang Cheng & Yong Zhang, 2023. "Parsing altered gray matter morphology of depression using a framework integrating the normative model and non-negative matrix factorization," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:7:p:854-:d:1425690. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.