Review of Literature

#1 Title: Effects of physical activity on emotional well-being among older Australian women: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Author: Christina Lee and Annie Russel
Published: Journal Of Psychosomatic Research, Volume 54, Issue 2
Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399902004142

Synopsis:

The objective of the study is to explore relationships between physical activity and mental health cross-sectionally and longitudinally in a large cohort of older Australian women (aged 70-78).
Cross-sectional data were analyzed for 10,063 women and longitudinal data for 6472 who participated in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health responded in 1996 and 1999. Self-reports were used to categorize women into four categories of physical activity at each time point as well as to define four physical activity transition categories across the 3-year period. Outcome variables for the cross-sectional analyses were the mental health component score (MCS) and mental health subscales of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36). The longitudinal analyses focused on changes in these variables. Confounders included the physical health component scale (PCS) of the SF-36, marital status, body mass index (BMI) and life events.

Physical activity is associated with emotional well-being among a population cohort of older women both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, supporting the need for the promotion of appropriate physical activity in this age group.

How is this relevant to us
The study shows that physical activity is associated with emotional well-being. The research shows that there is an association between physical activity and mental health. However, this study is done on Australian women who are in their 70s. It remains to be seen whether the results can be generalised to our OT students who are younger. Also this study was done in Australia, and the results of the study may not be generalisable to a Singapore context. Also we feel that the SF-36 is not a suitable scale to be used as it focuses on multiple areas, and only has a few questions on each area compared to other scales which are more focused on measuring emotional well-being.

#2
Title: Physical fitness, health behaviour and health among nursing students: A descriptive correlational study
Author:
Piyanee Klainin-Yobas,  Hong-Gu He,  Ying Lau  (2015)
Published: Nurse Education Today, Volume 35, Issue 12
Source: http://ac.els-cdn.com.libproxy.nyp.edu.sg/S026069171500266X/1-s2.0-S026069171500266X-main.pdf?_tid=40b117da-3108-11e6-a937-00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1465782399_9499b2aab71d1b91fbedd8814d7368d9


Synopsis:
This study aims to examine the relationships among health behaviour, personal variables, physical fitness, perceived physical health and psychological health. A cross-sectional descriptive correlational study was done on 335 nursing students who were enrolled in a university in Thailand. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaires and physical fitness tests. Independent variables were personal variables and health behaviour. Outcome variables included physical fitness, perceived physical health and psychological health.

Students who exercised regularly tended to have better physical fitness, perceived physical health and psychological health.

How this is relevant to us
Students of nursing in Thai and students of Occupational Therapy in NYP experience very different stressors in life, hence there are too many extraneous variables in this study to be generalised to the OT cohort in NYP.

In addition, the Thai-version General Health Questionnaire is used to identify minor psychiatric disorder, which is not really what we want to measure. A person with low emotional well-being does not mean that he/she has a psychiatric disorder hence the general health questionnaire might not be sensitive enough to detect low emotional well-being.

However, this article provides us with the hypothesis that there might be a relationship between exercise and emotional well-being as even though the variables may differ there can be some similarities such as the frequency of physical activity and psychological health which consists components of emotion.

Thus, the difference in variables and target population prompts us to carry out the topic we have selected. Furthermore, there are limited research with regards to the topic in Singapore and amongst NYP OT students.


#3
Title: Physical activity and quality of life among university students: exploring self-efficacy, self-esteem, and affect as potential mediators
Author: Rodney P. Joseph, Kathryn E. Royse, Tanya J. Benitez, Dorothy W. Pekmezi
Published: Quality of Life Research, Volume 23, Issue 2


Source http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11136-013-0492-8


Synopsis:
Physical activity (PA) has been shown to enhance quality of life (QOL) in older adults. Findings from these studies indicate that the relationship between PA and QOL is indirect and likely mediated by variables such as physical self-esteem, exercise self-efficacy, and affect. As PA varies greatly by age, the purpose of the current study is to extend this area of research to young adults and explore the complex relationship between PA and QOL in this target population.Several studies have indicated positive relationships between physical activity (PA) and exercise self-efficacy, physical self-esteem, and affect in this population however, few studies have examined the influence of these variables on overall satisfaction with life. 604 participants were recruited from undergraduate classes. The data collection questionnaire was comprised of five demographic variables (age, sex, race, height, and weight), and 42 items taken from previously published scales representing the constructs in our hypothesized model. A description of each of the measures is provided below.

- Physical activity was measured by the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire, a 4-item scale that assesses episodes, intensity, and duration of PA during a typical 7-day period.
Quality of life

- Bradburn Affect Balance Scale (ABS) was used to assess both positive and negative affects. The scale, which consists 10 items, lists a number of feeling states and asks respondent to indicate using a ‘‘yes/no’’ format if they have experienced certain feelings over the past few weeks.

- The 5-item Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) was used to assess QOL.

- Physical self-esteem was measured by the 6-item Physical Self-Worth Scale (PSWS) from Fox and Corbin’s Physical Self-Perception Profile.

- Self-efficacy was assessed using the Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale

Results indicated that PA was only weakly related to positive and negative affects. These findings were somewhat surprising given the body of research that supports the relationship between PA and positive affective outcomes. A possible explanation for these discrepant findings could be measurement issues (e.g., the low reliability estimates demonstrated by the Affect Balance Scale).


How is it relevant to us:

The main aim of the study investigated the relationship between the level of physical activity (PA) and quality of life (QOL). Relationships between PA and positive and negative affect was also analysed. The study made use of the mediation model proposed by Elavsky et al. that can be seen above which proposes positive correlations between PA and measurements of affect. While the study results showed weak relations between PA and both positive and negative affect and does not support previous theoretical findings, the discrepancy was attributed to the use of the Affect Balance Scale which has low reliabilities. We have to take this into account in our choice of assessment to measure emotional wellbeing.