College Students' Psychological Capital, Social Support, Bmi And Physical Activity

Abstract

PURPOSE: To explore college students’ psychological capital, social support, BMI and physical activity across different years of study, genders and types of physical education (PE) classes enrolled. METHODS:The Positive Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PPQ), Sports Activity Rating Scale-3 (PARS-3) and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) were administered to 1192 college students to measure their psychological capital, physical activity (PA) level, and social support, respectively. Their height and weight were recorded to calculate BMI. Demographic variables including year of study, gender and type of PE classes enrolled in college were also measured. RESULTS: Psychological capital significantly differed by year of study (F = 2.781, p = .04) favoring freshmen compared to juniors and seniors; by gender (t = 2.885, p = .004) favoring male students; and by type of PE classes enrolled (F = 21.305, p = .000), with students taking physical fitness training courses showing the highest score and those taking traditional Chinese sports classes showing the lowest score. Social support significantly differed by year of study (F = 7.612, p = .000; decline by year of study); by gender (t = -2.246, p = .025) favoring female students; and by type of PE classes enrolled (F = 1.884, p = .111). Lastly, BMI and PA significantly differed by year of study (BMI: F = 3.944, p = .008; PA:F = 6.996, p = .000), with the higher grade levels showing higher levels of BMI and PA; by gender (BMI: t = 9.576, p = .000; PA: t = 8.152, p = .000; higher scores in male students); and by type of PE classes enrolled (BMI: F = 3.707, p = .005; PA:F = 21.305, p = .000), with lower BMI scores in those enrolled in rhythmic PE classes than those in net/wall sports, team and traditional Chinese sports classes and with PA level favoring those enrolled in physical fitness training courses. CONCLUSIONS: There are significant differences in psychological capital, social support, BMI, and PA among students of different years of study, especially between Freshmen and seniors. The level of psychological capital of the male students is generally higher than that of the female students, which is contrary for social support. The students who take rhythmic sports such as aerobics have the lowest BMI, the students who take physical fitness training courses have the highest level of PA.