Physical Activity Guidelines And Attempted Suicide Trends Amongst College Students

Abstract

Engaging in physical activity is known to improve overall health as well as reduce suicidal behavior in college students. PURPOSE: This project sought to examine the patterns of physical activity and suicide amongst college students. A secondary purpose was to examine trends over time among students enrolled at a metropolitan university. METHODS: Data were collected from the American College Health Association (ACHA) - National College Health Assessment (NCHA) survey distributed in the spring of 2010 (n = 476), 2012 (n = 695) and 2014 (n = 751) at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO). The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, also using Crosstabulation. RESULTS: The overall percentage of students who attempted suicide in the last 12 months increased by 5.4% from 2010 to 2014. The results showed that in 2010, 1.9% (n = 5) of students answered ‘yes’ to attempting suicide in the last 12 months, of these 20% (n = 1) met the physical activity guidelines and 80% (n = 4) did not. In 2012, 6.7% (n = 23) students answered ‘yes’ to attempting suicide in the last 12 months, of these 41% (n = 9) met the physical activity guidelines and 59% (n = 13) did not. In 2014, 7.3% (n = 27) of students answered ‘yes’ to attempting suicide in the last 12 months, of these 51.2% (n = 14) met the physical activity guidelines and 48.8% (n = 13) did not. CONCLUSION: Students that met the physical activity guidelines were not always less likely to have attempted suicide in the last 12 months. UCO reported a higher percentage of attempted suicides within in the last twelve months in 2010, 2012 and 2014 when compared to the 2012 ACHA-NCHA executive summary percentages. Physical activity is related to numerous mental health benefits including positive lifestyle behaviors that can reduce risk for suicide. These findings along with literature on the benefits of physical activity for individuals with mental illness such as depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts highlight the need for targeted physical activity interventions among college students diagnosed with mental illnesses.