The relationship between dimensions of emerging adulthood problems among Chinese emerging adults: the mediating role of physical activity and self-control

Kuang, J., Arnett, J. J., Chen, E., Demetrovics, Z., Herold, F., Cheung, R. Y. M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0998-7991, Hall, D. L., Markwart, M., Gerber, M., Ludyga, S., Kramer, A. F. and Zou, L. (2023) The relationship between dimensions of emerging adulthood problems among Chinese emerging adults: the mediating role of physical activity and self-control. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 25 (8). pp. 937-948. ISSN 1462-3730 doi: 10.32604/ijmhp.2023.029187

Abstract/Summary

Emerging adulthood (EA) is a critical stage of life to develop and sustain a healthy lifestyle, which is also a time of vulnerability to poor physical and mental health outcomes. In this study, we conducted a path analysis (N = 1326) to examine associations among four dimensions of EA, levels of regular physical activity (PA), self-control, MPA tendency and irrational procrastination. Results found: 1) higher levels of PA predicted both MPA tendency (β = −0.08, 95% CI: −0.11 to −0.06, p < 0.001) and irrational procrastination (β = −0.01, 95% CI: −0.17 to −0.008, p < 0.01) indirectly via self-control; 2) Instability (β = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.18, p < 0.01) and Responsibility (β = −0.06, 95% CI: −0.10 to −0.08, p = 0.03) exerted direct effects on irrational procrastination and Instability also indirectly predicted irrational procrastination via MPA tendency (β = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.05, p < 0.01). These findings proved that perceived features of EA are linked to behavioral problems and supported that regular PA plays a crucial role to protect mental health.