Keywords
Diet Quality; Female College Student; Hispanic; Mental Health; Physical Activity
Abstract
The current state of mental health in college students is a universal concern. Female college students are reporting more depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms than ever before. Physical activity and diet quality can positively influence mental health symptoms. Current research provides scarce evidence that examines the relationship of these health behaviors and outcomes in the Hispanic female population. The primary aim of this study is to examine the relationship between physical health behaviors and mental health outcomes in Hispanic female college students. This is a cross-sectional study using a self-report survey to collect data from approximately 109 Hispanic female college students through in-person recruitment and flyers placed on the university campus. Measures included the Dietary Quality Questionnaire, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire- Short Form, and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale. One-way analysis of variance tests and Pearson correlations were run to determine the relationship between mental health and physical activity and mental health and diet quality. We hypothesized that diet quality and physical activity would be negatively associated with depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms. We hypothesized that there would be significant group level differences between low, moderate, and high depression, anxiety, and stress on diet quality and that there would be significant group level differences between low, moderate, and high physical activity on depressive, anxiety, and stress scores. Pearson’s correlations found diet quality was negatively associated with depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms, but physical activity was not. We found that participants with better diet quality reported lower depressive,
anxiety, and stress scores, but did not find physical activity group level differences with mental ii
health symptoms. These findings implicate future research to develop and test nutritional programs that target depression, anxiety, and stress of college students, specifically Hispanic female college students.
Thesis Completion Year
2024
Thesis Completion Semester
Spring
Thesis Chair
Shante Jeune
College
College of Health Professions and Sciences
Department
Health Sciences
Thesis Discipline
Health Sciences
Language
English
Access Status
Open Access
Length of Campus Access
None
Campus Location
Orlando (Main) Campus
STARS Citation
St. Laurent, Alexandra, "Examining the Relationship Between Physical Health Behaviors and Mental Health Outcomes in Female Hispanic College Students" (2024). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 126.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hut2024/126
Rights Statement
