Effect of Physical Activity on the Level of Depression among Adolescents

Abstract

Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behavior, feelings, and sense of wellbeing.Depression is a very prevalent mental disorder affecting 340 million people globally and is projected to become the leading cause of disability and the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease by the year 2020. There is a general belief that physical activity and exercise have positive effects on mood and anxiety and a great number of studies describe an association of physical activity and general wellbeing, mood and anxiety. In accordance with the concept, the present piece of work aimed at studying the level of depression among adolescents those who are practicing physical activities such asrunning, lifting weights, playing basketball,gardening, washing car, walking around the block or engaging in other less intense activities from last six months. The sample of 100 male adolescents (50 involved in physical activity from last six months and 50 not doing physical activity from last six months) was selected purposefully from Rajasthan College, Jaipur. Depression scale developed by Karim and Tiwari (1986) was administered to 100 respondents. The results pointed out that the mean score of adolescents performing physical activity on depression scale was found to be low which reveals low depression. Therefore, physical activity helps in reduction of depression and has positive impact on wellbeing of respondents.