Physical Activity, Stress, Depression, Emotional Intelligence, Logical Thinking, and Overall Health in a Large Lithuanian from October 2019 to June 2020: Age and Gender Differences Adult Sample

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 18; no. 23; p. 12809
• Main Authors: Skurvydas, Albertas, Lisinskiene, Ausra, Lochbaum, Marc, Majauskiene, Daiva, Valanciene, Dovile, Dadeliene, Ruta, Fatkulina, Natalja, Sarkauskiene, Asta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 04.12.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Body mass index; Chronic illnesses; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression - epidemiology; Emotional Intelligence; Emotions; Exercise; Explicit knowledge; Female; Humans; Hypotheses; Impulsivity; Intelligence tests; Male; Males; Mental depression; Metabolism; Obesity; Overweight; Questionnaires; Sex Factors; Sleep; Stress; Young Adult; Young adults; physical health perceptions; cognitive functioning; personality; mental health; moderate-to-vigorous physical activity
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182312809

This study aimed to examine relationships and group differences among adult people’s (aged 18–74) physical activity (PA), expression of stress, depression, emotional intelligence (EI), logical thinking (LT), and overall health assessment. Two hypotheses were formulated before the study. The first hypothesis is that overweight and obesity in young adults (18 to 34 years) females and males, in particular, should increase sharply and this should be associated with decreased PA, abruptly deteriorating subject health, increased stress, depression, and poorer emotion management and EI. Second hypothesis: We further thought that the better people’s reflective thinking, the more they should live a healthier life (e.g., exercise more and eat healthier), their overweight and obesity should be small or none. We aimed to confirm or reject these two hypotheses. We applied a quantitative cross-sectional study design. The study results revealed that during the lifespan of 18–24 and 25–34 years (young adults) there was a sharp increase in overweight and obesity, a decrease in PA (and especially vigorous physical activity (VPA)) (and this was particularly evident in the male), while research participants felt less stress and depression, subjective assessment of health did not change, and EI increased steadily with age (18–24 to 65–74 years). The higher the EI of the research participants from 18–24 to 65–74 years of age the higher their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), the less stress and depression they felt. Based on the results, it can be said that both females and males prefer PA “with a hot heart rather than a cold mind.” We base this conclusion on the fact that females and males who have the highest EI also have the highest MVPA while LT is not associated with MVPA.