ECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH11
ECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH11
Background: Health profession university students experience high academic and psychosocial demands during a critical life period for establishing long-term health behaviours1. Physical activity (PA) is associated with improved mental health2, but the interplay between PA, sedentary behaviour (SB), fatigue and stress on mental well-being and perceived overall health remains insufficiently explored in this population. Future healthcare professionals represent a strategic target for health promotion, as their own lifestyle behaviours influence both their professional resilience and their proficiency as health ambassadors. Methods: This cross-sectional study examined associations between PA, SB and fatigue with mental well-being and perceived overall health, as well as the moderating role of stress, among undergraduate health students in a Swiss University of Applied Sciences. Students completed an online survey including the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form; the 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ; to measure mental well-being, further subdivided in depression and anxiety symptoms); the 4-item Perceived Stress Scale; the Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire (further subdivided into physical and mental fatigue) and a single-item measure of perceived overall health (1-10 scale). Spearman correlations, linear regressions (controlling for BMI and gender), and moderation analyses were conducted. Results: A total of 299 students across five health professions were included (75% female, median BMI: 23.0 kg/m2). Higher moderate-to-vigorous PA was associated with lower anxiety symptoms and overall PHQ score (ρ=-0.23, p<0.001 for both), and better perceived overall health (ρ=0.28, p<0.001). SB was associated with increased perceived fatigue (total fatigue ρ=0.19, p=0.003, physical fatigue ρ=0.17, p=0.008). Stress emerged as the strongest predictor of PHQ score (B=0.64, p<0.001) and perceived overall health (B=-0.19, p<0.001), but it did not moderate the relationship between these outcomes and PA nor SB. No significant interaction between PA and SB was observed for either mental well-being or perceived overall health. Conclusion: Among health professions students, higher PA was associated with better mental well-being and perceived overall health, independent of stress or SB. While SB was unrelated to mental well-being in this study, it was associated with greater fatigue. Promoting PA and limiting SB should be key elements of university health-promotion strategies to enhance well-being and resilience in future healthcare professionals. 1. Gordon-Larsen P, Nelson MC, Popkin BM. Longitudinal physical activity and sedentary behavior trends: adolescence to adulthood. American journal of preventive medicine. 2004;27(4):277-283. 2. Singh B, Olds T, Curtis R, et al. Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews. Br J Sports Med. Sep 2023;57(18):1203-1209.
Read CV Jennifer MassetECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH11
Introduction This study examined the impacts of yoga intervention on the executive functions (EFs) of children with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Methods Twenty children with ASD and 20 typically developing (TD) children, aged 6–12 years, participated in the study. Within each diagnostic group, participants were randomly assigned to either the exercise group (EG) or the control group (CG). Accordingly, 10 children with ASD and 10 TD children were assigned to the exercise groups (ASD-EG and TD-EG) and received an 80-min yoga intervention twice weekly for 12 weeks, whereas the remaining 10 children with ASD and 10 TD children were assigned to the control groups (ASD-CG and TD-CG) and did not receive any yoga training. All participants completed the Stroop Color and Word Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Stockings of Cambridge (SOC), and Spatial Working Memory (SWM) tasks before and after the intervention. Statistical analyses were conducted using two-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVA; Disability x Intervention), with baseline EF measures entered as covariates. The level of significance was set at p < .05. Results TD participants initially demonstrated better EFs than those with ASD. A two-way ANCOVA (Disability x Intervention), with baseline EF measures entered as covariates, revealed that after the intervention the ASD-EG performed significantly better than the ASD-CG on the SOC task (i.e., problems solved in minimum moves: p = .037) and the WCST (i.e., total correct: p = .001; conceptual level responses: p = .003; categories completed: p = .042). Furthermore, after controlling for baseline EF measures, no significant differences were found between the ASD-EG and TD-EG on any EF variables at posttest. The ASD-CG, however, demonstrated significantly poorer WCST performance than the TD-CG at posttest, including total correct (p = .024), perseverative responses (p = .029), perseverative errors (p = .020), conceptual level responses (p = .007), and categories completed (p = .012), after controlling for baseline measures. Discussion Collectively, these findings suggest that although children with ASD initially exhibited poorer executive functioning than their TD peers, the intervention was effective in enhancing EF performance in the ASD group to a level comparable to that of TD participants. ASD participants who did not receive the intervention, however, continued to show significant EF disadvantages relative to TD controls, indicating that the observed improvements were not attributable to natural maturation alone. Taken together, these results indicate that the intervention represents an effective approach for enhancing executive functioning in children with ASD, with effects extending beyond within-group improvement to the reduction of EF disparities relative to TD peers. Acknowledgments Supported by Taiwan MOST grants 106-2410-H-017-022-MY3 & NSTC grants 112-2410-H-017-029-MY2.
Read CV Chu-Yang HuangECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH11