The UWorkItOut UWin Program: Improving University Students’ Psychological Distress through Physical Activity

Abstract

Background: The predominance of mental health concerns among post-secondary students has amplified the demand for campus counselling services. Although exercise is positively linked to mental health, campus interventions that integrate supervised exercise and exercise counselling are limited. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of the UWorkItOut UWin program on students’ psychological distress. Methods: The UWorkItOut UWin program is a 6-week exercise training and counselling intervention offered to low risk, sedentary students seeking counselling services at a mid-sized Canadian University. The participants included 49 (male, n = 16; female, n = 32; gender invariant, n = 1) university students (71% undergraduate) with a mean age of 23.08 years (SD = 4.97). Students completed one unsupervised (60 minutes) and two supervised (45 mins each) exercise training sessions per week. Students also attended weekly individual exercise counselling sessions (30 minutes each). The Mental Health Inventory-38 (MHI-38) was used to measure changes in the three subscales of psychological distress: 1) anxiety, 2) depression, and 3) loss of emotional control. Results: Paired samples t tests demonstrated significant decreases in anxiety and depression scores from pre-to post-intervention (ps < .05). No significant change was found for loss of emotional control from pre-to post-intervention (p > .05). Conclusion: The findings provide evidence for the effect of exercise in reducing university students’ psychological distress. Consequently, exercise is an additional mental health service for this population, alleviating strain on campus counselling services.

Occupational Outcomes of a Physical Activity Intervention for Post-Secondary Student Mental Health

“…Positive changes were also observed for mental health and PA behaviour outcomes from baseline to post-intervention, consistent with the findings of past PA intervention research targeting post-secondary student mental health (Keeler et al, 2019;McFadden et al, 2017;Muir et al, 2020). An underlying question remains as to the relationship between PA, mental health, and occupational performance.…”

“…According to recent reviews and clinical guidelines, PA interventions that focus on mental health should be structured, supervised, and include individualized aerobic and/or resistance training exercises (a subset of PA) (Ashdown-Franks, Sabiston, et al, 2019;Ravindran et al, 2016). Research focused on post-secondary student mental health has highlighted that PA interventions on post-secondary campuses are perceived as feasible and acceptable (deJonge, Omran, Faulkner, & Sabiston, 2020), and can positively impact distressing symptoms of mental illness, such as stress, anxiety, and depression (Keeler, Skidmore, Leenstra, MacDonald, & Stewart, 2019;McFadden et al, 2017;Muir et al, 2020). PA has also been highlighted as an important protective factor against life event stress, impairment to role functioning, and reduced quality of life in post-secondary student samples (Bray & Kwan, 2006;Joseph, Royse, Benitez, & Pekmezi, 2014).…”

“…Further, the experience of a mental health issue can negatively impact students' ability to participate in important occupations associated with student life (Kirsh et al, 2016;Markoulakis & Kirsh, 2013). Physical activity (PA) can be a therapeutic approach to address mental health challenges amongst post-secondary students (McFadden, Fortier, & Guérin, 2017;Muir, Munroe-Chandler, Loughead, Sutherland, & Hawksley, 2020). However, few studies have considered the benefits of PA from an occupational perspective within a post-secondary mental health context.…”

Structured exercise programs for higher education students experiencing mental health challenges: background, significance, and implementation

“…We believe that only a handful of such programs have been described in the contemporary literature. (53). In their feasibility work, Muir and colleagues reported significant decreases in students' anxiety and depression scores from pre-to post-intervention (53).…”

“…A modified version of the MoveU.HappyU program was established at the University of Windsor, a mid-sized Canadian University. The program UWorkItOut Uwin is a 6-week exercise training and counseling intervention ( 53 ). In their feasibility work, Muir and colleagues reported significant decreases in students’ anxiety and depression scores from pre-to post-intervention ( 53 ).…”