Pursuing Sustainable Happiness through Participation in Exercise for South Korean Students: Structural Relationships among Exercise, Mental Health Factors, School Satisfaction, and Happiness

How Green Space Justice in urban built-up areas affects public mental health: a moderated chain mediation model

Background

Green and blue spaces, as crucial components of urban ecosystems, significantly impact the physical and mental health of residents. However, the mechanisms through which Green/Blue Space Justice influence residents' health remain unclear.

Methods

This study aims to explore the impact of green spaces on public psychological responses, physical activity, and mental health from a justice perspective, and to examine the moderating role of blue spaces in this relationship. The research was conducted in selected communities within the Chang-Zhu-Tan urban agglomeration in Hunan Province, China. A total of 801 valid questionnaires were collected through field visits and online surveys. The study uses an improved Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method to assess green space accessibility. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and moderation effect analysis to reveal the relationships between variables.

Results

The findings indicate that Green Space Justice has a significant positive impact on psychological responses, physical activity, and mental health; psychological responses and physical activity play crucial mediating roles between Green Space Justice and mental health; and Green Space Justice significantly affects mental health through a chain mediation path involving psychological responses and physical activity. Moreover, Blue Space Justice significantly moderates the impact of Green Space Justice on psychological responses and physical activity, but does not have a significant direct impact on mental health.

Conclusion

This study enriches the theory of Green Space Justice by revealing the mechanisms through which it influences mental health via psychological responses and physical activity. It provides a scientific basis for the development of healthy cities. Additionally, it recommends that urban planning should prioritize the equitable distribution and high accessibility of both green and blue spaces to comprehensively enhance residents' physical and mental well-being. Policymakers should consider prioritizing the accessibility of high-quality green spaces for vulnerable communities during urban renewal and expansion processes to reduce social health inequalities and promote broader public health outcomes.

Health, Education, and Economic Well-Being in China: How Do Human Capital and Social Interaction Influence Economic Returns

In developing countries, it is generally believed that a good health status and education (human capital) bring economic well-being and benefits. Some researchers have found that there are overall financial returns and income premiums correlated with human capital because of its excellent and higher ability. Due to different views and a lack of consensus, the role of human capital is still ambiguous and poorly understood. This study investigates the economic returns of health status, education level, and social interaction, that is, whether and how human capital and social interaction affect employment and income premiums. Using the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) for specification bias, we used the instrumental variable (IV) approach to specify the endogeneity and interaction effect in order to identify the impact and economic returns of human capital and social interaction on the values of other control and observed variables. However, we show that an individual with strong and higher human capital positively affects economic returns, but the variability of these estimates differs across estimators. Being more socially interactive is regarded as a type of social interaction but as not human capital in the labor market; thus, the empirical findings of this study reflect social stability and that the economic well-being of socially active individuals is an advantaged situation. Furthermore, men with substantial human capital and social interaction are in a more advantaged position compared to women with similar abilities.

Associations between Demographic Characteristics, Lifestyle Factors and School-Related Conditions and Symptoms of Mental Health Problems in Norwegian Upper Secondary School Students

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the associations between demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors and school-related conditions, and symptoms of mental health problems in Norwegian upper secondary school students following the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this cross-sectional study design we used a binary logistic regression model to evaluate potential associations between the predictors and dependent variable. Results: The following six predictors had a statistically significant impact on symptoms of mental health problems; gender effect of being a girl (p < 0.001), self-perceived body image (p < 0.001), sleep problems (p < 0.001), dietary habits (p = 0.033), school satisfaction (p = 0.013), and satisfaction with physical education (PE) class participation (p = 0.025). Conclusions: Being a girl was associated with a 315% higher probability of reporting symptoms of mental health problems than boys, whereas one unit increase in sleep problems showed a 192% higher probability of symptoms of mental health problems. Furthermore, a one unit increase on the respective beneficial predictors’ scales was associated with the following percentage having a lower probability of reporting symptoms of mental health problems; self-perceived body image (59%), dietary habits (58%), school satisfaction (82%), and satisfaction with PE class participation (68%).

Measuring Happiness in Adolescent Samples: A Systematic Review

Background: Happiness is a phenomenon that relates to better mental and physical health and even longevity. There has been an increase in surveys assessing subjective well-being as well as happiness, one of the well-being components that reflect one’s feelings or moods. Happiness is mostly measured in adult samples. There is a lack of an overview of the tools used to evaluate adolescent happiness, so this paper aimed to review them. Methods: A literature search was performed in the PubMed and PsycArticles databases (2010–2019). In total, 133 papers met the eligibility criteria for this systematic review. Results: The results are grouped according to the type of measure, single or multiple items, that was used in a study. Almost half of the studies (64 of 133) evaluated subjective happiness using single-item measures. The most commonly used scales were the 4-item Subjective Happiness Scale and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. Among the 133 articles analyzed, 18 reported some validation procedures related to happiness. However, in the majority of cases (14 studies), happiness was not the central phenomenon of validation, which suggests a lack of happiness validation studies. Conclusions: Finally, recommendations for future research and for the choice of happiness assessment tools are presented.

A Longitudinal Study on the Relationship between Physical Education and Social Health

This study aimed to examine whether school physical education (PE) promotes students’ social health using a longitudinal design. To this end, data from 1979 students from a 4th grade cohort, established by the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey with data collected from 2010 to 2016, who participated in all of the 7th grade (2013), 8th grade (2014), and 9th grade (2015) surveys were analyzed. We used autoregressive cross-lagged structural equation modeling conducted with AMOS 23.0 to examine the longitudinal causality among the factors. The following results were obtained. First, there was reciprocal causation between PE and social health (PE→SR, β = 0.099, β = 0.100; SR→PE; β = 0.207, β = 0.226). Second, PE did not influence sense of community, whereas the latter had a negative effect on PE (β = −0.078, β = −0.077). Third, social relationships influenced the sense of community (β = 0.248, β = 0.266). Based on these findings, we suggest the need for a system that enables students to frequently monitor their performance. This includes implementing a program to improve social relationships to enhance the quality of PE participation, designing programs that foster a sense of community in PE in Korean middle schools, and structuring PE programs that consider the hierarchy between social relationships and a sense of community.

The Structural Relationship between Exercise Frequency, Social Health, and Happiness in Adolescents

The aim of this study was to verify the relations between exercise frequency, social relationships, sense of community, and subjective happiness among adolescents. The data analysed in the study were from the 11th Korean Child–Adolescent Happiness Index conducted by the Korean Bang Jeong Hwan Foundation in 2019. The data consisted of questionnaire responses from 5094 middle-school and high-school students. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, model validity and fit analysis, path analysis, and effects analysis. The results showed that exercise frequency was associated with social relationships, sense of community, and subjective happiness in adolescents, and a comprehensive examination of relations between exercise frequency, a part of social relationships, sense of community, and subjective happiness was confirmed. It can be concluded that adolescents who participate in frequent exercise become more socially adept, which could in turn make them happier. Policymakers and stakeholders, including educational institutions and parents, should therefore promote adolescent participation in exercise and sports.