Improving College Students’ Depression During an Acute Pandemic Disease with the KEEP Application

Chao Mengyao, Tengku Fadilah Tengku Kamalden, Roxana Dev Omar Der, Maizatul Mardiana Binti Harun, Liu Xiaoxiao

Abstract


Background: During the Covid-19 epidemic, the number of downloads of sports apps surged, with people using sports apps to exercise and share social activities. Objective: This study aimed to explore the impact of college students using Keep APP to exercise on their mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: This study utilized a longitudinal research methodology to conduct a 6-week intervention experiment with college students using the KEEP application based on the intervention criteria of the study. The psychological status of the university students before and after the experiment was evaluated through the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). On the basis of satisfying the normal distribution, the was used for data analysis. Results: A total of 60 college students participated in this study (22 boys and 38 girls). Among them, 46 people (76.7%) were infected with COVID-19. After a 6-week exercise intervention using Keep APP, through paired-sample t-tests, significant differences were observed in SDS scores before and after the experiment (t = 10.33, p = 0.051). The mean difference was 5.82, with a 95% confidence interval of [6.436, 9.197], indicating a moderate effect on depressive emotions in the experimental group. Similarly, SAS scores also showed significant differences before and after the experiment (t = 4.889, p = 0.005). The mean difference was 2.18, with a 95% confidence interval of [1.88, 4.486], demonstrating a moderate to large effect.There was no statistically significant effect of choice of exercise modality and frequency of exercise per week on scores in this study (P>0.05). Additionally, the duration of exercise shows a significant effect on SAS scores (P =0.027). Conclusion: This study verified the impact of using Keep APP on the mental health of college students during the COVID-19 outbreak, and confirmed that the application can help improve students with mental health problems. These findings provide help in dealing with people’s mental health problems during sudden infectious diseases. Similarly, it also provides valuable insights for further research on software applications.

Keywords


COVID-19, College Students, Keep Application, Depression, Anxiety

Full Text:

PDF

References


Alvarez-Hernandez, L. R., Childs, E. M., Fatehi, M., & Yeo, H. (2022). How perception relates to student utilization of college campus counseling services. J Am Coll Health, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2022.2129973

Antoniak, K., Tucker, C., Rizzone, K., Wren, T. A. L., & Edison, B. (2022). Athlete Identity and Mental Health of Student Athletes during COVID-19. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 19(24). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192417062

Blumenthal, J. A., Babyak, M. A., Doraiswamy, P. M., Watkins, L., Hoffman, B. M., Barbour, K. A., Herman, S., Craighead, W. E., Brosse, A. L., Waugh, R., Hinderliter, A., & Sherwood, A. (2007). Exercise and Pharmacotherapy in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder. Psychosomatic Medicine, 69(7), 587. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e318148c19a

Cao, W. (2022). Sports APP interface design that meets user needs. . Screen Printing, 19, 70-73. https://doi.org/CNKI:SUN:SWYS.0.2022-19-020.

Carek, P. J., Laibstain, S. E., & Carek, S. M. (2011). Exercise for the Treatment of Depression and Anxiety. The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 41(1), 15-28. https://doi.org/10.2190/PM.41.1.c

Chang, J., Yuan, Y., & Wang, D. (2020). Mental health status and its influencing factors among college students during the epidemic of COVID-19. Journal of Southern Medical University, 40(2), 171-176. https://doi.org/10.12122/j.issn.1673-4254.2020.02.06

Chen, H. (2023). The impact of sports apps on college students’ physical exercise behavior and cognition—taking Guangxi Normal University as an example. Sports Vision(09), 113-115. https://doi.org/CNKI:SUN:TYDW.0.2023-09-036.

Chi, X., Chen, S., Chen, Y., Chen, D., Yu, Q., Guo, T., Cao, Q., Zheng, X., Huang, S., Hossain, M. M., Stubbs, B., Yeung, A., & Zou, L. (2022). Psychometric Evaluation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale Among Chinese Population. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20(2), 1273-1288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00441-7

Deng, J., & Tan, D. (2022). Design and development of outdoor sports APP based on Hongmeng. Jiangxi Communication Technology, 03, 30-32. https://doi.org/10.16714/j.cnki.36-1115/tn.2022.03.007

Dunn, A. L., Trivedi, M. H., Kampert, J. B., Clark, C. G., & Chambliss, H. O. (2005). Exercise treatment for depression: efficacy and dose response. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 28(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2004.09.003

Fang, L., & Guo, J. (2019). Does Physical Activity Promote Health Equity?——Effect of the Physical Activity on the Residents’ Depression in China. China Sport Science, 39(10), 65-74. https://doi.org/10.16469/j.css.201910006

Faulkner, J., O’Brien, W. J., McGrane, B., Wadsworth, D., Batten, J., Askew, C. D., Badenhorst, C., Byrd, E., Coulter, M., Draper, N., Elliot, C., Fryer, S., Hamlin, M. J., Jakeman, J., Mackintosh, K. A., McNarry, M. A., Mitchelmore, A., Murphy, J., Ryan-Stewart, H., . . . Lambrick, D. (2021). Physical activity, mental health and well-being of adults during initial COVID-19 containment strategies: A multi-country cross-sectional analysis. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 24(4), 320-326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2020.11.016

Gilley, K. N., Baroudi, L., Yu, M., Gainsburg, I., Reddy, N., Bradley, C., Cislo, C., Rozwadowski, M. L., Clingan, C. A., DeMoss, M. S., Churay, T., Birditt, K., Colabianchi, N., Chowdhury, M., Forger, D., Gagnier, J., Zernicke, R. F., Cunningham, J. L., Cain, S. M., . . . Choi, S. W. (2022). Risk Factors for COVID-19 in College Students Identified by Physical, Mental, and Social Health Reported During the Fall 2020 Semester: Observational Study Using the Roadmap App and Fitbit Wearable Sensors. JMIR Ment Health, 9(2), e34645. https://doi.org/10.2196/34645

Guo, S. (2023). Scenario construction and application of sports apps in health communication under the perspective of scenario theory--Taking "Keep" as an Example. The Thirty-first and Thirty-second Chinese College Athletics Research Paper Presentations, Changchun, Jilin, China.

Gustafsson, G., Lira, C. M., Johansson, J., Wisén, A., Wohlfart, B., Ekman, R., & Westrin, Å. (2009). The acute response of plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor as a result of exercise in major depressive disorder. Psychiatry Research, 169(3), 244-248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2008.06.030

Hahn, S. L., Kaciroti, N., Eisenberg, D., Weeks, H. M., Bauer, K. W., & Sonneville, K. R. (2021). Introducing Dietary Self-Monitoring to Undergraduate Women via a Calorie Counting App Has No Effect on Mental Health or Health Behaviors: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 121(12), 2377-2388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2021.06.311

Hall, G., Laddu, D. R., Phillips, S. A., Lavie, C. J., & Arena, R. (2021). A tale of two pandemics: How will COVID-19 and global trends in physical inactivity and sedentary behavior affect one another? Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 64, 108-110. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2020.04.005

Han, S.-S., Li, B., Ke, Y.-Z., Wang, G.-X., Meng, S.-Q., Li, Y.-X., Cui, Z.-L., & Tong, W.-X. (2022). Chinese College Students’ Physical-Exercise Behavior, Negative Emotions, and Their Correlation during the COVID-19 Outbreak. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(16), 10344. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191610344

Helleman, J., Van Eenennaam, R., Kruitwagen, E. T., Kruithof, W. J., Slappendel, M. J., Van Den Berg, L. H., Visser-Meily, J. M. A., & Beelen, A. (2020). Telehealth as part of specialized ALS care: feasibility and user experiences with "ALS home-monitoring and coaching". Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener, 21(3-4), 183-192. https://doi.org/10.1080/21678421.2020.1718712

Holmes, E. A., O'Connor, R. C., Perry, V. H., Tracey, I., Wessely, S., Arseneault, L., Ballard, C., Christensen, H., Silver, R. C., Everall, I., Ford, T., John, A., Kabir, T., King, K., Madan, I., Michie, S., Przybylski, A. K., Shafran, R., Sweeney, A., . . . Bullmore, E. (2020). Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: a call for action for mental health science. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(6), 547-560. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30168-1

Hu, S., Tucker, L., Wu, C., & Yang, L. (2020). Beneficial Effects of Exercise on Depression and Anxiety During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.587557

Hua, Z., & Sun, J. (2021). Experimental study on the impact of physical and mental exercises on anxiety, depression and stress in college students. Journal of Guangzhou Institute of Physical Education, 01, 95-102. https://doi.org/10.13830/j.cnki.cn44-1129/g8. 2021.01.022

Huang, Y., Wang, Y., Wang, H., Liu, Z., Yu, X., Yan, J., Yu, Y., Kou, C., Xu, X., Lu, J., Wang, Z., He, S., Xu, Y., He, Y., Li, T., Guo, W., Tian, H., Xu, G., Xu, X., . . . Wu, Y. (2019). Prevalence of mental disorders in China: a cross-sectional epidemiological study. The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(3), 211-224. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30511-X

Jin, P. (2022). Research on the Status Quo and Communication Effect of College Students’ Group Fitness Apps Henan University]. https://kns.cnki.net/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbname=CMFD202202&filename=1022630315.nh

Keep. (2023). Make The World Move. Beijing Calorie Technology Co., Ltd. https://www.gotokeep.com/about

Kim, C.-H., Song, Y.-E., & Jeon, Y.-J. (2021). The Effect of College Students’ Physical Activity Level on Depression and Personal Relationships. Healthcare, 9(5), 526. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9050526

Lee, J., Solomon, M., Stead, T., Kwon, B., & Ganti, L. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of US college students. BMC Psychology, 9(1), 95. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-021-00598-3

Li, H. (2014). Observation on the efficacy of joint intervention of aerobic exercise and mental health education on early depression in college students. Sports Research and Education(04), 114-117. https://doi.org/10.16207/j.cnki.2095-235x.2014.04. 004

Lin, J., Gao, Y. f., Guo, Y., Li, M., Zhu, Y., You, R., Chen, S., & Wang, S. (2022). Effects of qigong exercise on the physical and mental health of college students: a systematic review and Meta-analysis. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 22(1), 287. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-022-03760-5

Ma, K., Liu, J., Fu, C., Zhang, H., & Jia, S. (2020). Research Progress on the Intervention Effect and Mechanism of Exercise on Depression. China Sport Science and Technology, 56(11), 13-24. https://doi.org/10.16470/j.csst.2020132

Mahase, E. (2020). China coronavirus: WHO declares international emergency as death toll exceeds 200. BMJ, 368, m408. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m408

Market, D. (2022). 2022 Mobile Market Report. https://www.data.ai/cn/insights/market-data/state-of-mobile-2022/

Ni, X., Chan, R. J., Yates, P., Hu, W., Huang, X., & Lou, Y. (2019). The effects of Tai Chi on quality of life of cancer survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Supportive Care in Cancer, 27(10), 3701-3716. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04911-0

Ochani, R., Asad, A., Yasmin, F., Shaikh, S., Khalid, H., Batra, S., Sohail, M. R., Mahmood, S. F., Ochani, R., Hussham Arshad, M., Kumar, A., & Surani, S. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic: from origins to outcomes. A comprehensive review of viral pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnostic evaluation, and management. Infez Med, 29(1), 20-36. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33664170

Rai, P., Kumar, B. K., Deekshit, V. K., Karunasagar, I., & Karunasagar, I. (2021). Detection technologies and recent developments in the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 105(2), 441-455. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-020-11061-5

Romero Blanco, C., Rodríguez Almagro, J., Onieva Zafra, M. D., Parra Fernández, M. L., Prado Laguna, M. d. C., & Hernández Martínez, A. (2020). Physical Activity and Sedentary Lifestyle in University Students: Changes during Confinement Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(18), 6567. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186567

Sharma, A., Ahmad Farouk, I., & Lal, S. K. (2021). COVID-19: A Review on the Novel Coronavirus Disease Evolution, Transmission, Detection, Control and Prevention. Viruses, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020202

Smith, P. J., & Merwin, R. M. (2021). The Role of Exercise in Management of Mental Health Disorders: An Integrative Review. Annual Review of Medicine, 72(1), 45-62. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-med-060619-022943

Song, J., Liu, Z.-z., Huang, J., Wu, J.-s., & Tao, J. (2021). Effects of aerobic exercise, traditional Chinese exercises, and meditation on depressive symptoms of college student: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Medicine, 100(1), e23819. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000023819

Soomro, N., Chhaya, M., Soomro, M., Asif, N., Saurman, E., Lyle, D., & Sanders, R. (2019). Design, Development, and Evaluation of an Injury Surveillance App for Cricket: Protocol and Qualitative Study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, 7(1), e10978. https://doi.org/10.2196/10978

Stanton, R., & Reaburn, P. (2014). Exercise and the treatment of depression: a review of the exercise program variables. J Sci Med Sport, 17(2), 177-182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2013.03.010

Strohle, A. (2019). Sports psychiatry: mental health and mental disorders in athletes and exercise treatment of mental disorders. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, 269(5), 485-498. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-018-0891-5

Timmerman, J. R., & Volpe, V. (2023). Aspects of campus climate and mental health threats: The role of hypervigilance. J Am Coll Health, 71(3), 695-704. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1904954

Wang, C. (2023). Embodied co-presence: the construction of health community on exercise social apps - the example of keep. Science and technology communication, 15(14), 117-119+123. https://doi.org/10.16607/j.cnki.1674-6708.2023.14.011

Wang, X., Hegde, S., Son, C., Keller, B., Smith, A., & Sasangohar, F. (2020). Investigating Mental Health of US College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Survey Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), e22817. https://doi.org/10.2196/22817

Wang, Z., Li, Z., Li, H., Jiang, B., Niu, Y., Li, B., & Xue, H. (2022). Research Progress on the Neuromechanism of Exercise Interventions for Depression. Progress in Physiological Sciences, 53(6), 433-439. https://doi.org/10.20059/j.cnki.pps.2022.11.0068

Xie, D., Yang, Y., & Cheng, L. (2021). The Impact of Home Quarantine and Physical Exercise on Mental Health During COVID-19. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 29(6), 1343-1347. https://doi.org/10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2021.06.045

Xue, P., & Xu, J. (2020). The Influence of Basketball on the Mental Health of College Students. Science & Technology Information, 18(21), 184-186. https://doi.org/10.16661/j.cnki.1672-3791.2001-1015-9209

Yao, C., You, X., Liu, S., Zhou, C., & Hui, Q. (2019). The Relationship between Life Events and Depression of College Students: The Moderated Mediating Effect. Journal of Psychological Science, 42(4), 935-941. https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20190424

Yuan, K., Zheng, Y., Wang, Y., Sun, Y., Gong, Y., Huang, Y., Chen, X., Liu, X., Zhong, Y., Su, S., Gao, N., Lu, Y., Wang, Z., Liu, W., Que, J.-y., Yang, Y., Zhang, A., Jing, M., Yuan, C., . . . Lu, L. (2022). A systematic review and meta-analysis on prevalence of and risk factors associated with depression, anxiety and insomnia in infectious diseases, including COVID-19: a call to action. Molecular Psychiatry, 27(8), 3214-3222. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01638-z

Zhao, F. (2022). A study on the correlation between college students' willingness to use sports apps and sports behavior [Master, Shandong Normal University].




DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijkss.v.12n.1p.1

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.




License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

2013-2024 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD.

International Journal of Kinesiology and Sports Science

You may require to add the 'aiac.org.au' domain to your e-mail 'safe list’ If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox'. Otherwise, you may check your 'Spam mail' or 'junk mail' folders.