TRAVEL MOBILITY AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN THE DAILY LIVES OF COLLEGE STUDENTS

Abstract

Tyson (2010) conducted research on 100 students using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Physical Activity Question-naire (PAQ). He concluded that students who engaged in more exercise had better mental health. Other studies have confirmed his findings, and have demonstrated how a student’s well-being is related to their success in build-ing relationships and maintaining academic studies. On the other hand, stu-dents that do not engage in physical activity often experience negative well-being, including difficulty concentrating, fatigue, and psychological disorders. The objectives of this study are to determine if the strength of association between daily emotion and activity participation is similar across college stu-dents, and how physical activity and travel mobility relate to well-being. The Experience Sampling Method (ESM), developed by Csikszentmihalyi, Larson, and Prescott (1977) will be used in conjunction with an accelerometer and global positioning system (GPS) to collect data from a sample of (n=24) full-time students over a period of seven days from 9:00am-9:00pm. Subjects will be randomly signaled seven times a day, at which time they will com-plete several Likert-type statements and semantic deferential items in order to measure their perceptions of well-being. To date, the combined methodo-logical use of ESM, GPS and accelerometry has not been conducted on col-lege students. Travel mobility and physical activity will be recorded using the Garmin Forerunner 410 GPS and the Actigraph accelerometer. Data collec-tion phase is incomplete. It is expected that the strength of association be-tween daily emotion and activity participation will be consistent across col-lege students, and physical activity and travel mobility will contribute to stu-dent’s well-being. It is also expected that students with high levels of physi-cal activity and travel mobility will report an overall sense of happiness and increased well-being as compared to those with low levels of physical activity and travel mobility.