Student Profiles of Physical Activity, Screen Time, Sleep Quality and Dietary Habits and Their Association with Mental Health and School
Satisfaction: An Exploratory Study
Authors
1 Department of Kinesiology, Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA.
2 Department of Leadership, Research and School Improvement, University of West Georgia, Carollton, Georgia, USA.
3 School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
4 HERC – Health, Exercise & Research Center, Dubai, UAE.
5 Faculty of Sport & Psychology, Educons University, Novi Sad, Serbia.
Phase
The Project
The interrelated nature of mental health and academic performance in school-aged youth has been under-investigated from a person-centered perspective. In this study, we examined patterns of health behavior in relation to mental health and school satisfaction in children and adolescents.
A convenience sample of 315 students (M age =11.39; SD=2.045) from two British schools in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates participated in an online survey that included self-report measures of physical activity, screen time, sleep quality, dietary habits, mental health and school satisfaction. Based on latent profile analysis, we identified four distinct health behavior profiles: high, low, average, and poor sleep and diet. Significant variation across profiles was evident for mental health subscores, age, and gender. We employed a descriptive, cross-sectional research design and used a survey to collect data for this study. To our knowledge, this is the first study to use latent profile analysis to identify distinct health behavior profiles of students in the UAE and to examine these variables in relation to mental health and school satisfaction. Students in our sample fit distinct profiles, based on their self-reported physical activity, screen time, sleep quality, and dietary habits. Furthermore, the results suggest that students fitting the most desirable health behavior profile were advantaged in terms of their mental health and school satisfaction.
