The Association between Physical Activity, Self-Compassion, and Mental Well-Being after COVID-19: In the Exercise and Self-Esteem Model Revised with Self-Compassion (EXSEM-SC) Perspective

Ming-Yu Claudia Wong; Hong-Wang Fung; Guangzhe Frank Yuan

doi:10.3390/healthcare11020233

The Association between Physical Activity, Self-Compassion, and Mental Well-Being after COVID-19: In the Exercise and Self-Esteem Model Revised with Self-Compassion (EXSEM-SC) Perspective

Healthcare (Basel). 2023 Jan 12;11(2):233. doi: 10.3390/healthcare11020233.

Authors

Ming-Yu Claudia Wong¹, Hong-Wang Fung², Guangzhe Frank Yuan^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health and Physical Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
² Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China.
³ South Carolina Smart State Center for Healthcare Quality, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
⁴ Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.

Abstract

During the great life-altering challenges brought by Coronavirus 2019, school closures and lack of access to exercise and social interactions may have increased students' negative emotions. The current research acts as a follow-up study to the development of the EXSEM-SC, using the Repeated Measures Panel Analysis Framework (RMPAF) to examine the stability of the model in revealing the relationship between physical activity, self-compassion, and mental well-being among Hong Kong adolescents. It is also aimed at examining the changes in physical activity, self-compassion, and mental well-being among Hong Kong adolescents between, before, and after the peak of COVID-19 using the EXSEM-SC Model. The RMPAF has involved 572 (60% Female, Mage = 13.63, SD =1.31) Hong Kong secondary school students. Furthermore, using the abductive qualitative approach, a total of 25 (Mage = 14.84, SD = 1.40) students were involved in the in-depth interviews to further investigate the relationships within the EXSEM-SC. The quantitative results showed that the relationship between physical activity and self-compassion could be demonstrated by the EXSEM-SC, with a satisfactory goodness-of-fit index in the SEMs, as well as satisfying model construct consistency. Moreover, it showed no significant differences in the level of physical activity, self-compassion, and mental well-being during and after the peak of COVID-19. The qualitative results demonstrated two new categories within the EXSEM-SC variables, which are personality traits and injuries experiences. With the stability of the EXSEM-SC model among adolescents, it is expected that the physical activity intervention, which is based on the EXSEM-SC model, could also aim at easing Hong Kong adolescent's mental health issues. In addition, in terms of generating a long-term impact among students, the physical activity and self-compassionate intervention should be promoted among schools. However, the quantitative properties of the two new categories in the qualitative outcomes should be involved in future investigation.

Keywords: adolescents; mental well-being; physical activity; self-compassion.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.