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Grant support

This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Health (Government Delegation for the National Plan on Drugs, code 2022I004 to P.S.-P.) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE, code PID2022-137601OA-I00 to P.S.-P.).

Analysis of institutional authors

Elliott, Adrian SAuthorSampedro-Piquero, PatriciaCorresponding Author

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November 4, 2024
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Intensity of Physical Activity in Young People: Focus on Emotional, Cognitive, and Healthy Lifestyle-Related Variables

Publicated to:Behavioral sciences. 14 (10): 935- - 2024-10-01 14(10), DOI: 10.3390/bs14100935

Authors: Elliott, Adrian S; Moreno-Fernandez, Roman D; Cordellat-Marzal, Ana; Sampedro-Piquero, Patricia

Affiliations

Univ Autonoma Madrid, Fac Psicol, Dept Psicol Biol & Salud, Madrid 28049, Spain - Author
Univ Francisco Vitoria, Fac Educ & Psicol, Madrid 29223, Spain - Author
Univ Valencia, Dept Educ Fis & Deport, Valencia 46010, Spain - Author

Abstract

The college years represent a crucial developmental period in which unhealthy behaviors, including smoking, alcohol consumption, inadequate physical activity (PA), poor sleep quality, and unhealthy nutrition habits are often acquired, influencing the onset or exacerbation of pre-existing mental disturbances such as anxiety, depression, or difficulties in emotion regulation. Our aim was to analyze the effect of the intensity of physical activity (PA) on the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive variables in a sample of young people. We recruited 103 participants (19.85 +/- 0.25) who completed several online questionnaires (IPAQ-SF, STAI-t, DERS, UPPS-P, ISP-20, and Mini-IPIP). Subsequently, face-to-face sessions were conducted to assess the cognitive variables and to collect more details about their lifestyle habits, including drug use, sleep quality, and leisure activities. Based on the IPAQ-SF results, we categorized the sample into three groups: light PA (n = 47), moderate PA (n = 29), and vigorous PA (n = 27). Vigorous PA group showed better emotional regulation, lower impulsivity, fewer prefrontal symptoms and unhealthy behaviors, better sleep quality, and more leisure activities. No significant cognitive differences were found. It seems that young people are a vulnerable group with emotional and impulsivity traits and engaging in intense PA appears to be a promising avenue for managing these symptoms. In conclusion, our study suggests that young people are a vulnerable group with emotional and impulsivity traits that may precipitate in future mental disorders. Nevertheless, engaging in PA, particularly at high intensity, appears to be a promising avenue for reducing and managing these symptoms during this critical period of life.

Keywords

Aerobic exerciseAlcohol-useCognitionCollege-studentsEmotionImpulsivitLifestyleMental-disordersPersonalityPhysical activityPrevalenceSubstance useUniversity-studentsYoutYouth

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Behavioral sciences due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2024 there are still no calculated indicators, but in 2023, it was in position 58/219, thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Psychology, Multidisciplinary. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q2 para la agencia Scopus (SJR) en la categoría Development.

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-20:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 19.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 17 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (SANCHEZ ELLIOTT, ADRIAN) and Last Author (SAMPEDRO PIQUERO, PATRICIA).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been SAMPEDRO PIQUERO, PATRICIA.