Physical activity, mental-health symptoms, sleep quality, and health-related quality of life among physical education teacher education students: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among university students is associated with behavioral, psychological, and lifestyle factors. Although physical activity is widely recognized as beneficial for health, the associations of mental health symptoms and sleep quality with HRQoL remain insufficiently explored, particularly among physical education teacher education students. This study aimed to examine the associations between physical activity, mental health symptoms, sleep quality, and HRQoL among physical education teacher education students, accounting for sex and academic cohort. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 168 university students in Chile. Physical activity was assessed using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, mental health symptoms with the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21, sleep quality with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and HRQoL with the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey version 2. Multivariable linear regression models were used to examine associations with the physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores. Results Participants reported high levels of physical activity and a mean PSQI score of 9.71 ± 2.77, indicating poor overall sleep quality according to established PSQI criteria. Depressive symptoms were negatively associated with both PCS and MCS, with stronger associations observed for MCS. Physical activity was positively associated with MCS, but not with PCS. The model explained substantially more variance in MCS than in PCS (R2 = 0.61 vs. R2 = 0.06). Academic cohort was also significantly associated with MCS in the adjusted model. Conclusion In this sample of physically active teacher education students, HRQoL showed stronger associations with mental health indicators than with the physical activity measure included in the models.These findings should be interpreted in the context of a young and physically active sample, in which variability in physical activity and perceived physical health may have been limited. Given the cross-sectional design, the observed associations should not be interpreted as evidence of longitudinal change or causal relationships.