Abstract
Students with mental illness have a high prevalence of physical inactivity and could therefore particularly benefit from the health-promoting potential of physical activity promotion (PA). PA can increase well-being, represent a coping strategy and protect against comorbidities (Radovic et al., 2017). To date, there is little research on and predictors of PA in students with mental illness. Although much research exists on motivation, enjoyment of sport and physical self-concept for healthy populations, this does not apply to negative emotions such as sports anxiety. As part of an interdisciplinary project funded by the NRW State Chancellery, 38 adolescents (MAge=15.53, SD=1.2; e.g. depressive episodes, gender identity disorder) who were admitted as inpatients to a child and adolescent psychiatry clinic were asked about PA as well as their motivation, self-concept, social anxiety and sports anxiety. On average, the adolescents fulfil the WHO recommendations for PA on 3.8 (SD=1.6) days. The standard deviation indicates a high degree of heterogeneity. They tend more towards self-determined forms of organization, are more intrinsically motivated (M=3.93, SD=.82) than extrinsically motivated (M=2.87, SD=.95), and have a level of anxiety about physical education (Mcog =3.18, SD=1.39; Msom=3.35, SD=1.35). General anxiety correlates negatively with self-esteem (r=-.67, p<.001) and physical self-concept (sportiness: r=-.51 and attractiveness: r=-.60, p<.001) and positively with social anxiety (r=.63, p<.001). The findings show that it is necessary to record constructs such as negative emotions in order to gain a better understanding of participation conditions and to align interventions accordingly.
