Physical Activity, Stress, Depression, Emotional Intelligence, Logical Thinking, and Overall Health in a Large Lithuanian from October 2019 to June 2020: Age and Gender Differences Adult Sample

Abstract

This study aimed to examine relationships and group differences among adult people's (aged 18-74) physical activity (PA), expression of stress, depression, emotional intelligence (EI), logical thinking (LT), and overall health assessment. Two hypotheses were formulated before the study. The first hypothesis is that overweight and obesity in young adults (18 to 34 years) females and males, in particular, should increase sharply and this should be associated with decreased PA, abruptly deteriorating subject health, increased stress, depression, and poorer emotion management and EI. Second hypothesis: We further thought that the better people's reflective thinking, the more they should live a healthier life (e.g., exercise more and eat healthier), their overweight and obesity should be small or none. We aimed to confirm or reject these two hypotheses. We applied a quantitative cross-sectional study design. The study results revealed that during the lifespan of 18-24 and 25-34 years (young adults) there was a sharp increase in overweight and obesity, a decrease in PA (and especially vigorous physical activity (VPA)) (and this was particularly evident in the male), while research participants felt less stress and depression, subjective assessment of health did not change, and EI increased steadily with age (18-24 to 65-74 years). The higher the EI of the research participants from 18-24 to 65-74 years of age the higher their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), the less stress and depression they felt. Based on the results, it can be said that both females and males prefer PA "with a hot heart rather than a cold mind." We base this conclusion on the fact that females and males who have the highest EI also have the highest MVPA while LT is not associated with MVPA.

Keywords: cognitive functioning; mental health; moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; personality; physical health perceptions.

Figure 1

Research participant sample sizes by age groups by gender.

Figure 2

Changes during age total (A), sleep (B), SB (C), LPA (D), MPA (E), VPA (F), and MVPA (G) METs per day. (A). *—p < 0.05 compared to male 25–44 years and females compared to 25–34 years; (C). *—p < 0.05 compared to 18–44 years; (D). *—p < 0.05 compared to male 18–44 years and female with 18–24 years; (E). *—p < 0.05 compared to 18–44 years; (F). *—p < 0.05 compared to18–24 years; (G). *—p < 0.05 compared to 25–44 years. Note. Here in after: SB—sedentary behavior; LPA—light intensity physical activity; MPA—moderate intensity physical activity; VPA—vigorous intensity physical activity; MVPA—moderate and vigorous intensity physical activity.

Figure 3

Sleep, SB, LPA, MPA, and MVPA changes in METs about gender and age differences.

Figure 4

BMI changes during age. * p < 0.05 compared to 18–24 years.

Figure 5

Changes in health (A), emotional intelligence (EI) (B), depression (C), impulsivity (BIS) (D), perceived stress (E) and reflexive thinking (logic task solution) (F) within age. (A). *—p < 0.05, compared to 18–24, 25–34, 35–44; 45–54 years; (B). *—p < 0.05, compared to 18–24, 25–34 and 65–74 years; (C). *—p < 0.05, compared to 18–24 years; (E). *—p < 0.05, compared to 18–24, 25–34 years; (F). *—p < 0.05, compared to 18–24, 25–34, 35–45 years.

Figure 6

Relationship between BMI (kg/m²) and perceived stress (A), health (B), and depression (C). (A,C). * p < 0.05, compared to <20 BMI.

Figure 7

The effect of age and emotional intelligence (EI) on perceived stress (A), moderate and vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) (B), depression (C), and health (D). (A). *—p < 0.05 compared to EI 100–150 and more; (B). *—p < 0.05 compared to EI < 150; (C). *—p < 0.05 compared to EI 100–150 and more; (D). *—p < 0.05 compared to EI < 150.

Figure 8

The age effect of logic task solution with MVPA (A) and depression (B).