Introduction
Over recent decades, the issue of mental health causes a growing concern among the scientific community and urges researchers to find new solutions for addressing this problem. In this context, the International Journal of Sports Sciences and Fitness published a study titled “A comparative study of mental health status between players and non-players” to foster awareness regarding the importance of sports activities for mental health. The research question of the article seeks to reveal and evaluate how physical activity influences psychological health. This paper aims at identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the article by analyzing and assessing its main points.
Summary
The article measures the mental health of individuals who are engaged in sports activities and those who do not participate in sports games and compares the results of both measurements. A simple random sampling method has been chosen as a tool for collecting the necessary information. The sample size of the study is forty males; namely, twenty men are players, and another twenty are non-players. For measuring the mental status of the participants, the standard mental health inventory (MHI-38) has been applied. MHI-38 is a widely recognized instrument designed under the Rand Corporation’s Health Insurance Study and used for reflection of an individual’s state of wellbeing and his or her ability to resist various stress contributors (Santos & Novo, 2019). From this inventory, six factors, such as anxiety, depression, loss of behavior, positive affect, emotional ties, and life satisfaction, have been used as indexes for measuring mental health. Finally, for analyzing and interpreting the study’s data, the author has used the statistical term t-test.
According to the study’s findings, players feel much better than non-payers since the former has revealed higher results of all six factors. For example, concerning depression, the means for players and non-players are 15.32 and 18.95, respectively. In addition, index life satisfaction equals 4.4 and 2.45 for players and non-players, respectively. Thus, the findings allow the author to argue that mental health significantly depends on the physical state and that these two components of overall health are interrelated. That is, without maintaining robust physical health, an individual may experience significant mental problems and cannot resist adverse events such as disappointments, unpleasant and unexpected changes, dramatic losses.
Critique
In their article, the researchers have discussed critical and controversial topics and hold to the position that mental and physical health are tightly linked. The approach used for collecting data has been chosen correctly because a simple random sampling method mostly ensures avoiding biases towards a particular group of population. However, it should be indicated that the method can contain sampling errors. In the context of the study, sampling errors are an absence of female representatives in the research and a small age sample that consists of people only from 18 to 28 years. The authors should have considered women and extended the age sample that also includes older people because it would allow obtaining a more holistic and precise picture regarding the impact of physical health on psychological status. Moreover, the total number of participants is also too small to analyze the issue of mental health appropriately. Since these aspects were not taken into account initially, the figures may have appeared to be superficial or approximate.
The application of the standard mental health inventory and t-test is also relevant for evaluating the participants’ mental health because this instrument has proven itself valid in determining the general individual’s wellbeing. The researchers also state that “there is a significant difference between all five components of the mental health status of players and non-players, i,e, Anxiety, Depression, Loss Of Behaviour, Positive Affec,t and Emotional Ties” (Raut & Ahmad, 2015). Nevertheless, these features vary from each other but inconsiderably; for instance, indexes “depression” of players and non-players differ by only 3.63 points. Likewise, the features “loss of behavior” are diverse by around 4 points. On the other hand, the authors argue that “there is no significant difference between players and non-player” (Raut & Ahmad, 2015). However, the difference is apparent since the features of players and non-player comprise 4.4 and 2.45, respectively; in percentage terms, the difference is almost 80 percent. Finally, the article contains inaccuracies in the statements as, in conclusion, the authors assert that non-players have higher index “life expectation” than players, which diverges from gained data. It is highly recommended not to repeat similar mistakes in the articles since it can mislead readers by chance.
Conclusion
In summary, the authors conducted the essential and useful study, arguing and emphasizing the importance of physical activities for mental health. The researchers have utilized a valid and appropriate method, that is, a simple random sampling method and MHI-38, for gathering and evaluating data. However, the authors should focus on the accuracy and clarity of the obtained findings and their statements regarding data. Overall, the results and conclusions of the article can serve as a practical addition to future comprehensive research, facilitating further investigations in this field.
References
- Raut Tanuja, S., & Ahmad, B. T. (2015). A comparative study of mental health status between players and non players. International Journal of Sports Sciences & Fitness, 5(1).
- Santos, A. M., & Novo, R. F. (2019). Mental health inventory: Sensitivity and specificity of the Portuguese version of the MHI-38 and MHI-5. Psychological Reports, 1-18. Web.