Development of the theoretical model and scale of health-related mental fitness for university students

Abstract

This study describes the development of a theoretical model and scale of health-related mental fitness for university students. 277 university students responded to provisional items on the scale measuring aspects of health-related mental fitness, including autonomy, positive face-to-face interaction, flexibility, and mental condition, following health-related physical fitness. Factors related to autonomy included self-esteem, will, judgment and perseverance; those related to positive face-to-face interaction included sincerity, honesty and positive attitude; those concerned with flexibility included relaxation, joy and satisfaction, happiness and altruism; and those connected to mental condition included negative emotions, irritability, and feelings of physical fatigue. Confirmation factor analysis indicated generally sufficient fitness. The reliability of the scale was confirmed based on internal consistency. There were significant correlations between the total scores of General Self-Efficacy Scale, Adolescent Resilience Scale, Sense of Coherence -13 and the health-related mental fitness scale. From these results, the part of reliability and validity of the model of health-related mental fitness and its scale were confirmed.