Physical activity interventions to improve mental health and wellbeing in university students in the UK: A service mapping study

Background and aims

Student mental health is of increasing concern: over a quarter of UK students report a mental health issue, and reactive support services cannot cope with increasing demand. Physical activity (PA) is associated with improved mental health in higher education settings. Universities are well placed to offer PA to promote students’ mental health and wellbeing. This study represents the first attempt to establish how many UK universities offer PA-based interventions to improve mental health and wellbeing of students, and what these interventions entail. We sought to identify, and code the characteristics of, interventions regarding how to encourage regular PA.

Methods

All UK universities were contacted and asked to report PA provisions available to students. We extracted key information from intervention descriptions, including using the Behaviour Change Technique (BCT) Taxonomy v1, to characterise component behaviour change strategies.

Results

Of 143 public UK universities identified, 125 (87%) responded to our request. Of these, only 45 (36%) universities had PA provisions in place, with a total of 54 interventions available across the country, each delivered for between 6 and 12 weeks. Most interventions were tailored (82%) and used BCTs focused on instructing students on how to perform physical activity (61%), restructuring the environment to facilitate activity (54%), and behavioural goal setting (46%).

Conclusions

Only a minority of UK universities offer PA interventions to students. These offerings focus on enhancing students' capabilities and giving greater opportunities for PA. Universities should consider offering greater PA provision to students, and address students’ motivation to engage in PA.