Društveni kapital i tjelesna aktivnost

The primary goal of this study was to examine the effects of social capital (SC) intervention on the psychological distress (PD) level in students, while the secondary goal of the study was to establish the effect of SC intervention on the physical activity (PA) in students of Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb. The basic assumption in this work was that an experimental program in the classes of physical education, within which the SC intervention will be stimulated, will facilitate a reduction of PD levels, as well as facilitate an increase of overall PA levels in students. The experimental program was conducted for eight weeks, and it included male and female students of Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb. The study covered 976 subjects: 472 of them (326 girls and 146 boys) were in the experimental group (EG), and 504 subjects (318 girls and 186 boys) were in the control group (CG). The experimental program included an enhanced SC of the students, where, all the way from the introductory part of the class to the final part, collective work was stimulated, including interaction, creating social cohesion and co-operation between students themselves, as well as between students and professors, with the general aim of enhancing the PA level and reducing the PD level. In the CG, the usual work program in the physical education classes was performed, without stimulating the co-operation between the students in any special way. The data was collected after completing the three questionnaires: the PD questionnaire, the international PA questionnaire, the SC questionnaire, and the general data questionnaire. The statistical significance of the differences between the initial and the final situation was determined using the Sign test. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to establish the statistical significance between the control group and the experimental group. The Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA and the post hoc median test with the Bonferroni correction were used to establish the statistical significance between the sub-groups within the control and experimental groups. The statistically significant link between the categorical variables was determined using the chi-squared test (χ2). The results indicate that the SC intervention in this study did not reduce the PD level in EG (5,83±3,77), although it managed to sustain the PD on the same level, while in the CG (6,34±4,13), the PD level increased in a statistically significant manner. The results of observing the PA level indicate that 42,11 % of the subjects in the initial testing did not satisfy the given recommendations on physical activity. The results after the intervention while exercising when co-operation was stimulated, and thus social cohesion among the students was created, brought about a statistically significant increase of the PA level in the EG (2.536±2.492 MET/week), in relation to the CG (1.756±1.805 MET/week), and in doing this, contributed to the overall health level in students. One of the goals was to examine if the SC intervention had a greater influence on the increase of the overall PA level in male students. The results indicate that girls and boys included in the intervention had equal increases of the overall PA level, which revealed that motivation and contentment with this manner of exercising was mutual. Also, the results reveal that in boys (1.023±1.696 MET/week), the intensive PA increased in a statistically significant manner in relation to girls (642±1.439 MET/week). The results indicate that interventions of this kind are necessary while exercising for students to increase their PA levels in their age, and reduce their PD levels, or at least maintain low PD level. What is worrying is the fact that 42,11 % of students do not meet the minimal recommendations for engaging in PA, and using this kind of intervention we can not only change that but we can indirectly influence other benefits also, such as satisfaction with one's look, which results in better long-term health factors, as well as psychological, economical, social and other factors. The results of this study will contribute to better understanding of public health problems, and based on this study it is possible to formulate guidelines for developing prevention programs for youth, aimed at reducing or maintaining the PD levels and increasing the PA levels, final goal being to create healthy habits and increase the health of this population. The results revealed that one possible approach is to stimulate the SC, which means to simultaneously reduce the PD and increase the overall PA. Based on these results, we will propose certain ways of co-operation between families, schools and smaller communities, aiming to influence the quality of life of young people, and consequently, to enhance the overall prosperity of the community as a whole.