Young adults (18-24 years) are only slightly older than adolescents but are encouraged to follow adult physical activity (PA) guidelines. PA guidelines for adults do not specifically recommend regular vigorous-intensity PA (VPA), unlike guidelines for adolescents. This thesis aimed to conduct a systematic review to ascertain the influence of VPA on anxiety, body mass index [BMI], and blood pressure [BP] in young adults. Literature searches were conducted in PubMed, CINHAL, and MEDLINE. After applying inclusion/exclusion criteria and removing duplicates, 21 studies were reviewed (6 for anxiety, 10 for BMI, 8 for BP). The reviewed studies indicate that VPA can reduce BMI and BP in young adults (although the findings were heterogeneous). The effect of VPA on anxiety was unclear. Evidence on the benefits of VPA for young adults is limited and the findings are inconsistent. Further research is needed to determine whether VPA should be specifically recommended to young adults.
","abstract_html":"<p>Young adults (18-24 years) are only slightly older than adolescents but are encouraged to follow adult physical activity (PA) guidelines. PA guidelines for adults do not specifically recommend regular vigorous-intensity PA (VPA), unlike guidelines for adolescents. This thesis aimed to conduct a systematic review to ascertain the influence of VPA on anxiety, body mass index [BMI], and blood pressure [BP] in young adults. Literature searches were conducted in PubMed, CINHAL, and MEDLINE. After applying inclusion/exclusion criteria and removing duplicates, 21 studies were reviewed (6 for anxiety, 10 for BMI, 8 for BP). The reviewed studies indicate that VPA can reduce BMI and BP in young adults (although the findings were heterogeneous). The effect of VPA on anxiety was unclear. Evidence on the benefits of VPA for young adults is limited and the findings are inconsistent. Further research is needed to determine whether VPA should be specifically recommended to young adults.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Aldarwish, Fatimah"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Health Promotion and Human Performance","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Catherine Gammon, Ph.D.","Chris Herman, Ph.D.","Joan Cowdery, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:40Z","subjects":["Medicine and Health Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1099","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Catherine Gammon, Ph.D.","Chris Herman, Ph.D.","Joan Cowdery, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Aldarwish, Fatimah"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-10-07T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Health Promotion and Human Performance"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Medicine and Health Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1099"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Young adults (18-24 years) are only slightly older than adolescents but are encouraged to follow adult physical activity (PA) guidelines. PA guidelines for adults do not specifically recommend regular vigorous-intensity PA (VPA), unlike guidelines for adolescents. This thesis aimed to conduct a systematic review to ascertain the influence of VPA on anxiety, body mass index [BMI], and blood pressure [BP] in young adults. Literature searches were conducted in PubMed, CINHAL, and MEDLINE. After applying inclusion/exclusion criteria and removing duplicates, 21 studies were reviewed (6 for anxiety, 10 for BMI, 8 for BP). The reviewed studies indicate that VPA can reduce BMI and BP in young adults (although the findings were heterogeneous). The effect of VPA on anxiety was unclear. Evidence on the benefits of VPA for young adults is limited and the findings are inconsistent. Further research is needed to determine whether VPA should be specifically recommended to young adults.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["What is the relationship between vigorous physical activity and physical and mental health indicators in young adults?"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Catherine Gammon, Ph.D.","Chris Herman, Ph.D.","Joan Cowdery, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Aldarwish, Fatimah"],"dc:date.available":["2021-10-07T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Young adults (18-24 years) are only slightly older than adolescents but are encouraged to follow adult physical activity (PA) guidelines. PA guidelines for adults do not specifically recommend regular vigorous-intensity PA (VPA), unlike guidelines for adolescents. This thesis aimed to conduct a systematic review to ascertain the influence of VPA on anxiety, body mass index [BMI], and blood pressure [BP] in young adults. Literature searches were conducted in PubMed, CINHAL, and MEDLINE. After applying inclusion/exclusion criteria and removing duplicates, 21 studies were reviewed (6 for anxiety, 10 for BMI, 8 for BP). The reviewed studies indicate that VPA can reduce BMI and BP in young adults (although the findings were heterogeneous). The effect of VPA on anxiety was unclear. Evidence on the benefits of VPA for young adults is limited and the findings are inconsistent. Further research is needed to determine whether VPA should be specifically recommended to young adults.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1099"],"dc:subject":["Medicine and Health Sciences"],"dc:title":["What is the relationship between vigorous physical activity and physical and mental health indicators in young adults?"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Health Promotion and Human Performance"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:40Z"}