This study aims to explore whether regular participation in campus recreation can improve mental health for students suffering from depression. 30 students diagnosed with depression will be randomly assigned to 3 groups: yoga, team sports, or independent recreation center time. They will participate 3 times per week for 3 months. Before and after, all students will complete the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. The researchers hypothesize that involvement in campus recreation will yield mental health benefits for depressed students based on existing literature showing recreation reduces stress, which is linked to depression. Students will keep journals after each session to track their experiences and feelings. Comparing pre- and post-test depression scale scores will determine the impact of campus recreation on student mental health.

1. CAMPUS RECREATION IMPACT ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS
Can Regular Participation in Campus Recreation Improve the Mental Health of Students who
Suffer with Depression?
Matthew Cox and Michael Cox
Southeast Missouri State University

2. CAMPUS RECREATION IMPACT ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS 2
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative study is to explore if regular participation in campus recreation
improves the mental health of students who suffer with depression, to test this research question
we propose that 30 students who suffer with depression based on the HAM-D depression scale
be randomly placed into three different treatment groups, these groups include a yoga class, team
sports, and lastly the third group whose time spent in the recreation center is completely up to
them. The treatment groups will meet 3 days a week for one hour during a three month period;
throughout this time period the students will have to complete a journal entry after each session
giving us more insight into how the participant is feeling. After the three months inside these
treatment groups the students will be administrated the same depression scale as the post test,
this is where we will find out if participation in campus recreation really does improve the
mental health of depressed students.

3. CAMPUS RECREATION IMPACT ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS 3
Introduction
Students all across campuses nationwide make the transition from high school to
college and those times are filled with anticipation and excitement, but along with the positive
aspects come challenging times that the student has to overcome like relocating, the rigors of
classes, the loss of familiarity, and a whole new interpersonal environment are just a few of the
challenges they will face which more often than not causes students to become depressed.
Depression rates among students are at an all-time high and there are aspects that are often
overlooked when it comes to helping a student who is suffering with depression and one of those
aspects we found is to be campus recreation, most campus professionals and students want to
place their focus on counseling services and medications to be a remedy. There hasn’t been much
research conducted on campus recreation and its impact on students suffering from depression.
Sure, there has been plenty of studies directed towards the benefits of campus recreation as a
whole but none have focused entirely on depression, this is why we find this research proposal
very important.
As we know campus recreation has many benefits, our literature covers many of those
benefits but it leaves out the importance of it against depression. There are very important topics
in the literature though such as college recreation and the way it can impact a student’s stress
levels, this is important because stress plays a big role when it comes to depression. We know
recreation of any kind helps with both mental and physical health, in the journal Undergraduate
Student Benefits from University Recreation; Haines discusses many benefits such as increased
recruitment and retention, personal and social diversity enhancement, competence and mastery
of leadership skills, and holistic wellness. Before we discuss how we would conduct our research

4. CAMPUS RECREATION IMPACT ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS 4
we want to propose our research question and that is can regular participation in recreation
programs on campus improve the mental health of students who suffer with depression?
Literature Review
There have been many studies conducted to help understand the kind of impact campus
recreation has on students, but there hasn’t been one study dedicated completely to
understanding if regular participation in campus recreation can improve the health of students
who suffer with depression. The review of literature sheds light on the fact that depression hasn’t
been a focal point in research when it pertains to recreation; the following organizational topics
explore depression in college students, benefits of campus recreation, and the components of
campus recreation.
Depression in College Students
Depression is a problem plaguing campuses all across the world; it’s at an all time high.
In a 2002 journal, Keith explores some of the symptoms that students with depression may suffer
from; the symptoms include drowsiness, loss of appetite, and sense of hopelessness, apathy, and
irritability. Some of the stressors that depression can be attributed to are academic pressure,
inadequate social adaptation, inadequate sleep, and the stress of the overall transition to college
life. Depression is a very serious mental disease that affects the mind and body and it’s so often
overlooked, universities don’t always fully understand the illness and how to treat it. In the
journal Depression and its Negative Effect on College Students the author explores possible
explanations for the underutilization of free university psychological services. He believes some
of these factors include “self-sufficiency, lack of social support, denial, unwillingness to discuss

5. CAMPUS RECREATION IMPACT ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS 5
personal problems, lack of awareness of available services, and the perception of the stigma
associated with counseling” (Keith, 2002).
Benefits of Campus Recreation
The following benefits that students achieve from university recreation: increased
recruitment and retention; holistic wellness; personal and social diversity enhancement; and
competence and mastery of leadership skills (Haines, 2001). According to Haines (2001),
recreation is increasingly regarded not as a non-academic luxury but that campus recreation is an
essential structure to a student’s body, mind, emotional qualities, and self-discipline. Students are
under so much stress when they enter the college environment, it has been shown that sport and
activity participation play a significant role in affecting both state and trait stress induced anxiety
(Kanters 2000). Another benefit that Henchy (2011) points out is that campus recreation centers
can play critical roles in creating a sense of community for students.
Components of Recreation
There are many components to campus recreation, the most popular being Intramurals,
fitness programs, club sports, outdoor trips, and aquatics (Human Kinetics, 2010). Recreational
opportunities also exist outside of campus recreation facilities. Human Kinetics (2010) explores
examples which include inexpensive movies, concerts, comedians, lectures, variety shows, and
fine arts.

6. CAMPUS RECREATION IMPACT ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS 6
Methodology
Participants
We will be recruiting 30 potential participants that are students at the university level
who suffer with depression and live on campus, we would prefer to have 15 male and 15 female
participate. The students will range in age from 18-25.
Sampling Methods
The present study will use purposeful based sampling strategies. We will use an
advertisement type recruitment tool, detailing that we are seeking students who feel they suffer
from depression. The advertisement would be handed out during the busiest campus times (e.g.
lunch & dinner hours), the ad will discuss a possible reward for those who decide to take part in
our study.
ResearchDesign
This study will be using true experimental design; the 30 students will be randomly
separated into 3 different control groups, each group participates in a different activity and each
group will meet 3 times a week for one hour during a three month period. The first group of 10
students will be placed into a yoga class; the second group will be at the recreation center
focusing on a “freelance” type workout, they have the choice to do whatever they want, and
lastly in the third group the students will be placed on teams to participate in team sports.

7. CAMPUS RECREATION IMPACT ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS 7
Materials
The study that we will be conducting doesn’t need a lot of equipment, the main tool that
we need is the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale that we will be using which to test students
depression levels, this scale is also known as the HAM-D. This scale has been used for many
years by trained physicians and it’s proven to be useful to determine a patient’s level of
depression before, during, and after treatment. We will need 60 copies of this particular scale for
the 30 participants to take before undergoing treatment and then after the treatment. The other
material that we need are the advertisements that were discussed before, the ads will be
administrated to recruit participants.
Procedure
At the very beginning of our research, we will be passing out an advertisement in attempt
to find the right students for our study, in the advertisement there will be an offered reward for
helping us conduct our research. We will be seeking out 30 students that feel they suffer from
depression, preferably 15 male and 15 females, after getting these 30 students to commit to the
study we will administer the HAM-D depression scale for the young adults to complete, the scale
lists 21 items but is scored out of the first 17 items. There are eight items that are scored on a 5
point scale, the answers range from 0 = not present to 4 = severe, nine of the items are scored
from 0-2. We will give the participants 15 minutes to complete the rating scale. Once the survey
is complete, we will then randomly divide the 30 participants into three different recreation
groups. The three different groups include yoga, team sports, and a freelance time in the
recreation center. The groups will meet for one hour three times a week for the duration of 3
months; ten students will be in each group. The participants will be instructed to keep a journal

8. CAMPUS RECREATION IMPACT ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS 8
for each time they meet with the group to describe what activities they did and how they felt
about those activities; this will give us confidence that they are doing what they were told and
give us some feedback. The students will need to turn in their journal to us each week. After the
three months are up we will then administer the depression rating scale one last time and analyze
the differences.

9. CAMPUS RECREATION IMPACT ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS 9
References
Henchy, A (2011). The Influence of Campus Recreation Beyond the Gym. Recreational Sports
Journal, 35, 174-181. Retrieved from
http://www.americankinesiology.org/AcuCustom/Sitename/Documents/DocumentItem/0
_8_henchy_RSJ_20110001_174-181.pdf
Haines, D. (2001). Undergraduate student benefits from university recreation. NIRSA Journal,
25(1). Retrieved from
http://journals.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/Documents/DocumentItem/584
7.pdf
Kanters, M. (2000). Recreational sport participation as a moderator of College Stress. NIRSA
Journal, 24(2). Retrieved from
htttp://www.ayfcoaching.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/Documents/DocumentItem/5800.pdf
Keith, T. (n.d.). Depression and its negative effect on college students. Retrieved 11 October
2015, from http://www.kon.org/urc/v9/keith.html
Kinetics, H. (2010, August 29). Discover opportunities: Components of campus recreation.
Retrieved October 2015, from
http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/discover-opportunities--components-
of-campus-recreation