ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF OUTDOOR RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES ON DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL RESILIENCE AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: AN EMPIRICAL CASE STUDY AT UITM PUNCAK ALAM, MALAYSIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/mjssr.v21i2.7115Keywords:
Outdoor recreation, mental resilience, student well-being, stress management, higher educationAbstract
Resilience is majorly determinant in well-being, especially in dealing with academic and personal pressures among students. This paper was an attempt to evaluate the influence of outdoor recreative activities on the acquisition of mental resilience of university students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Puncak Alam, Malaysia. The quantitative cross-sectional design was embraced, and 377 students took part in the study. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10) was used as well as the Outdoor Recreation Self-Efficacy (ORSE) Scale which were all seen to be validated. Descriptive analysis revealed that the dominant activities that the students were involved with were hiking (52.5), kayaking (37.4) and abseiling (28.9). Pearson quantitative correlation was used to show that there is a moderate, positive association between the participation in outdoor recreation and mental resilience, with the variable r = .46, and p < .001. The Multiple regression analysis revealed that participation in outdoor recreation was a significant predictor of mental resilience, 5 =.42, p <.001 and it explained 21.3 of variance in resilience scores. These results insinuate that time spent outdoors is important to the psychological strength and the stress coping abilities of students. The research advises universities to incorporate outdoor recreation in their student development course to engage in a strategic intention that would help students improve on their mental health and resilience. Future Longitudinal research is also recommended to test the long-term outcomes of such interventions.
References
Brown, M., & Jones, M. (2021). Adventure and Risk in Outdoor Environmental Education. International Explorations in Outdoor and Environmental Education, 89–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75980-3_8
Baul, C. A., Arcel Cabasaan, D., Dalisay, J. M., & Bacatan, J. (2023). Perceived positive mental health and resilience of grade 6 students. Indonesian Journal of Social Sciences, 15(2), 46663. https://doi.org/10.20473/ijss.v15i2.46663
Colley, K., Currie, M., & Irvine, K. N. (2023). Outdoor recreation and the well-being of rural residents. Manchester University Press EBooks. https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526161642.00036
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404
Connor, K. M., & Davidson, J. R. T. (2003). Development of a new resilience scale: The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Depression and Anxiety, 18(2), 76–82. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.10113
Davidson, C., & Ewert, A. (2022). Exploring mental health outcome variables in outdoor adventure education. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2118060/v1
Finney, K., & Morash, J. (1984). The benefits of outdoor recreation activities in promoting resilience. Journal of Mental Health and Well-being, 30(1), 101-112.
Godbey, G. (2009). Outdoor recreation, health, and wellness: Understanding and enhancing the relationship. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1408694
Hartig, T., Evans, G. W., Jamner, L. D., Davis, D. S., & Gärling, T. (2014). Tracking restoration in natural and urban field settings. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24(3), 1-9.
Keyes, C. L. M. (2002). The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43(2), 207–222. https://doi.org/10.2307/3090197
Luthar, S. S., Cicchetti, D., & Becker, B. (2000). The construct of resilience: A critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development, 71(3), 543–562. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00164
Mittelstaedt, R. D., & Jones, M. A. (2009). Outdoor recreation self-efficacy: Scale development and reliability. Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership, 1(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.7768/1948-5123.1001
Mutz, M., & Müller, J. (2016). Outdoor adventures may facilitate well-being and resilience among adolescents and young adults. Journal of Outdoor Education, 18(2), 58-72.
Ong, A. D., Bergeman, C. S., Bisconti, T. L., & Wallace, K. A. (2006). Psychological resilience, positive emotions, and successful adaptation to stress in later life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 730–749. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.91.4.730
Razali, S. A. (2021). 1,099 bunuh diri sejak 2020 hingga Mei 2021. Berita Harian. https://doi.org/1009103/BH_300x250
Scott, D., & Kim, C. (1998). Outdoor recreation participation and barriers to involvement. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2418098_Outdoor_Recreation_Participation_and_Barriers_to_Involvement
Singh, R., & Kumar, A. (2022). Time constraints and participation in outdoor recreational activities. Journal of Recreation and Leisure, 24(1), 125-135.
Suryadi, D. (2023). An examination of outdoor recreation participation constraints among rural and urban communities. Planning malaysia, 21, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v21i28.1349
