Impact of Recreational Activities on Mental Health of Primary School Students in Enugu State

Abstract

 Mental health problems often begin in childhood, yet primary schools in Nigeria rarely treat recreation as a mental health resource. This study examined the impact of four types of recreational activity (physical or sport play, creative-expressive activities, outdoor or nature play, and social or traditional games) on the mental health of primary school pupils in Enugu State, Nigeria.. Guided by self-determination theory, the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions and attention restoration theory, the study used a correlational survey design. A multistage sample of 671 pupils in Primary 4 to 6 (M age = 10.02 years; 346 girls) was drawn from 24 public primary schools in six local government areas. Pupils completed the Recreational Activities Participation Questionnaire, the Stirling Children's Wellbeing Scale and the anxiety and depression subscales of the RCADS-25 (Cronbach's α = .70–.88; McDonald's ω = .71–.88). Overall recreational participation correlated positively with wellbeing, r(669) = .34, 95% CI [.27, .41], p < .001, r² = .12. Pupils with high participation reported fewer anxiety symptoms (d = 0.48) and fewer depressive symptoms (d = 0.64) than those with low participation. After gender, age and school location were controlled, the four dimensions explained an additional 11.9% of the variance in wellbeing, ΔF(4, 663) = 22.70, p < .001, f² = .14. Outdoor or nature play, physical or sport play and creative-expressive activities were significant unique predictors; social or traditional games were not. Break time, outdoor play spaces and creative arts should be protected within the Universal Basic Education timetable as low-cost mental health promotion strategies.