Physical literacy, physical activity and mental health in adults

Abstract

Adults who engage in regular physical activity experience a range of physical, psychological and social well-being benefits. However, many adults fail to engage in sufficient physical activity. Understanding the factors that influence physical activity participation in adults may help us address current inactivity trends. Physical literacy is an individual's capacity to draw on physical, psychological, social, and cognitive skills to live a healthy and fulfilling life and may provide detailed insights into adult physical activity. Although physical literacy is characterised as a lifelong learning journey, limited research has examined physical literacy in adult populations.
This thesis aims to examine physical literacy in adults. Specifically, the thesis first aims to examine the relationship between physical literacy and physical activity. The second aim is to assess the relationship between physical literacy and mental health. The aims of this thesis are addressed across seven chapters: an introduction (Chapter 1), a literature review (Chapter 2), four independent studies (Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6), and a discussion (Chapter 7). The literature review (Chapter 2) highlights the relevance of physical literacy in adults. Physical literacy is identified as an appropriate framework to assess and understand adult physical activity behaviours, but the lack of a valid and reliable method of adult physical literacy assessment limits existing research. To address this gap, we developed the Physical Literacy in Adults Scale (PLAS), a psychometrically sound tool for assessing physical literacy in adults (Chapter 3). This measure allowed for an investigation of the relationship between physical literacy and physical activity in adults (Chapter 4), with our results showing that physical literacy is a predictor of physical activity. To address the second aim of the thesis, we explored the relationship between physical literacy and mental health, finding that poor mental health is associated with lower physical literacy. We then conducted a meta-analysis to assess the effectiveness of interventions that involve components of physical literacy in increasing levels of physical activity in individuals living with severe mental illness. The findings suggest that physical literacy-like interventions were not effective at increasing physical activity; however, the quality of the included studies limits the strength of the conclusions. The findings of this thesis support the value of physical literacy as a framework for understanding physical activity and mental health in adult populations. Further research is needed to extend the findings of this thesis to provide insights into the interaction between physical literacy, physical activity and mental health in adults.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	English
Supervisor	Andrew Flood (Supervisor), Richard KEEGAN (Supervisor) & Kristy MARTIN (Supervisor)