A comparison of stress coping styles and psychological well-being levels of sedentary university students engaged in swimming and fitness sports

In the study, it was aimed to determine the effect of swimming program and fitness program applications on psychological well-being and coping with stress scores of male university students with sedentary lifestyle. A total of 55 (Age mean=21±25) male students between the ages of 18-26, who were studying at Ardahan University, participated in the study. The study was divided into 3 groups as experimental groups (17 students (Age mean=21±21) swimming activity, 19 students (Age mean=21±63) fitness activity) and 19 students (Age mean=21±76) control group. The experimental groups participated in 60 minutes of swimming and fitness training 3 times a week for 8 weeks, while the control group did not engage in any physical activity during this period. In the study in which pre-test post-test control group experimental design was used, personal information form prepared by the researcher, stress coping styles scale (Lazarus ve Folkman, 1994) and psychological well-being scale (Diener ve diğerleri, 2010) were used. Internal consistency coefficients were calculated using the data obtained from the measurement tools and the reliability of the study was examined. SPSS 24 package program was used for data analysis. For statistical analyses, normality and homogeneity assumptions of the data were checked. In the study, mean and standard deviation values were taken as descriptive statistics and dependent groups t-test was used for difference analysis. A statistically significant difference was found in the perceived coping styles with stress and psychological well-being levels of the participants in the pretest-posttest scores of the groups practicing swimming and fitness practices. No significant difference was observed in the pretest-posttest scores of the control group. As a result, it was revealed that sedentary male university students' recreational swimming and fitness sports had a positive effect on their psychological well-being and stress coping skills. Keywords: Fitness,