For many years, body dissatisfaction was considered a western phenomenon, and was studied mostly in Caucasian women. Recent studies, however, suggest that these issues are also present in men and in other ethnic groups. This research investigated the differential effects of various sociocultural pressures transmitted from the media, one’s parents, and one’s peers on the drives for thinness and muscularity, and body dissatisfaction among 1125 Korean college students (56% male) using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that, after controlling for body mass index and exercise, media pressures exerted the largest effects on participants’ body ideals and, in turn, body dissatisfaction across both genders (β = 0.44, and 0.30, p < 0.05, for females and males, respectively). This study’s results also indicate that there are considerable gender differences in this relationship. Specifically, the results show that parental and media pressure had significant indirect relationships with body dissatisfaction via the drive for thinness among females, while peer and media pressures had significant indirect relationships with body dissatisfaction via the drive for muscularity among males. As body dissatisfaction is known to significantly affect an individual’s mental and physical health, future research needs to identify relevant influential factors in this area, as well as the paths they have leading to increased body dissatisfaction.

This study examined the long-term effect of physical activity on life satisfaction from a sample of 2092 middle school students (52.5% male) in South Korea. Structural equation modeling analyses were employed to understand how various factors influence youth life satisfaction. Physical activity during physical education class had a long-term influence on life satisfaction through both internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors as mediating factors. Gender differences were found in the relationships between physical activity and life satisfaction. The current findings imply that encouraging students in early adolescence to actively engage in physical education potentially is a useful educational intervention method. Implications and future directions are discussed.

(1) Background: Recently, the prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) among adolescents has been higher than in adults. Early detection is important for treatment. Accordingly, although various factors affecting adolescents’ GAD have been studied, the body of research is fragmented, and an integrated analysis of the influencing factors is needed. Therefore, in this study, we intended to analyze various factors affecting GAD. (2) Methods: Using data from the Korea Youth Health Behavior Survey (2021), sociodemographic factors, negative emotion, and physical activity factors were selected. Correlation analysis, t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis were performed using SPSS 26.0. (3) Results: Perceived stress was found to be the factor that had the greatest influence on GAD. (4) Conclusions: The risk of GAD in Korean adolescents was found to increase in female students who had higher levels of perceived stress, and participated in less high-intensity or muscle-strengthening exercise.

This study examined whether depression mediates a relationship between academic helplessness and life satisfaction and whether the mediating effect differs depending on participation in leisure time physical activity (LTPA) from a sample of 2384 middle school students in South Korea. Identifying these factors could help in developing intervention strategies for promoting life satisfaction. Structural equation modeling analyses were employed to understand how various factors influence adolescents’ life satisfaction. First, the effect of academic helplessness on life satisfaction was mediated by depression. Second, the mediating effect of depression was moderated according to participation in LTPA: the size of the negative mediating effect of depression on the relationship between academic helplessness and life satisfaction was reduced in the LTPA group compared to the non-LTPA group. The current findings suggest that encouraging engagement in physical activity may be a crucial vehicle for affecting academic helplessness, depression, and life satisfaction among early adolescents. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Previous studies showed moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and aerobic fitness in adolescents are significant factors for cognitive and academic performance. Most previous studies have employed a cross-sectional design; consequently, the evidence on the longitudinal effect of physical education classes (PECs) on cognitive performance and academic achievement is limited. Therefore, the current study utilized a longitudinal design to examine the longstanding effect of MVPA during PECs on cognitive and academic performance across gender groups. Structural equation modeling analyses were employed to understand how MVPA influences youth academic achievement in a nationally representative sample (n = 2092). Study findings indicated that (a) MVPA exerted a direct effect on initial academic achievement as well as an indirect effect, which is mediated by middle school students’ attention in both gender groups; (b) MVPA had both long-term direct effects on academic achievement as well as indirect effects on attention, which ultimately affected the subsequent academic achievements of female middle school students.