The Relationship Between Participation in Leisure Activities and Emotional Regulation and Resilience in Occupational Therapy Students

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the participation of occupational therapy students in leisure activities and to examine the relationship between leisure activities and emotional regulation and resilience. Method: The study's subjects were 104 occupational therapy university students. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 29.0 program, and frequency analysis and descriptive statistics were performed on the general characteristics, types of leisure activities, emotional regulation, and resilience of the subjects, and Pearson correlation analysis was performed on the correlation between the factors. Results: The most frequent leisure activities of students were low-intensity exercise, participatory hobbies, and relaxation, and the least frequent leisure activities were high-intensity exercise, creative activities, and educational activities. Factor correlations showed that higher frequency of high-intensity exercise and social engagement in leisure activities was associated with higher emotional regulation, and higher frequency of IADL, low-intensity exercise, high-intensity exercise, and watching hobbies was associated with higher resilience. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it is suggested to develop a leisure program based on low- and high-intensity exercise, social participation, and hobby activities to improve emotional regulation and resilience in occupational therapy university students.