Social leisure activities, specifically spending time with friends and family, showed the strongest positive association with eudaimonic well-being. This suggests that students who engage more frequently with loved ones tend to report higher levels of meaning and purpose. 

In contrast, meditative exercise and playing sports showed the strongest negative relationships with eudaimonic well-being, indicating that students who participate in these activities tend to report lower levels of meaning and purpose. 

However, the observed correlations cannot tell us about the directionality of the effect, making it difficult to interpret the results.

For example, a negative correlation between meditation and eudaimonic well-being may seem counterintuitive, until you consider that individuals might engage in meditation as a way to cope with lower well-being, rather than meditation itself leading to poorer well-being outcomes.

Thus, correlations should be understood as associations rather than definitive causes of well-being.

Nearly all leisure activities were positively correlated with hedonic well-being, emphasizing the many ways individuals can support their mental health through how they spend their free time. The strongest associations were found among those who reported spending more time with friends and engaging in regular exercise. 

Interestingly, the only leisure activity that demonstrated a negative relationship with hedonic well-being was social media use, highlighting its potential to diminish feelings of pleasure.

Our findings revealed that passive leisure activities, such as social media use and listening to music, had the strongest association with higher levels of symptomatic behaviour. 

In contrast, social leisure activities, such as spending time with friends and family, were most strongly associated with lower levels of symptomatic behaviour, highlighting the protective role of social relationships.