ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1572974
The Effect of Physical Exercise on Chinese College Students' Mental Sub-health: the Mediating Role of Mental Resilience and the Moderating Role of Self-Efficacy
Provisionally accepted
- 1Jining University, Jining, China
- 2Philippine Christian University, Manila, Philippines
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Objectives: This study aimed to explore the influence mechanism of physical exercise (PE) on the mental sub-health (MSH) of Chinese college students, elucidate the mediating pathway of mental resilience (MR) between exercise behavior and psychological state, and test the moderating effect of self-efficacy (SE). This research provides a theoretical basis for optimizing mental health intervention strategies in colleges and universities.Methods: Utilizing the MSH section of the Adolescent Sub-health Multidimensional Rating Questionnaire (MSQA), along with the Physical Activity Rating Scale (PARS), the Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescent (RSCA), and the General SE Scale (GSES), a survey was conducted 1,811 students across various academic levels.(1) PE did not exhibit a direct predictive effect on the MSH of college students; (2) PE affected the MSH of college students through the mediating effect of MR; (3) SE played a moderating role in the relationship between PE and MSH among college students, specifically manifested as follows: With the improvement of the SE levels, the reducing effect of PE on MSH intensified; the reducing effect of MR on MSH also intensified with increasing SE levels.There was a moderating mediating effect between PE and MSH among Chinese college students. MR served as the mediating factor in this relationship, and SE moderated this effect.
Keywords: mental sub-health, physical exercise, mental resilience, self-efficacy, college students
Received: 08 Feb 2025; Accepted: 06 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shuaishuai Zhang, Jining University, Jining, China
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