Canonical correlation analysis of anxiety symptom and behavioral inhibition/activation system among college students and their relationship with physical activity.

To explore the association between anxiety symptoms, BIS/BAS and the relationship between both and physical activity in college students. A cross-sectional research design was used to recruit 4962 current college students to fill out three scales: generalised anxiety, behavioural inhibition/activation system, and physical activity level, which were analysed using statistical methods such as independent samples t-tests, Pearson correlation coefficient analyses, canonical correlation analyses, and one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Female students had a higher detection rate of anxiety symptoms (41.58%), higher reward responsiveness scores for female students and higher behavioural inhibition scores for male students. Behavioural inhibition and reward responsiveness were found to be canonical correlations of anxiety symptoms in college students. Among male students, behavioural inhibition was associated with nervousness and irritability, while reward responsiveness was associated with nervousness and worry too much. In female students, behavioural inhibition was associated with uncontrollable worrying, feeling afraid, while reward responsiveness was associated with nervousness, restlessness. The lower the level of physical activity, the higher the score of anxiety symptoms in male/female (p < 0.05). The higher the level of physical activity, the higher the score of reward responsiveness in the behavioural activation system of male/female students (P < 0.05); and the effect of the level of physical activity on the behavioural inhibition score of college students was non-linear. Intensity, duration and frequency of physical activity were negatively correlated with anxiety symptoms and positively correlated with reward responsiveness, but not with behavioural inhibition. For females, vigorous/high-intensity exercise with a duration greater than 30 min once a day was most effective in alleviating anxiety symptoms. For males, vigorous exercise lasting > 30 min, 3-5 times per week, was most effective in reducing anxiety symptoms. To improve reward responsiveness, females benefited most from vigorous exercise lasting > 30 min once a day, while males benefited most from vigorous exercise lasting > 60 min once a day. Behavioural inhibition and reward responsiveness were canonically correlated with anxiety symptoms in college students, with differences in canonical correlations between male and female college students. But both could improve behavioural inhibition and reward responsiveness, mitigate specific symptoms of anxiety by modulating physical activity levels.