The impact of exercise self-efficacy on depression in firefighters: mediating effect of basic psychological needs and moderating effect of perceived social support.

Background: Firefighters are exposed to high-stress work environments and are prone to depression, which has a significant impact on their professional performance and quality of life. Although exercise self-efficacy has been suggested to potentially influence psychological wellbeing, its mechanism of action on firefighters' depression has not been clarified. Methods: This study investigated the relationship between exercise self-efficacy and depression in firefighters and examined the mediating role of basic psychological needs and the moderating role of perceived social support. A cross-sectional research design was used to survey 450 Chinese frontline firefighters (mean age = 24.03 ± 5.27 years). Data were collected using the Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale (SES), the General Scale of Satisfaction with Basic Needs (BNSG-S), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS). Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and moderated mediated effects analyses were performed using SPSS 22.0 and Hayes' PROCESS macro. Results: Exercise self-efficacy significantly and negatively predicted depression levels after controlling for demographic variables (β = -0.249, Conclusions: This study reveals the mechanisms by which exercise self-efficacy influences firefighter depression levels through direct and indirect pathways, highlighting the critical role of basic psychological needs and perceived social support. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the development of targeted mental health intervention strategies for firefighters, emphasizing the importance of improving exercise self-efficacy, meeting basic psychological needs, and enhancing social support.