ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026
The relationship between physical exercise and depression among college students: the chain mediating role of self-efficacy and self-identity.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Objective: Depression is a common psychological problem among college students, which seriously threatens their physical and mental health and overall development. This study aims to examine the association between physical exercise and depression among college students, and to analyze the mediating associations of self-efficacy and self-identity in this relationship. Methods: Convenience sampling was adopted to conduct a questionnaire survey among 2,021 college students (36.86% males, 63.14% females; mean age 19.02 ± 1.38 years) from 8 universities in Henan Province. Data were collected using the Physical Activity Rating Scale-3 (PARS-3), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and the Self-Identity Scale (SIS). Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and chain mediating effect analysis were conducted using SPSS 27.0 and the PROCESS 4.2 macro program. Results: There were significant pairwise correlations among physical exercise, self-efficacy, self-identity, and depression ( Conclusion: Physical exercise was negatively related to depression among college students. In addition, this association was linked to indirect pathways involving self-efficacy, self-identity, and their sequential pathway.
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