ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026
The relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms in college students: the sequential mediation effects of emotion regulation self-efficacy and sense of life meaning.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Physical education and sports teacher candidates' perspectives on meaning in life and smartphone addiction: a mixed-method study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
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7 authors.
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Abstract
Objective: This research explores how emotion regulation self-efficacy and sense of life meaning affect the relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms among college students. Methods: A total of 1,333 university students were evaluated with the Physical Activity Scale, Emotion Regulation Self-Efficacy Scale, Sense of Life Meaning Scale, and Depressive symptoms Scale. A sequential mediation model was established, and the mediating effects were examined via the bootstrap resampling approach. Results: (1) Physical activity was positively associated with both emotion regulation self-efficacy and sense of life meaning. A strong positive link emerged between emotion regulation self-efficacy and sense of life meaning. Physical activity was inversely associated with depressive symptoms, whereas emotion regulation self-efficacy and sense of life meaning similarly demonstrated inverse associations with depressive symptoms. (2) Emotion regulation self-efficacy and sense of life meaning serve as sequential mediators in the link between physical activity and depressive symptoms. The detailed mediation pathways are outlined below: Physical activity → Emotion regulation self-efficacy → Depressive symptoms (effect = -0.150, accounting for 20.41% of the total effect). Physical activity → sense of life meaning → Depressive symptoms (effect = -0.098, accounting for 13.33% of the total effect). Physical activity → Emotion regulation self-efficacy → sense of life meaning → Depressive symptoms (effect = -0.168, accounting for 22.86% of the total effect). Conclusion: (1) Physical activity is significantly and negatively associated with depressive symptoms among college students. (2) In college students, emotion regulation self-efficacy and sense of life meaning partially mediated the relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms. (3) Emotion regulation self-efficacy and sense of life meaning together serve as sequential mediators linking physical activity to depressive symptoms among college students.
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