How Does Physical Education Influence University Students’ Psychological Health? An Analysis from the Dual Perspectives of Social Support and Exercise Behavior
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 – 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1457165
Provisionally accepted
- 1 Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 2 Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
- 3 Clausthal University of Technology, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Lower Saxony, Germany
The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.
Objective: Physical education, as a central component of educational systems, plays a unique role in enhancing the psychological well-being of university students. This study investigates the impacts of physical education on students’ mental health and examines the mediating roles of social support and exercise behavior.Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using the Physical Education Satisfaction Scale, SCL-90, the Social Support Questionnaire, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. A total of 1437 university students were assessed.Results: The research found a positive correlation between physical education at universities and students’ mental health, with a direct significant effect (β=0.622, p<0.001). Moreover, physical education positively influenced social support and exercise behavior (β=0.523, p<0.001; β=0.473, p<0.001). In turn, social support significantly fostered exercise behavior and improved mental health (β=0.578, p<0.001; β=0.277, p<0.001). Additionally, enhanced exercise behavior positively contributed to better mental health (β=0.357, p<0.001).Conclusion: Physical education is a crucial influencing factor for university students’ psychological health and also indirectly impacts mental well-being through improved social support and increased exercise behavior.
Keywords:
Physical Education, Mental Health, social support, Exercise behavior, Chain
Received:
30 Jun 2024;
Accepted:
30 Jan 2025.
Copyright:
© 2025
Han, Li, Huang and Shi. 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:
Haozhen Li, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
Tianle Shi, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
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