The relationship between physical exercise and depression among college students: the chain mediating role of self-efficacy and self-identity

Front Psychol. 2026 May 8;17:1751461. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1751461. eCollection 2026.

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 (p < 0.01). The indirect association estimates for self-efficacy and self-identity were -0.015 and -0.072, respectively, and the sequential indirect association estimate for the path self-efficacy → self-identity was -0.037. The three indirect association estimates accounted for 6.73%, 32.29%, and 16.59% of the total association, respectively.

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.

PMID:42183564 | PMC:PMC13193855 | DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1751461