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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1428977
This article is part of the Research Topic Multidisciplinary Aspects and Performance in Racket Sports-Volume II View all 11 articles
The effects of tennis on depressive symptoms and pro-social behaviours in university students: the mediating role of appreciative social support
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Physical Education, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
- 2 Department of Exercise Science, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
- 3 Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
Aims: This research aimed to explore the impact of tennis on depressive symptoms and pro-social behaviors among college students, while also delving into the intermediary function of social support navigation.Utilizing a suite of psychological evaluations and social support instruments, the study compared the levels of depressive symptoms and pro-social behaviors between collegiate tennis athletes and their non-athlete peers.The findings revealed an inverse relationship between the duration of tennis engagement and the presence of depressive symptoms(β = -0.234, p ＜0.001), alongside a direct positive association with pro-social tendencies(β = 0.222, p ＜0.001). Further scrutiny uncovered a substantial link between the degree to which participants valued social support and their experiences of depressive symptoms(indirect effect = -0.212, 95%CI = -0.036~-0.009) and pro-social behaviors(indirect effect = 0.025, 95%CI = 0.009~0.044). Notably, the valuation of social support served as a conduit for the beneficial effects of tennis on these outcomes within the collegiate population. Consequently, the evidence from this investigation underscores the salutary influence of tennis on the psychological well-being and social conduct of college students, highlighting the pivotal role of understanding and leveraging social support.Conclusions: These insights offer valuable direction for fostering mental health and social proficiency in the university setting and advocate for the integration of sports as a viable component in mental health strategies.
Keywords: Tennis, university student, Depressive symptom, pro-social behaviour, Appreciating social support
Received: 07 May 2024; Accepted: 05 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, LI, LI and Meng. 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:
Liang Meng, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
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