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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1443397
Exercise as a Mediator of Well-being
Provisionally accepted
Shiya Jiang *
Hao Zhang - Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology, Maoming, China
Introduction: Recent studies have highlighted physical exercise's potential impact on college students' psychological well-being. This study aims to explore this relationship further by examining physical fitness's mediating role. Methods: A comprehensive questionnaire was distributed to 386 college students, and the collected data were analyzed using advanced statistical techniques to ensure high reliability (α = 0.982) and validity (KMO = 0.947). Results: The results indicated that exercise habits were significantly influenced by the student's gender and academic major. Furthermore, a notable correlation was observed between physical fitness and psychological well-being, with physical fitness also serving as a partial mediator in this relationship. Discussion: These findings underscore the importance of promoting physical activity within educational institutions to enhance mental and physical health. The mediating role of physical fitness suggests that improvements in physical condition may be essential for realizing the full psychological benefits of exercise. It supports integrating tailored fitness programs into college wellness initiatives to foster overall student well-being.
Keywords: physical exercise, psychological well-being, Physical Fitness, Mediating effect, Exercise
Received: 04 Jun 2024; Accepted: 24 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jiang and Zhang. 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:
Shiya Jiang, Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology, Maoming, China
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