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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1507198
This article is part of the Research Topic Physical Activity Applied to Learning and Psycho-social Variables in Young People View all 12 articles

The Effects of a 12-Week Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training Intervention on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Sedentary Female College Students: A Focus on Negative Affect Regulation

Provisionally accepted
Quanwen Zeng Quanwen Zeng Yong Zhang Yong Zhang *慧敏 李 慧敏 李 Jin Yuan Jin Yuan Dan Feng Dan Feng Gendi Zhu Gendi Zhu
  • Department of Physical Education, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective:Moderate Intensity Continuous Training (MICT) is recognized as an effective intervention for improving negative affect. However, research on its effects across varying levels of negative mood states in sedentary female college students remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the impact of a 12-week MICT intervention on different levels of negative mood in sedentary female college students.Methods:A total of 144 participants were randomly assigned to two groups, each consisting of 72 individuals. The participants were further categorized into three negative mood groups: depression, anxiety, and stress, with 24 participants in each group. Within each mood group, participants were divided into three subgroups based on the severity of their mood (mild, moderate, and severe), with 8 participants in each subgroup. The experiment spanned 12weeks, with two 45-minute training sessions per week. Intensity was monitored throughout the experiment using the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), and heart rate was measured immediately following each session. The training intensity was maintained at 60%-69% of HRmax throughout the 12 weeks.Results:After 12 weeks of MICT, MICT had a positive effect on mild and severe depressivemood, moderate anxiety, and mild stressful mood in sedentary female college students(p<0.05), but MICT did not have statistically significant effects on moderate depressive mood, mild and severe anxiety,and moderate and severe stressful mood in sedentary female college students(p>0.05).Conclusion: MICT may have a beneficial effect on sedentary female college students, particularly those with lower levels of emotional distress. However, due to the absence of a positive control group, it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions about its specific impact. Future studies should employ more rigorous control designs to better assess the role of MICT in improving both the physical and mental health of sedentary female college students.

    Keywords: twelve weeks, Moderate-intensity continuous training, Negative emotions, sedentar y behavior, Female college students

    Received: 07 Oct 2024; Accepted: 27 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zeng, Zhang, 李, Yuan, Feng and Zhu. 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: Yong Zhang, Department of Physical Education, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China

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