Physical activity and social anxiety symptoms among Chinese college students: a serial mediation model of psychological resilience and sleep problems

Aug 13, 2024BMC psychology

How physical activity relates to social anxiety in Chinese college students through resilience and sleep problems

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Abstract

Physical activity is negatively associated with social anxiety symptoms in a survey of 9,530 college students.

Increased physical activity correlates with higher .
Physical activity is linked to fewer .
Psychological resilience and sleep problems may mediate the relationship between physical activity and social anxiety symptoms.
Improving physical activity levels could potentially reduce social anxiety by enhancing resilience and sleep quality.

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BACKGROUND: Social anxiety symptoms are common and harmful psychological illness in college students. Although some studies have illustrated that physical activity could reduce social anxiety symptoms, the specific mechanism is still unclear. Based on theoretical studies on resilience and sleep, this study constructed a serial mediation model to explore whether they mediate between physical activity and social anxiety symptoms among college students.

METHODS: This study surveyed 9,530 college students from three colleges in China to explore the mediating effect of physical activity and between physical activity and social anxiety symptoms. Participants were investigated with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Sleep-related problems, and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and the Social Phobia Scale. Correlations between variables were analysed using Pearson correlation analysis and mediation analyses were performed using SPSS PROCESS macro 3.3 software.

RESULT: The study found that physical activity was negatively associated with social anxiety symptoms and sleep problems, but positively with . After controlling for sociodemographic variables, physical activity can not only indirectly alleviate social anxiety symptoms through the separate mediation of psychological resilience and sleep problems, but also through the serial mediation of psychological resilience and sleep problems.

CONCLUSION: These results suggest that improving physical activity levels could reduce social anxiety scores by increasing psychological resilience and sleep quality. This is of great reference significance for the prevention and intervention of college students' mental health.

Key numbers

820 of 9530

Social anxiety prevalence

Students experiencing social anxiety symptoms among surveyed participants

1377 of 9530

Social phobia prevalence

Students exhibiting social phobia symptoms among surveyed participants

25.68%

Indirect effect of

Percentage of the total effect of physical activity on social anxiety mediated by

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Physical activity and social anxiety symptoms among Chinese college students: a serial mediation model of psychological resilience and sleep problems

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