From Sensation to Anxiety: The Mediating Effect of Physical Sensation and Experiential Avoidance on Exercise Anxiety Among College Students.

Endurance exercise behavior negatively predicts negative physical sensations in college students.

• Regression coefficient β = -0.48, p < 0.001
• Sample consisted of 262 non-athlete college students from western China
• Average age of participants was 19.29 years, with 170 females (64.9%) and 92 males (36.1%)
• Participants were subjected to endurance exercise anxiety scenarios

Negative physical sensation positively predicts both experiential avoidance and exercise anxiety.

• Negative physical sensation predicts experiential avoidance: β = 0.34, p < 0.001
• Negative physical sensation predicts exercise anxiety: β = 0.34, p < 0.001
• Both effects were statistically significant at the p < 0.001 level

Experiential avoidance positively predicts exercise anxiety.

• β = 0.25, p < 0.001
• Tested using regression analysis with exercise anxiety as the dependent variable
• Endurance exercise behavior, negative physical sensations, and experiential avoidance were included as independent variables in the structural equation model

Negative physical sensation significantly mediates the relationship between endurance exercise and exercise anxiety (Path 1).

• Standard indirect effect value: β = -0.041, 95% CI = [-0.077, -0.018]
• This path accounted for 10.22% of the total indirect effect
• Bootstrap 95% confidence interval did not contain 0, indicating a significant mediating effect
• Tested using the nonparametric percentile bootstrap method of deviation correction

Negative physical sensation and experiential avoidance together chain-mediate the relationship between endurance exercise and exercise anxiety (Path 2).

• Standard indirect effect value: β = -0.178, 95% CI = [-0.259, -0.109]
• This chain-mediation path accounted for 44.39% of the total effect
• Bootstrap 95% confidence interval did not contain 0, indicating a significant mediating effect
• Path 2 (endurance exercise → negative physical sensation → experiential avoidance → exercise anxiety) accounted for substantially more of the total effect than Path 1

The structural equation model explained a moderate proportion of variance in exercise anxiety.

• R = 0.61, R² = 0.38
• Model included endurance exercise behavior, negative physical sensations, and experiential avoidance as independent variables
• Exercise anxiety was the dependent variable
• Path analysis and structural equation modeling were used to examine mediating effects