Physical exercise indirectly optimises sleep quality in college students through a dynamic and synergistic mechanism involving the enhancement of self-efficacy and emotional control, with indirect effects comprising the predominant mechanism.
Key Findings
Results
The direct effect of physical exercise on sleep quality was not statistically significant, but the total effect was significantly negative.
Direct effect: β = 0.011, P > 0.05 (not significant)
Total effect: β = -0.056, P < 0.001 (significant)
The negative total effect indicates that higher physical exercise is associated with better sleep quality (lower PSQI scores)
Indirect effects comprised the predominant mechanism linking physical exercise to sleep quality
Sample of 10,970 college students from the 2024 China College Students' Physical Activity and Health Tracking Survey (CPAHLS-CS)
Results
Self-efficacy independently mediated the relationship between physical exercise and sleep quality.
Effect size of self-efficacy mediation = -0.024
Self-efficacy was measured using the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES)
Physical exercise indirectly improved sleep quality by enhancing self-efficacy
Bootstrap mediation analysis was used to test the mediation pathway
Self-efficacy functioned as an independent mediating variable in the physical exercise–sleep quality pathway
Results
Emotional control independently mediated the relationship between physical exercise and sleep quality.
Effect size of emotional control mediation = -0.022
Emotional control was assessed using the Adolescent Psychological Resilience Scale
Physical exercise positively impacted sleep quality through a distinct mediating mechanism involving strengthening emotional control
Emotional control functioned as an independent mediating variable, separate from the self-efficacy pathway
Bootstrap mediation analysis was employed to confirm this indirect pathway
Results
Self-efficacy and emotional control each served as independent rather than sequential (chain) mediators between physical exercise and sleep quality.
Both self-efficacy and emotional control functioned as independent mediating variables in the pathway
The study title references 'chain mediating role' but findings indicate independent mediation pathways
Physical exercise enhanced both self-efficacy and emotional control through distinct mechanisms
The combined indirect effects of both mediators accounted for the predominant mechanism of the total effect
Regression analysis and Bootstrap mediation analysis were employed to test the hypothesised relationships
Methods
The study used a large nationally representative sample of Chinese college students measured with validated instruments for all key constructs.
N = 10,970 college students included in the analysis
Data from the 2024 China College Students' Physical Activity and Health Tracking Survey (CPAHLS-CS)
Physical exercise measured using the Physical Activity Rating Scale-3 (PARS-3)
Sleep quality assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)
Emotional control assessed using the Adolescent Psychological Resilience Scale
What This Means
This research suggests that physical exercise does not directly improve sleep quality in college students in a statistically meaningful way on its own. Instead, exercise appears to improve sleep indirectly by boosting two psychological factors: self-efficacy (a person's belief in their own ability to succeed) and emotional control (the ability to manage one's emotions). Both of these factors independently helped bridge the gap between exercise and better sleep, meaning exercise likely works through the mind as much as the body when it comes to improving how well students sleep.
The study was conducted with nearly 11,000 college students in China using a large national survey, and relied on well-established measurement tools for exercise, sleep quality, self-efficacy, and emotional control. The researchers found that the total effect of exercise on sleep was significant and beneficial, but that this benefit was almost entirely explained by these indirect psychological pathways rather than a direct physiological effect. The effect sizes for each mediator were small but meaningful at the population level.
This research suggests that sleep interventions for college students might be more effective if they focus not just on encouraging physical activity, but also on building students' confidence in their own abilities and helping them develop better emotional regulation skills. Programs that combine exercise with psychological skill-building could potentially offer stronger improvements to sleep quality than exercise alone.
Zhang W, Zhu W, Lou H, Zhang D, Mu F, Zhang X, et al.. (2026). Impact of physical exercise on sleep quality in college students: A Chain mediating role of self-efficacy and emotional control.. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0340208