Physical activity was significantly associated with better mental health among Chinese university students, with sports lifestyle and phubbing acting as independent and sequential mediators accounting for 56.07% of the total effect.
Key Findings
Results
Physical activity was significantly associated with mental health among Chinese university students.
Total effect of physical activity on mental health: β = -0.123, p < 0.001
Higher DASS-21 scores indicate poorer mental health, so the negative coefficient indicates physical activity was associated with better mental health
Cross-sectional survey of 3,009 university students from Linyi University in Shandong Province, China
Physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF)
Analysis controlled for age and gender using PROCESS Model 6 with 5,000 bootstrap samples
Results
Sports lifestyle significantly mediated the association between physical activity and mental health.
Indirect effect through sports lifestyle: β = -0.014, 95% CI [-0.022, -0.006]
Sports lifestyle accounted for 11.12% of the total effect
Sports lifestyle was measured with the Sports Lifestyle Form (SLF)
This represents an independent mediation pathway separate from the serial mediation pathway
Results
Phubbing significantly mediated the association between physical activity and mental health.
Indirect effect through phubbing: β = -0.041, 95% CI [-0.062, -0.021]
Phubbing accounted for 33.52% of the total effect
Phubbing was measured with the General Scale of Phubbing (GSP)
Phubbing was the largest single mediator, accounting for more variance than sports lifestyle alone
Results
A significant serial mediation pathway existed through sports lifestyle followed by phubbing linking physical activity to mental health.
Serial mediation pathway: physical activity → sports lifestyle → phubbing → mental health
Indirect effect of the serial pathway: β = -0.014, 95% CI [-0.020, -0.009]
The serial mediation pathway accounted for 11.53% of the total effect
The confidence interval did not include zero, confirming statistical significance
Results
The total indirect effect accounted for 56.07% of the association between physical activity and mental health, with the direct effect remaining significant, indicating partial mediation.
Total indirect effect accounted for 56.07% of the overall association
Direct effect of physical activity on mental health remained significant: β = -0.054, p < 0.001
The partial mediation finding indicates physical activity influences mental health both through behavioral pathways and through mechanisms not captured by sports lifestyle and phubbing
Three mediation pathways were identified: sports lifestyle alone (11.12%), phubbing alone (33.52%), and the serial pathway through both (11.53%)
Methods
The study used a cross-sectional design with a sample of 3,009 Chinese university students to examine mediation pathways.
Sample of 3,009 university students from Linyi University in Shandong Province, China
Mental health was measured with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21)
Pearson correlation analyses were conducted followed by regression-based serial mediation analysis
PROCESS Model 6 with 5,000 bootstrap samples was used for the serial mediation analysis
Wang J, Chen Q, Meng J. (2026). The relationship of physical activity on mental health among Chinese university students: a chain mediation model of sports lifestyle and phubbing.. BMC psychology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-04129-w