ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1535214
This article is part of the Research TopicPhysical Education for Holistic Educational DevelopmentView all 6 articles
Mechanisms of the Impact of Exercise Intervention on College Students' Mental Health: A Longitudinal Experimental Study Using Swimming as an Example
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, Hunan Province, China
- 2Woosuk University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
- 3Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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With the increasing prevalence of mental health issues among college students, effective intervention strategies are essential. This study examines the impact of a 15-week swimming intervention on college students' mental health, focusing on emotional state, social adaptation, and academic stress. A total of 44 students were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group, with psychological assessments conducted before and after the intervention.Results indicate significant improvements in emotional stability (3.85 ± 0.78 vs. 3.52 ± 0.80, P = 0.01) and relaxation (3.82 ± 0.75 vs. 3.25 ± 0.61, P = 0.02) in the experimental group. Social adaptation also improved, with increases in interpersonal harmony (4.14 ± 0.73, P = 0.03) and perceived social support (4.21 ± 0.75, P = 0.04). Additionally, academic stress management improved, with higher academic composure (3.57 ± 0.82 vs. 3.05 ± 0.83, P = 0.02) and goal management ability (3.73 ± 0.78, P = 0.04).These findings highlight swimming as an effective mental health intervention, promoting emotional regulation, social integration, and academic stress management. Future studies should explore its long-term effects and expand the participant sample.
Keywords: college student mental health, Swimming, emotional stability, social adaptation, Academic stress
Received: 27 Nov 2024; Accepted: 17 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Yu, Huang and Gao. 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: Le Huang, Woosuk University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
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