SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1573446
The influence of physical activity on mental well-being in college students：A systematic review
Provisionally accepted
- Shaanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong, China
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Abstract：Physical activity is well-known for its enormous benefits for mental well-being, particularly across key mental well-being outcomes including depressive symptoms, self-esteem, and subjective well-being. The relationship between physical activity and mental well-being has received extensive attention in the recent decade. However, evidence of how physical activity can influence well-being among college students is insufficient. Thus, this study aimed to investigate how PA is associated with well-being in the context of college. This paper summarizes evidence from scientific reviews examining the effects of PA on well-being across various aspects of mental well-being. A total of 28 articles were extracted. Based on the review of previous studies, this review concludes that sufficient evidence now exists for the effectiveness of physical activity in the treatment of mental health difficulties.
Keywords: college students, Well-being, physical activity, good mood, subjective well- being
Received: 09 Feb 2025; Accepted: 25 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li. 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: Ruochen Li, Shaanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong, China
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