SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Positive Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1621100
The Mediating Effect of Resilience and Self-Efficacy Between Physical Activity and Well-Being: A Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling
Provisionally accepted
- Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, China
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Background: While the positive relationship between physical activity and well-being is wellestablished, the mediating roles of self-efficacy and resilience remain insufficiently understood. This study employed a meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) approach to investigate whether these psychological factors mediate the relationship between physical activity and wellbeing, aiming to clarify the underlying mechanisms that contribute to this association.To achieve this, we systematically searched five databases, Web of Science, PsycINFO, SportDiscus, PubMed, and CNKI, without restrictions on language or publication date. Relevant correlation coefficients were extracted from eligible studies. A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the direct relationship between physical activity and well-being, followed by a two-stage MASEM to assess the mediating effects of self-efficacy and resilience.Results: A total of 20 studies comprising 23,377 participants revealed a significant positive correlation between physical activity and well-being (r = 0.347, p < 0.001). Subgroup analyses indicated stronger associations in on-site samples (r = 0.384) and within Eastern cultures (r = 0.452).Path analysis demonstrated that physical activity directly enhanced well-being (unstandardized effect = 0.168, p < 0.001), and also had significant indirect effects via self-efficacy (standardized indirect effect = 0.196, p < 0.001) and resilience (standardized indirect effect = 0.068, p < 0.001). No significant differences were found between models of subjective well-being and psychological wellbeing (p > 0.05). These findings underscore the critical mediating roles of self-efficacy and resilience in the physical activity-well-being pathway and offer valuable insights for designing targeted interventions to enhance mental health outcomes through physical activity.Physical activity is positively associated with well-being, with stronger effects observed in on-site sampling and within Eastern cultural contexts. Moreover, self-efficacy and resilience serve as mediating factors in the relationship between physical activity and well-being.
Keywords: physical activity, Well-being, self-efficacy, resilience, Meta-analysis, Structural Equation Modeling
Received: 30 Apr 2025; Accepted: 28 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhibo, Li, Wang, Li, Zheng and Yang. 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: Chengbo Yang, Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, China
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