ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Movement Science
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1626157
This article is part of the Research TopicTowards a Psychophysiological Approach in Physical Activity, Exercise, and Sports-Volume VView all 9 articles
The chain mediation effects of general self-efficacy and psychological resilience between physical activity and academic stress among Chinese adolescents
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China, Shanghai, China
- 2School of Physical Education, School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China, 上海市, China
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Excessive academic stress is a significant factor influencing the mental health of Chinese adolescents. This study aimed to examine the relationship between physical activity and academic stress and explore the chain mediation effects of general self-efficacy and psychological resilience. A survey was administered to 1,230 adolescents using the Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ-A), the Academic Stress Scale, the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and the Psychological Resilience Scale. The results indicated that: (1) Adolescents' physical activity negatively correlated with academic stress, but positively correlated with general self-efficacy and psychological resilience. General self-efficacy positively correlated with psychological resilience and negatively correlated with academic stress. Psychological resilience also negatively correlated with academic stress. (2) Physical activity directly affected adolescents' academic stress (β = -0.330, 64.33%) and also indirectly influenced it through three pathways: ① Physical activity → general self-efficacy → academic stress (β = -0.058, 11.31%). ② Physical activity → psychological resilience → academic stress (β = -0.027, 5.26%). ③ Physical activity → general self-efficacy → psychological resilience → academic stress (β = -0.098, 19.10%). Thus, physical activity can directly influence adolescents' academic stress and indirectly affect it through the separate and chain mediation of general self-efficacy and psychological resilience.
Keywords: ：Physical activity, Academic stress, general self-efficacy, psychological resilience, chain mediation effect
Received: 10 May 2025; Accepted: 09 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Leng, Li and Xiang. 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: Shihong Li, School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China, Shanghai, China
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