ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicPhysical Education for Holistic Educational DevelopmentView all 16 articles
Physical Exercise-Induced Mental Health Benefits in Future Physicians: A Dual-Chain Mediation of Peer Support and Professional Identity Formation
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Physical Education, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
- 2Department of Physical Education, China University of Geosciences Beijing, Beijing, China
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Objective: This study investigates the dual chain mediating roles of peer support and professional identity formation in the relationship between physical exercise and mental health among medical students. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 420 medical students in China, using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test hypothesized pathways. Results: Exercise frequency demonstrated a significant direct association with better mental health (β = 0.28, P < 0.001). Two distinct mediating pathways were supported: (1) a significant serial mediation chain (exercise → peer support → professional identity → mental health; β = 0.044, P < 0.001) and (2) a significant parallel mediation chain (exercise → professional identity → mental health; β = 0.074, P < 0.001). Multi-group analysis revealed that the mediating role of professional identity was significantly stronger in clinical-year students (e.g., path from exercise to professional identity: Δβ = 0.10, P = 0.005). Limitations: The cross-sectional design precludes causal inference, and the cultural and professional specificity of the sample may affect generalizability. Conclusion: These findings highlight the complex psychosocial mechanisms through which exercise is associated with enhanced mental health in future physicians, with implications for targeted intervention design.
Keywords: peer support, Mental Health, physical exercise, Medical students, Mediation analysis
Received: 13 Jun 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Pan and Liang. 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:
Kaiqi Liu, 991105@fjmu.edu.cn
Dan Liang, liangdan@fjmu.edu.cn
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