ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1665882
This article is part of the Research TopicPsychological Factors in Physical Education and Sport - Volume VIView all 31 articles
Exploring How Cognitive-Behavioral Physical Activity Links Ruminative Thinking and Mental Well-Being in Sports High School Adolescents
Provisionally accepted
Mehmet Derelioğlu1
Mustafa Vural2Erkan Çimen3
Ünal SAKİ2
Yusuf Yagiz Saracoglu2
BAYKAL KARATAŞ2
Ajlan Saç4
Emre Yamaner5Medera Halmatov6
Coşkun Yılmaz7Mehmet Öztaş8Gökhan Arıkan9
Levent CEYLAN5*- 1Avrasya Universitesi, Trabzon, Türkiye
- 2Agri Ibrahim Cecen Universitesi, Ağrı, Türkiye
- 3Suleyman Demirel Universitesi, Isparta, Türkiye
- 4Trakya Universitesi, Edirne, Türkiye
- 5Faculty of Sport Sciences, Hitit University, Corum, Türkiye
- 6Bilecik Seyh Edebali Universitesi, Bilecik, Türkiye
- 7Kelkit Aydin Dogan Vocational College, gümüşhane, Türkiye
- 8Tokat Gaziosmanpasa Universitesi, Tokat, Türkiye
- 9Harran Universitesi, Şanlıurfa, Türkiye
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This study examined the associations among ruminative thinking style (RTS), subjective well-being (SWB), and cognitive-behavioral physical activity (CBPA) in a sample of 1,326 adolescents (aged 14–18) from sports high schools. Using validated self-report measures, data were analyzed through bootstrapped mediation models. RTS was negatively associated with SWB (β = −0.1792, p < .001), while CBPA showed a partial mediating effect in this relationship (indirect β = 0.0779, p < .001). These results suggest that cognitive-behavioral orientations toward physical activity may buffer the negative impact of rumination on well-being. Consistent with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) principles, CBPA could provide adolescents with self-regulatory strategies that support mental health. However, the cross-sectional and self-report design, as well as the focus on sports high school students, limit causal inference and generalizability. Future longitudinal and cross-cultural studies are needed to confirm these findings. Overall, the study provides preliminary evidence that CBPA-informed approaches may hold promise for promoting adolescents’ mental well-being.
Keywords: adolescent mental health1, cognitive behavioral therapy2, Physical Activity Interventions3, Ruminative Thought Patterns4, subjective well-being5
Received: 14 Jul 2025; Accepted: 03 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Derelioğlu, Vural, Çimen, SAKİ, Yagiz Saracoglu, KARATAŞ, Saç, Yamaner, Halmatov, Yılmaz, Öztaş, Arıkan and CEYLAN. 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: Levent CEYLAN, leventceylan17@hotmail.com
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