ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
The Relationship Between Structural Campus Climate and Non-suicidal Self-injury Among Middle School Students: The Chain-Mediated Roles of Physical Exercise and School Bullying
Provisionally accepted
- School of Physical Education, Xi'an Shiyou University, Xi'an, China
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Background: A structural campus climate (SCC) represents the organizational and orderly dimension of school climate. A high level of SCC means that a school possesses fair rules, reasonable value systems, and safety guarantees, all of which are key factors influencing adolescents’ problem behaviors. Method: This study aimed to examine the relationship between SCC and non‑suicidal self‑injury (NSSI) among middle school students, and to analyze the chain‑mediated roles of physical exercise (PE) and school bullying (SB). A total of 637 middle school students were surveyed using the Delaware School Climate Scale, Physical Activity Level Scale, School Bullying Scale, and Non-suicidal Self-injury Assessment Questionnaire. Results: SCC was and positively associated with PE, and SB was positively associated with NSSI. SCC and PE were each negatively related to SB; SCC and PE were also negatively related to NSSI. After controlling for factors such as gender, age, grade and only-child status, the mediation analysis indicated that the total effect of SCC on NSSI among middle school students was significant (β = –0.454, p < 0.001). The mediating effect values of PE and SB were -0.104 and -0.051, respectively. The chain mediating effect of PE and SB was significant, with a value of -0.048. Conclusions: PE and SB not only play independent mediating roles in the relationship between SCC and NSSI, but also function as sequential mediators in a chain‑mediated pathway. The research findings underscore the importance of continuously optimizing the SCC in the intervention process for NSSI behavior among middle school students. On this basis, enhancing PE and reducing SB may provide effective avenues for alleviating NSSI behavior in this population.
Keywords: chain mediation, non‑suicidalself‑injury, physical exercise, school bullying, structural campus climate
Received: 04 Dec 2025; Accepted: 09 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Zhou. 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: Yang Zhou
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