Self-System Mediates the Effect of Physical Activity on Students’ Anxiety: A study from Canada

Physical Activity and Anxiety of Chinese University Students: Mediation of Self-System

“…PA was found to influence SE positively. The finding was consistent with studies that publicized that physically active populations have satisfactory enhancement for their self [ 50 , 56 ] or their self-esteem [ 82 ], as compared to less active populations. On the flip side, anxiety is also an essential factor associated with SE and PA [ 86 ].…”

“…This is a crucial strength of the current study, as other studies have reported the correlational link between PA and other self-determined psychological variables or self-evaluation motives, such as self-efficacy [ 84 ] and self-esteem [ 82 , 85 ]. This result follows prior work indicating that students who engaged in more PA had high SE, leading to reduced anxiety [ 50 , 56 ]. The mediating role of SE implies that enhancement of the self has potential for the promotion of psychological health, if it is taught to university students.…”

“…Findings of this study corroborate the arguments proposed by Rebar, Stanton [ 80 ] that PA is positively associated with physical, mental, and psychological outcomes, such as reductions in stress, depression, or anxiety. Endorsing our results, researchers have recently suggested that regular participation in sport and PA reduces stress, anxiety, and depression in university students [ 26 , 50 , 56 , 81 ]. The research indicates that, in terms of reducing anxiety, PA has the potential to assist university students in obtaining beneficial results.…”

“…Further, the multiple mediation model tested in the present study confirmed that SE mediated the association between PA and anxiety after controlling for age and education. Like many previous studies [ 50 , 56 , 82 , 83 ], we used PA as a predictor variable for developing mediation models in various contexts. Notwithstanding this, it was possible in this study to postulate SE as a mediator between PA and anxiety in a specific context.…”

“…For example, self-critical individuals develop unhealthy perfectionism that leads to psychological distress [ 49 ]. Furthermore, students possessing SC are found to be inactive or less active, leading them to have more anxiety [ 50 ]. Therefore, when individuals exhibit SC, it should be decreased through contemporary approaches and possible solutions, as little is known about how to reduce SC [ 46 ].…”