Zhu JH, Li SF, Wang P, Xin X, Zhao Q, Chen SC, Wang X. Correlation and pathways of behavioral activation systems mediating physical activity level and depressive symptoms among college students. World J Psychiatry 2023; 13(10): 784-792 [PMID: 38058692 DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v13.i10.784]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xing Wang, PhD, Professor, School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport, No. 399 Changhai Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200438, China. wangxing1933@sus.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Psychology
Article-Type of This Article
Observational Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Jiang-Hua Zhu, Qun Zhao, Department of Physical Education, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
Shu-Fan Li, Peng Wang, Xin Xin, Si-Cheng Chen, Xing Wang, School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China
Author contributions: Zhu JH wrote the original manuscript and collected the data; Li SF collected and analyzed the data; Wang P wrote part of the manuscript; Xin X collected the data; Zhao Q curated the data; Chen SC curated the data; Wang X reviewed and edited.
Supported byShanghai Key Lab of Human Performance (Shanghai University of sport), No. 11DZ2261100.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the ethical committee of Shanghai University of Sport (102772021RT007), and all procedures were performed according to the relevant guidelines and regulations.
Informed consent statement: All study participants or their legal guardian provided informed written consent about personal and medical data collection prior to study enrolment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data is available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xing Wang, PhD, Professor, School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport, No. 399 Changhai Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200438, China. wangxing1933@sus.edu.cn
Received: June 5, 2023 Peer-review started: June 5, 2023 First decision: July 4, 2023 Revised: July 15, 2023 Accepted: August 7, 2023 Article in press: August 7, 2023 Published online: October 19, 2023 Processing time: 128 Days and 17.8 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Depression is a common mental disorder among college students. Key symptoms include persistent depressed mood, sad emotional experiences, lack of pleasure, listlessness, and impaired cognitive function, accompanied by self-harm and suicidal tendencies.
Research motivation
Reduce the prevalence of depressive symptoms in college students.
Research objectives
Elucidating pathways and effects of behavioral activation systems between physical activity and depressive symptoms in college students with depressive symptoms.
Research methods
One-way analysis of variance and Pearson correlation, linear regression, and structural equation modeling were used to explore the correlation and pathway of interactions between variables.
Research results
The mediating effect of reward responses between physical activity and depressive symptoms was significant [B = -0.025, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): -0.051 to -0.008, P = 0.001]. The direct and total effects of physical activity on depressive symptoms were significant ((B = -0.150, 95%CI: -0.233 to -0.073, P < 0.001; B = -0.175, 95%CI: -0.260 to -0.099, P < 0.001, respectively).
Research conclusions
Colleges and universities should encourage college students with depression to increase physical activity and improve behavioral activation systems. Particular attention should be paid to the ability to reward responses, which may reduce the prevalence of depressive symptoms.
Research perspectives
It is recommended to use objective measurement tools in future measurements; longitudinal studies are needed to further define the course of action.
