Influence of physical education on anxiety, depression, and self-esteem among college students

Table 1 Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Self-Rating Depression Scale and the Self-Esteem Scale scores (n = 478)

Items	SAS	SDS	SES
Participants	46.39 ± 7.26	48.22 ± 10.24	26.35 ± 4.31
Domestic norm	29.78 ± 10.07	33.46 ± 8.55	28.75 ± 4.86
t1	53.067	37.365	-12.184
P value	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001

¹Single sample t-test.

SAS: Self-Rating Anxiety Scale; SDS: Self-Rating Depression Scale; SES: the Self-Esteem Scale.

Table 2 The influence of sociodemographic factors on Physical Activity Rank Scale-3 scores

Index		Participant number	Statistic	PARS-3 scores
				≤ 19	20-42	≥ 43
Gender	Male	221		11.60 ± 4.83	30.46 ± 5.77	56.50 ± 8.24
	Female	257		11.82 ± 4.41	32.27 ± 5.74	55.61 ± 9.62
			t	0.3446	1.544	0.637
			P value	0.731	0.126	0.525
Only child	Yes	212		12.42 ± 4.53	31.92 ± 6.01	56.59 ± 9.49
	No	266		11.14 ± 4.59	30.88 ± 5.65	55.49 ± 8.65
			t	2.023	0.866	0.792
			P value	0.044	0.388	0.429
Major	Humanities and social sciences	155		11.45 ± 4.64	30.34 ± 5.07	55.37 ± 8.62
	Science and engineering	135		12.04 ± 4.56	32.70 ± 5.92	57.49 ± 8.76
	Medicine	188		11.71 ± 4.60	31.20 ± 6.08	55.20 ± 9.61
			F	0.252	1.089	1.122
			P value	0.778	0.341	0.328
Father’s educational background	High school or technical secondary school and below	210		11.58 ± 4.72	31.10 ± 5.63	55.63 ± 9.53
	College or undergraduate	205		11.96 ± 4.54	32.29 ± 5.28	55.33 ± 8.18
	Postgraduate and above	63		11.27 ± 4.06	30.14 ± 6.65	58.96 ± 9.89
			F	0.243	0.974	1.696
			P value	0.785	0.382	0.187
Mother’s educational background	High school or technical secondary school and below	221		11.68 ± 4.76	31.07 ± 5.54	55.36 ± 9.92
	College or undergraduate	203		11.71 ± 4.53	31.67 ± 5.94	55.76 ± 7.75
	Postgraduate and above	54		12.08 ± 3.66	31.21 ± 6.21	58.70 ± 10.01
			F	0.041	0.104	1.240
			P value	0.960	0.901	0.292
Family domicile	Village	208		11.92 ± 5.18	30.07 ± 5.47	55.48 ± 9.30
	County	117		11.22 ± 4.27	33.60 ± 4.36	56.40 ± 9.26
	Downtown	153		11.86 ± 3.93	31.46 ± 6.51	56.39 ± 8.52
			F	0.442	2.642	0.215
			P value	0.644	0.077	0.807
Average sleep time	< 6 h	83		10.24 ± 4.71	29.87 ± 5.98	54.14 ± 9.41
	6-8 h	257		12.36 ± 4.43	31.29 ± 5.86	55.83 ± 8.60
	> 8 h	138a		11.72 ± 4.57	32.15 ± 5.48	57.04 ± 9.55
			F	3.512	0.740	0.845
			P	0.032	0.480	0.431

^aP < 0.05, compared to the average daily sleep time of 6-8 h and < 6 h.

PARS-3: Physical Activity Rank Scale-3.

Table 3 Influence of sociodemographic factors on Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Self-Rating Depression Scale and the Self-Esteem Scale scores

Index		Participant number	Statistic	SAS	SDS	SES
Gender	Male	221		46.63 ± 7.19	48.46 ± 9.50	26.36 ± 4.37
	Female	257		46.18 ± 7.31	48.01 ± 10.84	26.33 ± 4.26
			t	0.676	0.479	0.076
			P value	0.499	0.632	0.940
Only child	Yes	212		46.24 ± 6.74	48.58 ± 9.95	26.21 ± 4.21
	No	266		46.51 ± 7.65	47.93 ± 10.47	26.45 ± 4.39
			t	0.404	0.689	0.605
			P value	0.686	0.491	0.546
Major	Humanities and social sciences	155		45.95 ± 7.08	48.48 ± 9.47	26.62 ± 4.46
	Science and engineering	135		46.36 ± 6.97	48.33 ± 10.61	26.12 ± 4.13
	Medicine	188		46.76 ± 7.58	47.91 ± 10.58	26.28 ± 4.30
			F	0.531	0.144	0.522
			P value	0.588	0.866	0.594
Father’s educational background	High school or technical secondary school and below	210		45.70 ± 6.10	44.09 ± 9.33a	27.98 ± 3.88a
	College or undergraduate	205		46.41 ± 7.43	47.44 ± 10.32a	26.39 ± 4.47a
	Postgraduate and above	63		46.17 ± 7.56	50.17 ± 10.84	25.57 ± 3.81
			F	0.558	11.250	11.890
			P value	0.573	< 0.001	< 0.001
Mother’s educational background	High school or technical secondary school and below	221		46.26 ± 7.29	48.06 ± 10.09	26.54 ± 4.37
	College or undergraduate	203		46.76 ± 7.28	47.80 ± 10.04	26.44 ± 4.32
	Postgraduate and above	54		45.52 ± 6.94	50.39 ± 11.31	25.19 ± 3.85
			F	0.690	1.418	2.353
			P value	0.503	0.243	0.096
Family domicile	Village	208		46.40 ± 6.86	47.54 ± 9.75	26.72 ± 4.31
	County	117		46.25 ± 7.26	47.51 ± 10.67	26.34 ± 4.53
	Downtown	153		46.48 ± 7.76	49.67 ± 10.41	25.84 ± 4.07
			F	0.034	2.294	2.401
			P value	0.967	0.102	0.092
Average sleep time	< 6 h	83		48.02 ± 7.71	50.10 ± 9.63	25.46 ± 4.27
	6-8 h	257		46.02 ± 7.35	48.11 ± 10.21	26.54 ± 4.29
	> 8 h	138		46.09 ± 6.65	47.28 ± 10.51	26.51 ± 4.31
			F	2.572	2.972	2.131
			P value	0.078	0.053	0.120

^aP < 0.05, compared to the father's education level of postgraduate or above.

SAS: Self-Rating Anxiety Scale; SDS: Self-Rating Depression Scale; SES: the Self-Esteem Scale.

Table 4 Assignment table

Independent variables	Assignment
Gender	Male = 1; Female = 0
Only child	Yes = 1; No = 0
Major	Humanities and social sciences = 1; Science and engineering = 2; Medicine = 3
Father’s educational background	High school or technical secondary school and below = 1; College or undergraduate = 2; Postgraduate and above = 3
Mother’s educational background	High school or technical secondary school and below = 1; College or undergraduate = 2; Postgraduate and above = 3
Family domicile	Village = 1; County = 2; Downtown = 3
Average sleep time	Actual value
PARS-3 scores	Actual value

PARS-3: Physical Activity Rank Scale-3.

Table 5 Multivariate logistic regression for anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem

Model	Independent variables	Anxiety			Depression			Low self-esteem
		B	P value	OR (95%CI)	B	P value	OR (95%CI)	B	P value	OR (95%CI)
1	PARS-3 scores	-0.065	< 0.001	0.937 (0.923-0.951)	-0.063	< 0.001	0.939 (0.926-0.952)	-0.077	< 0.001	0.926 (0.910-0.943)
	Constant	0.781	< 0.001	2.184	0.896	< 0.001	2.449	0.799	< 0.001	2.224
2	PARS-3 scores	-0.065	< 0.001	0.937 (0.923-0.951)	-0.063	< 0.001	0.939 (0.926-0.952)	-0.077	< 0.001	0.926 (0.910-0.943)
	Average sleep time	-0.064	0.236	0.938 (0.844-1.043)	-0.045	0.397	0.956 (0.862-1.061)	-0.005	0.931	0.995 (0.891-1.111)
	Constant	1.247	0.005	3.480	1.222	0.005	3.394	0.835	0.068	2.304
3	PARS-3 scores	-0.067	< 0.001	0.935 (0.921-0.949)	-0.064	< 0.001	0.938 (0.925-0.951)	-0.078	< 0.001	0.925 (0.908-0.942)
	Average sleep time	-0.083	0.134	0.921 (0.826-1.026)	-0.054	0.318	0.948 (0.853-1.053)	-0.012	0.835	0.988 (0.883-1.106)
	Gender	-0.145	0.540	0.865 (0.543-1.377)	-0.173	0.455	0.841 (0.535-1.324)	-0.055	0.825	0.947 (0.582-1.539)
	Only child	-0.360	0.132	0.698 (0.437-1.114)	-0.472	0.043	0.624 (0.395-0.986)	-0.136	0.585	0.873 (0.536-1.421)
	Major		0.020			0.132			0.174
	Humanities and social sciences	0.137	0.631	1.147 (0.656-2.005)	0.382	0.164	1.465 (0.855-2.511)	0.397	0.182	1.488 (0.830-2.667)
	Science and engineering	0.769	0.007	2.158 (1.232-3.780)	0.542	0.055	1.719 (0.990-2.987)	0.533	0.076	1.704 (0.945-3.073)
	Father’s educational background		0.454			0.924			0.669
	High school or technical Secondary school and below	-0.013	0.987	0.987 (0.202-4.813)	0.310	0.691	1.364 (0.296-6.284)	0.310	0.714	1.364 (0.260-7.150)
	College or undergraduate	0.440	0.555	1.553 (0.360-6.700)	0.255	0.722	1.291 (0.316-5.277)	0.557	0.476	1.745 (0.378-8.048)
	Mother’s educational background		0.685			0.776			0.325
	High school or technical secondary school and below	-0.165	0.830	0.848 (0.187-3.835)	-0.512	0.489	0.599 (0.140-2.559)	-1.175	0.141	0.309 (0.065-1.478)
	College or undergraduate	0.176	0.833	1.193 (3.835-6.156)	-0.559	0.490	0.572 (0.117-2.797)	-1.002	0.250	0.367 (0.067-2.025)
	Family domicile		0.448			0.939			0.613
	Village	0.036	0.915	1.037 (0.534-2.011)	-0.110	0.741	0.896 (0.467-1.719)	0.080	0.821	1.084 (0.541-2.173)
	County	-0.330	0.360	0.719 (0.355-1.457)	-0.109	0.756	0.897 (0.451-1.782)	-0.230	0.543	0.795 (0.379-1.666)
	Constant	1.263	0.031	3.538	1.627	0.005	5.087	1.322	0.029	3.753

Model 1 does not adjust for any variables; Model 2 adjusts the average daily sleep time; and Model 3 adjusts the average daily sleep time, gender, only child, major, father’s educational background, mother’s educational background, and family residence. PARS-3: Physical Activity Rank Scale-3.

Table 6 Receiver operating characteristic curve of Physical Activity Rank Scale-3 scores predicting anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem

Dependent variables	AUC	Sensitivity	Specificity	Standard error	P value
Anxiety	0.805 (0.760 -0.849)	0.799	0.743	0.023	< 0.001
Depression	0.799 (0.755-0.843)	0.801	0.716	0.022	< 0.001
Self-esteem	0.831 (0.788-0.874)	0.748	0.814	0.022	< 0.001

PARS-3: Physical Activity Rank Scale-3; AUC: Area under the curve.

Table 7 Correlation matrix between Physical Activity Rank Scale-3 scores and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Self-Rating Depression Scale and the Self-Esteem Scale scores

Indexes		SAS	SDS	SES
PARS-3	r	-0.566	-0.621	0.621
	P value	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001
SAS	r	-	0.511	-0.508
	P value	-	< 0.001	< 0.001
SDS	r	-	-	-0.518
	P value	-	-	< 0.001

PARS-3: Physical Activity Rank Scale-3; SAS: Self Rating Anxiety Scale; SDS: Self Rating Depression Scale; SES: the Self-Esteem Scale.