{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]],"date-time":"2026-07-27T22:34:47Z","timestamp":1785191687302,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,1]],"date-time":"2022-12-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1669852800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>We investigated the effects of COVID-19 fear on negative moods among college students, and assessed the efficacy of physical exercise behavior as a moderator variable.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This was a cross-sectional study. Students from three colleges and universities in Shangqiu City, Henan Province and Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province were enrolled in this study, which was performed during the COVID-19 pandemic using an online questionnaire. A total of 3,133 college students completed the questionnaire. Measurement tools included the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-S), Depression-Anxiety-Stress Self-Rating Scale (DASS), and the Physical Activity Behavior Scale (PARS-3).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, the rates of depression, anxiety, and stressful negative moods among college students were 35.5, 65.5, and 10.95%, respectively; there was a positive correlation between COVID-19 fear and negative moods among college students (<jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic> = 0.479, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001), which was negatively correlated with physical exercise behavior (<jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic> = \u22120.4, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001); the regulating effects of physical exercise behavior were significant (\u0394R2 = 0.04, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The rate of negative moods among college students is high, and the fear for COVID-19 is one of the key factors that lead to negative moods. Physical exercise can modulate the impact of COVID-19 fear among college students on negative moods. Studies should elucidate on mental health issues among different populations during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2022.1046326","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,1]],"date-time":"2022-12-01T17:56:54Z","timestamp":1669917414000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Chinese college students COVID-19 phobia and negative moods: Moderating effects of physical exercise behavior"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Shan-shan","family":"Han","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ya-hui","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wen-xia","family":"Tong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guang-xu","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"You-zhi","family":"Ke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shu-qiao","family":"Meng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qiang","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhong-lei","family":"Cui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jun-yong","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu-peng","family":"Ye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yao","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ya-xing","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bo","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","unstructured":"GenevaWorld Health Organization (WHO)2021"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"603325","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2021.603325","article-title":"Health literacy and regional heterogeneities in China: a population-based study","volume":"9","author":"Li","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Public Health."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"35","DOI":"10.16470\/j.csst.2020041","article-title":"Psychoneuroimmune pathways and countermeasures of physical exercise in major infectious disease epidemics","volume":"56","author":"Lou","year":"2020","journal-title":"China Sports Technol"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15798","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-020-72458-w","article-title":"Prevalence of depression and its relationship with quality of life among university students in Macau, Hong Kong and mainland China","volume":"10","author":"Xiang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sci Rep."},{"key":"B5","first-page":"1524","article-title":"A 4-year follow-up study on suicidal ideation of college students","volume":"42","author":"Zhang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Chinese School Hygiene."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s12888-020-02583-3","article-title":"Physical exercise, mental health problems, and suicide attempts in university students","volume":"20","author":"Grasdalsmoen","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMC Psychiatry."},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"214","DOI":"10.5993\/AJHB.44.2.9","article-title":"Sex and racial\/ethnic differences in suicidal consideration and suicide attempts among US college students, 2011\u20132015","volume":"44","author":"Sa","year":"2020","journal-title":"Am J Health Behav."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.1177\/0022022107311854","article-title":"Mapping expressive differences around the worldthe relationship between emotional display rules and individualism vs. collectivism","volume":"39","author":"Matsumoto","year":"2008","journal-title":"J Cross Cult Psychol."},{"key":"B9","first-page":"620","article-title":"A study on the negative emotions, coping styles, self-esteem and interpersonal relationships of college students with left-behind experience","volume":"17","author":"Li","year":"2009","journal-title":"China Linchuan J Psychol."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"354","DOI":"10.1097\/00001888-200604000-00009","article-title":"Systematic review of depression. 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