{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T11:13:40Z","timestamp":1792754020945,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,3]],"date-time":"2024-10-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1727913600000},"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>To explore the functions that physical activity (PA), life satisfaction, and self-efficacy have in the process of coping with anxiety among Chinese college students, and to explore the mediating role of life satisfaction and self-efficacy in this process.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Participants were 358 college students (186 males, 172 females, mean age 20.88, SD\u2009=\u2009\u00b11.80). Psychosocial tests including the Physical Activity Rating Scale (PARS-3), College Student Life Satisfaction Scale (CSLSS), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) were completed. Correlations between variables were calculated using Pearson\u2019s test. The mediation model was tested using the SPSS 26.0 PROCESS macro and regression bootstrap.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Physical activity showed a negative correlation with anxiety (<jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009\u22120.1617, <jats:italic>p\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.001.<\/jats:italic>, life satisfaction and self-efficacy played a role in the relationship between physical activity and anxiety. More importantly, physical activity was associated with anxiety through parallel mediating effects of life satisfaction and self-efficacy, with a total mediating effect of 55.34%.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>By increasing college students\u2019 participation in physical activity, it helps to promote the growth of their life satisfaction and self-efficacy, which is the key to reducing anxiety and promoting college students\u2019 mental health.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2024.1453892","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,3]],"date-time":"2024-10-03T04:37:28Z","timestamp":1727930248000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["The association between physical activity and anxiety in college students: parallel mediation of life satisfaction and self-efficacy"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Jiaxin","family":"Deng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yongfeng","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tong","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Weicheng","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"476","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dyu038","article-title":"The global prevalence of common mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis 1980-2013","volume":"43","author":"Steel","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int J Epidemiol"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2023.09.006","article-title":"Machine learning applied to functional magnetic resonance imaging in anxiety disorders","volume":"342","author":"Rezaei","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Affect Disord"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"897","DOI":"10.1017\/S003329171200147X","article-title":"Global prevalence of anxiety disorders: a systematic review and meta-regression","volume":"43","author":"Baxter","year":"2013","journal-title":"Psychol Med"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"457","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chc.2012.05.001","article-title":"Developmental epidemiology of anxiety disorders","volume":"21","author":"Beesdo-Baum","year":"2012","journal-title":"Child Adolesc Psychiatr N Am"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psychsport.2010.08.003","article-title":"The mood-enhancing benefits of exercise: memory biases augment the effect","volume":"12","author":"Anderson","year":"2011","journal-title":"Psychol Sport Exerc"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1057\/s41599-023-02131-w","article-title":"How does digital transformation relieve the employment pressure in China? 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