{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T08:51:38Z","timestamp":1785919898414,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785888000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behav. Sci.","Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Physical activity may be related to self-reported academic achievement among rural left-behind children, but the psychological processes associated with this relationship remain unclear. This cross-sectional study examined the association between physical activity and self-reported academic achievement and tested the indirect roles of character strengths and self-control. A total of 450 rural left-behind children completed the Physical Activity Rating Scale, the Character Strengths Scale for Chinese Elementary and Middle Schools, the Academic Achievement Self-Assessment Scale, and the Dual-System Scale for Adolescent Self-Control. Pearson correlation and serial mediation analyses were conducted. Physical activity, character strengths, self-control, and self-reported academic achievement were positively correlated. Physical activity was positively associated with self-reported academic achievement, and the indirect effects through character strengths and self-control were significant both separately and sequentially. These findings suggest that character strengths and self-control may help explain the association between physical activity and self-reported academic achievement. Because the data were cross-sectional and self-reported, causal and temporal conclusions cannot be drawn.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16081345","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T08:14:46Z","timestamp":1785917686000},"page":"1345","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Physical Activity and Self-Reported Academic Achievement Among Rural Left-Behind Children: The Serial Mediating Roles of Character Strengths and Self-Control"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-1057-0943","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wei","family":"Xiang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physical Education and Sports, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Siyi","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physical Education and Sports, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaobing","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physical Education and Sports, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Antia, K., Boucsein, J., Deckert, A., Dambach, P., Ra\u010dait\u0117, J., \u0160urkien\u0117, G., Jaenisch, T., Horstick, O., and Winkler, V. 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