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. 2025 Jan 2;25(1):7.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-06450-3.

Effects of physical activity on sleep quality among university students: chain mediation between rumination and depression levels

Lijing Xu  1 , Wenjing Yan  2 , Guohuan Hua  3 , Ziqing He  1 , Chunmei Wu  1 , Ming Hao  4
Affiliations

Effects of physical activity on sleep quality among university students: chain mediation between rumination and depression levels

Lijing Xu et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Colleges and universities are currently facing the major public health issue of poor sleep quality. Sleep quality must be taken seriously to maintain the students' emotional and physical well-being. Thus, this study sought to determine how university students' levels of physical activity related to the quality of their sleep, as well as to explore the mechanisms via which physical activity affects sleep and provide suggestions for improving it.

Methods: A total of 883 university students from Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, China participated in the study. Their physical activity, sleep quality, ruminative thinking levels, and depression were assessed using various questionnaires.

Results: Through the mediating effects of rumination and depression as well as the chain-mediated effects of these two factors, physical exercise changed the quality of sleep.

Conclusion: University students' sleep quality can be improved by increasing their physical activity and decreasing ruminative thinking and depression levels.

Keywords: Mediating effects; Physical activity; Sleep quality; University students.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was conducted in accordance with the Tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. Complete research objectives and survey contents were explained to the participants. All participants provided written informed consent and agreed to the required measurement and survey completion procedures. This study was approved by the Ethical Committee of Gannan Medical University, China, No: 2021110. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Hypothetical modelling of the path of physical activity’s effect on sleep quality
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
A chain-mediated model of physical activity and sleep quality. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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