Relationship between middle school students’ academic stress and physical exercise behavior from the perspective of Self-Determination Theory: The chained mediation of motivation and intention
2025

Academic Stress and Physical Exercise in Middle School Students

Sample size: 290 publication 10 minutes Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): Zhao Kegang, Zhao Yichen, Xu Weiqiang

Primary Institution: Shandong Normal University

Hypothesis

How does academic stress influence physical exercise behavior among middle school students?

Conclusion

Academic stress negatively affects exercise intention, which in turn reduces physical exercise behavior among middle school students.

Supporting Evidence

  • Academic stress is significantly associated with middle school students’ exercise behavior through the mediating role of exercise intention.
  • Controlled motivation, autonomous motivation, and exercise intention serve as chained mediators between academic stress and exercise behavior.
  • Academic stress is not associated with exercise intention through the parallel mediation of controlled and autonomous motivations.

Takeaway

When students feel a lot of pressure from school, they are less likely to want to exercise, which is not good for their health.

Methodology

This cross-sectional study used structural equation modeling to analyze data from 290 middle school students in Xiamen, China.

Potential Biases

Self-reported data may introduce bias in responses.

Limitations

The study is limited by its cross-sectional design, reliance on self-reported data, and a sample restricted to one school.

Participant Demographics

The sample included 116 males and 174 females, with an average age of 13.76 years.

Statistical Information

P-Value

p<0.05

Confidence Interval

95% CI [-0.690, -0.223]

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1371/journal.pone.0316599

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