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Motivation

Does exercise relate to college students’ academic engagement?

Gao W, Chen J, Tu Z, et al. · Frontiers in psychology · 2025

Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC

Among 1,596 non-PE students, exercise correlated modestly with academic engagement (r=0.207) and self-efficacy (r=0.218); self-efficacy strongly tracked engagement (r=0.811) and mediated ~85% of the exercise–engagement link.

Study at a glance

Design
Cross-sectional — Stratified random survey of non-PE college students; PARS-3, UWES, GSES; ANOVA, correlation, regression, mediation
N
N=1596 · 1,596 valid questionnaires from non-physical-education college students (Fuzhou-limited sample)
Population
Non-physical-education college students
Outcome
Associations among physical exercise, academic engagement, and self-efficacy (mediation)

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Key findings

Exercise correlated with engagement (r=0.207) and self-efficacy (r=0.218); engagement with self-efficacy r=0.811. Indirect effect via self-efficacy was 0.0133 (84–84.7% of total); direct effect 0.0025 (16%), both with CIs excluding zero — partial mediation.

Methodology

Used stratified random sampling and PARS-3, UWES, and GSES scales; analyzed 1,596 valid surveys with ANOVA, correlations, regression, and bootstrap mediation in SPSS/AMOS.

Limitations

Cross-sectional self-reports cannot prove exercise causes better studying; sample is Fuzhou university students, not PE majors, and common-method bias remains possible.

How this study connects

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