The effect of physical activity on depression: a lagged mediation study of school burnout

Purpose: In recent years, the problem of college student suicide has become more and more serious, and depression has become the main root cause, triggering the attention of colleges and universities at home and abroad. Based on the burnout theory, this study explores the intrinsic connection between physical activity, depression and academic burnout. Through two questionnaire surveys, the cross-sectional relationship between physical activity level, depression and academic burnout was analyzed. A parallel mediation model was developed to compare the mediating effects of physical activity and depression. Meanwhile, physical activity grading was quantified to assess the effect on improving academic burnout and depression.

Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted utilizing a physical education classroom with questionnaires measuring students' physical activity, school burnout, and depression. The test was administered twice, at the beginning and end of the semester, with 305 valid participants each time. SPSS 27.0 was used to process the data, perform descriptive statistics and correlation analyses, and explore the relationships between variables. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the mediating relationships and lagged effects of physical activity, school burnout, and depression. Finally, the amount of physical activity was graded to examine the effects of different intensities on school burnout and depression.

Results: In a cross-sectional study at two time points, school burnout would serve as a mediator between college students' physical activity depression. We compared the lagged mediating effects of the two groups and found that school burnout (Time 2) had a more significant effect as a mediator. Finally, we graded the amount of physical activity according to the scale and found that only high-intensity physical activity affected depression (Time 2) through school burnout (Time 2).

Conclusion: There was temporal stability between physical activity, depression, and school burnout among college students. School burnout fully mediated the relationship between physical activity and depression at different time points and acted as a fully lagged mediator. School burnout at time 2 mediated the relationship between physical activity and depression more than school burnout at time 1. High-intensity physical activity was more effective in reducing depression and school burnout.