Ou Yayi, Guo Kelei, Cheng Yueming
School of Physical Education and Health, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jun 26;16:1450031. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1450031. eCollection 2025.
To explore the relationship between physical exercise and suicidal ideation of college students, and the mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction and sense of meaning in life.
A stratified cluster random sampling method was adopted to survey 1,008 college students of Zhaoqing University from January 17th to 27th, 2024. The Physical Exercise Scale, Suicidal Ideation Scale, Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Scale, and Life Meaning Scale were used to assess physical exercise, suicidal ideation, basic psychological needs satisfaction, and sense of meaning in life, respectively. Data were statistically analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and mediation analysis using SPSS (IBM Corp.).
Physical exercise was negatively associated with suicidal ideation ( = -0.26, < 0.01). A significant direct effect was observed between physical exercise and suicidal ideation ( = -0.17, < 0.01, 95% CI [-0.24, -0.11]). Physical exercise positively predicted both basic psychological needs satisfaction ( = 0.27, < 0.01, 95% CI [0.20, 0.32]) and sense of life meaning ( = 0.17, < 0.01, 95% CI [0.11, 0.22]). Both basic psychological needs satisfaction ( = -0.17, < 0.01, 95% CI [-0.24, -0.10]) and sense of meaning in life ( = -0.12, < 0.01, 95% CI [-0.20, -0.05]) were negatively associated with suicidal ideation. Additionally, basic psychological needs satisfaction was positively associated with sense of meaning in life ( = 0.53, < 0.01, 95% CI [0.48, 0.58]). Mediation analysis revealed that both basic psychological needs satisfaction and sense of meaning in life significantly mediated the relationship between physical exercise and suicidal ideation. The mediating effect consists of three paths: the independent mediation effect of basic psychological needs satisfaction (effect value is -0.04), the independent mediation effect of sense of meaning in life (effect value is -0.02), and the chain mediation effect of basic psychological needs satisfaction and sense of meaning in life (effect value is -0.02).
This study found that physical exercise is negatively associated with suicidal ideation among college students. Furthermore, this relationship is explained through two key mechanisms: the mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction, and the sequential mediation pathway involving both basic psychological needs satisfaction and sense of meaning in life. These findings highlight the importance of promoting physical exercise to enhance mental health and mitigate suicidal ideation risk in college populations.
探讨体育锻炼与大学生自杀意念之间的关系，以及基本心理需求满足和生命意义感的中介作用。
采用分层整群随机抽样方法，于2024年1月17日至27日对肇庆学院1008名大学生进行调查。分别使用体育锻炼量表、自杀意念量表、基本心理需求满足量表和生命意义量表来评估体育锻炼、自杀意念、基本心理需求满足和生命意义感。使用SPSS（IBM公司）进行描述性统计、相关性分析、回归分析和中介分析。
体育锻炼与自杀意念呈负相关（β=-0.26，p<0.01）。体育锻炼与自杀意念之间存在显著的直接效应（β=-0.17，p<0.01，95%CI[-0.24,-0.11]）。体育锻炼对基本心理需求满足（β=0.27，p<0.01，95%CI[0.20,0.32]）和生命意义感（β=0.17，p<0.01,95%CI[0.11,0.22]）均有正向预测作用。基本心理需求满足（β=-0.17，p<0.01，95%CI[-0.24,-0.10]）和生命意义感（β=-0.12，p<0.01，95%CI[-0.20,-0.05]）均与自杀意念呈负相关。此外，基本心理需求满足与生命意义感呈正相关（β=0.53，p<0.01，95%CI[0.48,0.58]）。中介分析表明，基本心理需求满足和生命意义感均显著中介了体育锻炼与自杀意念之间的关系。中介效应由三条路径组成：基本心理需求满足的独立中介效应（效应值为-0.04）、生命意义感的独立中介效应（效应值为-0.02）以及基本心理需求满足和生命意义感的链式中介效应（效应值为-0.02）。
本研究发现体育锻炼与大学生自杀意念呈负相关。此外，这种关系通过两个关键机制来解释：基本心理需求满足的中介作用，以及涉及基本心理需求满足和生命意义感的顺序中介路径。这些发现凸显了促进体育锻炼以增强大学生心理健康和降低自杀意念风险的重要性。
