Cao Yue, Jiang Yong
School of Physical Education, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jul 2;16:1599833. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1599833. eCollection 2025.
In an era of increasing academic pressures and digital distractions, time management has become an important competency for college students, with significant implications for their academic performance, psychological wellbeing, and lifelong success. Drawing on the frameworks of social cognitive theory and neurobehavioral science, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of physical activity on college students' time management ability and its psychotransmission mechanisms, with a particular focus on the interlocking mediating roles of sensation-seeking and self-efficacy. A questionnaire was administered to 714 Chinese university students (mean age 20.3 ± 1.8 years), and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM, a statistical method for analyzing complex relationships among variables) and the Bootstrap method (a re-sampling technique for assessing statistical significance). The results indicated that (1) physical activity had a significant and strong positive predictive effect on college students' time management ability ( = 0.416, < 0.001); (2) sensation seeking (effect size = 0.067) and self-efficacy (effect size = 0.065) each played a moderately independent mediator role; and (3) the chained mediation paths formed by the two (effect size = 0. 017) further explained 3.31% of the variance, suggesting that physical activity indirectly optimized time management through the sequential path of "stimulus-driven behavioral choice → reinforcing efficacy beliefs → optimizing goal execution." In addition, it was found that the degree of exercise structuring (e.g., a team training program) significantly enhanced the cascade effect ( = 0.15, < 0.05), whereas high-intensity interval training (HIIT) may weaken the transfer efficiency due to short-term cognitive load. The findings contribute to the construction of an integrated "behavioral-psychological-behavioral" model that reveals the complex mechanisms by which physical activity affects time management, and practically suggests that colleges and universities should design a collaborative program of "structured physical education curriculum + cognitive training" to systematically improve students' time management ability and academic efficacy.
在一个学术压力不断增加和数字干扰盛行的时代，时间管理已成为大学生的一项重要能力，对他们的学业成绩、心理健康和终身成功具有重大影响。本研究借鉴社会认知理论和神经行为科学的框架，旨在探讨体育活动对大学生时间管理能力的影响及其心理传导机制，特别关注寻求刺激和自我效能感的连锁中介作用。对714名中国大学生（平均年龄20.3±1.8岁）进行了问卷调查，并使用结构方程模型（SEM，一种分析变量间复杂关系的统计方法）和Bootstrap方法（一种用于评估统计显著性的重采样技术）对数据进行分析。结果表明：（1）体育活动对大学生的时间管理能力具有显著且强烈的正向预测作用（β = 0.416，p < 0.001）；（2）寻求刺激（效应量 = 0.067）和自我效能感（效应量 = 0.065）各自发挥了适度独立的中介作用；（3）两者形成的链式中介路径（效应量 = 0.017）进一步解释了3.31%的方差，表明体育活动通过“刺激驱动的行为选择→增强效能信念→优化目标执行”的顺序路径间接优化了时间管理。此外，研究发现运动组织程度（如团队训练计划）显著增强了级联效应（β = 0.15，p < 0.05），而高强度间歇训练（HIIT）可能由于短期认知负荷而削弱转移效率。这些发现有助于构建一个综合的“行为 - 心理 - 行为”模型，揭示体育活动影响时间管理的复杂机制，并实际建议高校应设计一个“结构化体育课程 + 认知训练”的协同项目，以系统地提高学生的时间管理能力和学业效能。
