The Effect of Physical Activity on Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Subjective Well-Being and the Moderating Role of Gender.

Abstract

To explore the role of subjective well-being in the relationship between physical activity (PA) and anxiety and whether the model is moderated by gender. We conducted a questionnaire survey by selecting 1153 college students from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, and data were analyzed using SPSS, Process, and AMOS. 1) Correlation analysis showed that PA, subjective well-being, and anxiety were significantly related. Also, we found subjective well-being to differ significantly on the demographic variable registered residence. 2) Subjective well-being played a mediating role between PA and anxiety. 3) Gender played a moderating role in the direct effect of PA on anxiety, shown by the significant difference in the path coefficients between the male and female models (male: β = -0.03, p > 0.05, female: β = 0.10, p < 0.05). Subjective well-being mediated the relationship between PA and anxiety, and gender moderated the mediating model. These findings highlight the importance of PA in reducing anxiety and increasing subjective well-being in the context of an epidemic.