The influence of college physical education on students' physical fitness and mental health development
Journal: Region - Educational Research and Reviews DOI: 10.32629/rerr.v8i3.5241
Abstract
College physical education (PE) occupies a distinctive position in higher education, serving as one of the few institutional settings in which young adults engage in structured, supervised, and regular movement. This review synthesizes contemporary evidence on how college PE shapes two interrelated developmental domains: physical fitness and mental health. Drawing on cross-sectional surveys, longitudinal panels, intervention trials, and meta-analytic syntheses, the discussion describes the pathways through which curricular physical activity experiences contribute to cardiorespiratory and muscular capacity while also supporting emotional regulation, psychological resilience, and subjective well-being. The evidence suggests that the value of PE extends beyond the accumulation of activity minutes, encompassing the cultivation of competence, social connection, and self-regulatory beliefs that relate to downstream mental health outcomes. Cardiorespiratory fitness, self-efficacy, and social support recur as candidate mechanisms linking participation to well-being, with several effects appearing conditional on gender, baseline activity, and the pedagogical model adopted. The review also considers documented declines in student fitness and the limits of the existing evidence base. A reading of the literature indicates that well-structured PE can function as a scalable platform for promoting holistic student development, provided that programs attend jointly to physiological adaptation and the psychological climate of the learning environment.
Keywords
college physical education; physical fitness; mental health; cardiorespiratory fitness; self-efficacy; higher education
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[3] Hong Y, Shen J, Hu Y, et al. The association between physical fitness and mental health among college students: a cross-sectional study[J]. Frontiers in Public Health, 2024, 12: 1384035.
[4] Tendinha R, Alves M D, Freitas T, et al. Impact of sports education model in physical education on students'motivation: A systematic review[J]. Children, 2021, 8(7): 588.
[5] Lu Y, Wiltshire H D, Baker J S, et al. The effect of Tabata-style functional high-intensity interval training on cardiometabolic health and physical activity in female university students[J]. Frontiers in physiology, 2023, 14: 1095315.
[6] Shah R V, Murthy V L, Colangelo L A, et al. Association of fitness in young adulthood with survival and cardiovascular risk: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study[J]. JAMA internal medicine, 2016, 176(1): 87–95.
[7] Liu L, Xin X, Wang H, et al. Effectiveness of physical exercise on mental health among university students: a systematic review and meta-analysis[J]. Frontiers in Psychology, 2025, 16: 1612408.
[8] Li J, Zhang L, Yu F. The intervention effect of long-term exercise on depression and anxiety in college students: a three-level meta-analysis[J]. BMC psychology, 2025, 13(1): 701.
[9] Han X, Li H, Niu L. How does physical education influence university students' psychological health? An analysis from the dual perspectives of social support and exercise behavior[J]. Frontiers in Psychology, 2025, 16: 1457165.
[10] Ma R, Liu H, Shi M, et al. Longitudinal effects of physical activity on university students' mental health via self-efficacy and the moderating role of peer support[J]. Scientific Reports, 2026.
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