{
  "abstract": "Background: This cross-sectional study examined whether physical activity was indirectly associated with depressive symptoms through self-esteem and positive psychological capital and whether these associations varied by perceived social support. Methods: Data from 473 students at three Guangdong universities were used to assess physical activity, depressive symptoms, self-esteem, positive psychological capital, and perceived social support. Serial and moderated serial indirect associations were estimated using PROCESS v4.1 (Model 6; a custom moderated specification equivalent to PROCESS Model 89 for the joint outcome equation; 5000 bootstrap resamples), adjusting for gender, grade, and hometown, with three interactions entered simultaneously in the same outcome equation. Results: Physical activity was negatively associated with depressive symptoms (total association: B = -0.175, 95% CI [-0.215, -0.138]; direct association: B = -0.079, 95% CI [-0.120, -0.039]), and the total indirect association was B = -0.097 (95% CI [-0.126, -0.070]), with specific indirect associations through self-esteem (B = -0.031), positive psychological capital (B = -0.048), and the serial pathway (B = -0.017); the positive psychological capital pathway was significantly larger than the serial pathway (difference = -0.031, 95% CI [-0.048, -0.016]). Perceived social support moderated the associations of physical activity (B = 0.0043, p = 0.009), self-esteem (B = 0.0256, p < 0.001), and positive psychological capital (B = 0.0062, p < 0.001) with depressive symptoms in the simultaneous custom moderated outcome equation (R² = 0.449); all three indices of moderated mediation were significant, and conditional indirect associations were stronger at lower support, with the self-esteem pathway no longer significant at high support. Conclusions: Physical activity was cross-sectionally associated with fewer depressive symptoms via independent and serial indirect associations involving self-esteem and positive psychological capital, with perceived social support showing a compensatory moderating pattern; temporal or causal ordering was not established.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Faculty of Sport Science, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, East Jakarta 13220, Indonesia.",
    "Physical Education Department, Hubei University of Technology Engineering and Technology College, Wuhan 430068, China.",
    "School of Physical Education, Guangzhou College of Commerce, Guangzhou 511363, China.",
    "College of Exercise and Health, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou 510500, China."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Zhihui Liu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Zhijie Lai",
      "orcid": "0009-0005-8220-6743"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Taufik Rihatno"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Widiastuti"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Johansyah Lubis"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bzz3285bcmxnc.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/healthcare14203484",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13704037",
  "id": "bzz3285bcmxnc",
  "issns": [
    "2227-9032"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42940529",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2737|Physical Activity and Health"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222491313",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13704037?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13704037",
  "pmid": "42940529",
  "published": "2026-10-16",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bzz3285bcmxnc.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:22:12Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42940529",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42940529"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2737|Physical Activity and Health",
      "subfield": "physiology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Guangdong University Students: A Cross-Sectional Moderated Serial Indirect-Association Model Involving Self-Esteem, Positive Psychological Capital, and Perceived Social Support.",
  "title_text": "Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Guangdong University Students: A Cross-Sectional Moderated Serial Indirect-Association Model Involving Self-Esteem, Positive Psychological Capital, and Perceived Social Support.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:22:12Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bzz3285bcmxnc",
  "venue": "Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)",
  "versions": []
}