{
  "abstract": "Objectives\n\nThis study examined the direct and specific indirect associations among perceived academic demands, chronic time pressure, leisure-time physical activity, and psychological distress in Chinese university students.Methods\n\nA cross-sectional online survey included 1,390 undergraduates from 10 higher-education institutions in Jiangsu Province, China. Perceived academic demands, chronic time pressure, and psychological distress were modeled as latent variables, whereas log-transformed leisure-time physical activity was modeled as an observed variable. Confirmatory factor analysis and covariate-adjusted structural equation modeling were conducted. Specific indirect associations were estimated using 5,000 bootstrap resamples with bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals.Results\n\nThe adjusted structural model showed good fit (CFI = 0.966, TLI = 0.959, RMSEA = 0.034, SRMR = 0.024). Perceived academic demands were positively associated with chronic time pressure (β = 0.539) and psychological distress (β = 0.382). Chronic time pressure was positively associated with psychological distress (β = 0.334) and negatively associated with leisure-time physical activity (β = -0.179), whereas leisure-time physical activity was negatively associated with distress (β = -0.097; all p < 0.001). The specific indirect association through chronic time pressure was B = 0.182 (95% bias-corrected CI [0.134, 0.236]), whereas the serial specific indirect association additionally involving leisure-time physical activity was considerably smaller (B = 0.010, 95% bias-corrected CI [0.005, 0.018]).Conclusions\n\nThe indirect association through chronic time pressure was substantially larger than the serial indirect association additionally involving leisure-time physical activity, indicating that leisure-time physical activity made only a minimal additional contribution within the concurrent structural model. These findings highlight chronic time pressure as a relevant correlate of student psychological distress and support further investigation of academic time organization alongside opportunities for physical activity. Because the data were cross-sectional, temporal mediation and causal direction cannot be established.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "School of Physical Education, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Zhikai Gong"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Gang Shen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Zhuang Zhou"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/d4t6fvga1dcdv.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fpubh.2026.1984531",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13677481",
  "id": "d4t6fvga1dcdv",
  "issns": [
    "2296-2565"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898313",
  "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",
      "3204|Student Stress and Coping"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7219651248",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13677481?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13677481",
  "pmid": "42898313",
  "published": "2026-10-05",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/d4t6fvga1dcdv.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:37Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42898313",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898313"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:22Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fpubh.2026.1984531",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1984531/full"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "issn:2296-2565",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Perceived academic demands and psychological distress among Chinese university students: structural associations involving chronic time pressure and leisure-time physical activity.",
  "title_text": "Perceived academic demands and psychological distress among Chinese university students: structural associations involving chronic time pressure and leisure-time physical activity.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:22Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/d4t6fvga1dcdv",
  "venue": "Frontiers in public health",
  "versions": []
}