Perceived academic demands and psychological distress among Chinese university students: structural associations involving chronic time pressure and leisure-time physical activity.
- 1School of Physical Education, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Abstract
Objectives
This 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
A 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
The 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
The 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.
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BibTeX
@article{gong2026perceived,
title = {{Perceived academic demands and psychological distress among Chinese university students: structural associations involving chronic time pressure and leisure-time physical activity.}},
author = {Zhikai Gong and Gang Shen and Zhuang Zhou},
journal = {Frontiers in public health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1984531},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898313},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Perceived academic demands and psychological distress among Chinese university students: structural associations involving chronic time pressure and leisure-time physical activity.
AU - Zhikai Gong
AU - Gang Shen
AU - Zhuang Zhou
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Frontiers in public health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1984531
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898313
AB - Objectives This 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 A 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 The 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 The 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.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -