The impact of physical exercise on college students’ mental health through emotion regulation and self-efficacy

College students are in a crucial phase of psychological development and personality shaping, with mental health challenges like anxiety and depression becoming more prevalent. Physical exercise has been extensively examined in connection with mental health since it is an inexpensive and easily promoted activity. Research on the mechanisms connecting physical exercise, emotion regulation, self-efficacy, and mental health remains limited. Specifically, the chain mediation effects of self-efficacy and emotion regulation in the link between physical exercise and mental health remain underexplored. 913 college students participated in this survey, which used quantitative techniques to examine the relationship between physical exercise and mental health. The findings showed that physical exercise was significantly positively associated with mental health, with a secondary impact via the chain mediation of self-efficacy and emotion regulation. These results offer important new information on the connection between exercise and mental health for both theoretical comprehension and therapeutic techniques.