The Impact of Physical Exercise on Depression in College Students: The Chain Mediation Effect of Psychological Resilience and Sleep Problems

<b>Objective</b>: To explore the impact of physical exercise on depression among college students and the chain mediation effect of psychological resilience and sleep problems and to verify the effectiveness of exercise science in improving psychological state. <b>Methods</b>: A survey was conducted among 3589 college students nationwide, using the Physical Activity Rating Scale, the Simplified Version of the Psychological Resilience Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the Simplified Chinese Version of the Self-Rating Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale (depression dimension). Correlation analysis was performed using SPSS 27.0, and the chain mediation effect was tested using the PROCESS 4.3 plugin. <b>Results</b>: (1) Physical exercise can significantly negatively predict depression, and the direct predictive effect of physical exercise on college students' depressive state is significant; (2) Physical exercise can significantly positively predict psychological resilience and negatively predict sleep problems; psychological resilience significantly negatively predicts sleep problems and depression; sleep problems can significantly positively predict depression; (3) Psychological resilience and sleep problems play a significant mediating role between physical exercise and college students' depression. Among the three mediating paths, physical exercise → psychological resilience → depression (path 1), physical exercise → sleep problems → depression (path 2), and physical exercise → psychological resilience → sleep problems → depression (path 3) account for 48.67%, 14.09%, and 6.46% of the total effect, respectively. <b>Conclusions</b>: Physical exercise is significantly negatively correlated with college students' depression. Physical exercise not only exerts a simple mediating effect on depression through psychological resilience and sleep problems but also influences college students' depression through the chain mediation effect of psychological resilience and sleep problems.