Study of 79,000 Chinese university students links exercise type to mental health

A study of 79,011 university and college students in Jilin Province, China, has found that the type of exercise people do may be linked to different mental health outcomes. Published in the journal General Psychiatry, the observational study included only students who already exercised, comparing five categories of physical activity against six mental health measures.

Team ball sports such as basketball, football and volleyball showed the most favourable overall pattern across the six outcomes: depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and nonsuicidal self-injury. They were followed by individual anaerobic activities such as sprinting and weightlifting, then two-player racket sports such as badminton and tennis. Individual aerobic activities, including walking and yoga, showed less favourable patterns, though the differences were generally modest — the researchers said this does not mean walking, yoga and other low-intensity activities are harmful.

How often and how long students exercised also mattered. For several activities, the most favourable patterns for depression and anxiety appeared at around three to four sessions a week, with session durations of about 90 to 120 minutes also linked to better outcomes. Team ball sports followed a different pattern: more frequent participation was linked to steadily lower odds across all six outcomes.

The researchers suggested the social side of team sports — companionship, support and shared goals alongside the physical activity — may help explain the pattern, though the study did not directly test this. Because the design was cross-sectional, comparing different students at one point in time rather than following the same people over time, it cannot show that team sports directly improve mental health; students with better mental health may simply be more likely to choose these sports.

The authors said the findings show exercise is not one-size-fits-all, and that guidance for university students could consider not just how much they exercise, but also which activities they choose and whether those activities offer social connection.