Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise dependence on the psychological health of Chinese college students.
Subjects and methods: A total of 1601 college students from three universities in Hunan, China, were selected as research subjects. Several measurement scales, including the Exercise Addiction Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the Subjective Well-being Scale, were used to survey the psychological health problem of these students and to analyze the effects of exercise dependence on their psychological health.
Results: Exercise dependence, based on the structural equation model analysis, can positively influence state anxiety (P<0.05), depression (P<0.05), and subjective well-being (P<0.05) of Chinese students. By contrast, exercise dependence negatively influences students' self-satisfaction (P<0.05), social behavior (P<0.05), and vigor (P<0.05).
Conclusions: Exercise dependence adversely affects the psychological health of college students. Further research using multi-dimensional exercise addiction scales should be conducted to identify all the negative effects of exercise addiction factors on psychological health.