# The relationship between physical exercise and learning engagement among chinese college students: the chain mediating roles of cognitive flexibility and psychological resilience

## TL;DR

This study shows that physical exercise helps Chinese college students engage more in learning by improving their cognitive flexibility and psychological resilience.

## Contribution

The study introduces a sequential mediation model showing how cognitive flexibility and psychological resilience link physical exercise to learning engagement.

## Key findings

- Physical exercise positively predicts cognitive flexibility and psychological resilience.
- Cognitive flexibility and psychological resilience sequentially mediate the effect of exercise on learning engagement.
- Fostering psychological resources alongside physical activity may enhance student learning engagement.

## Abstract

This study tested a sequential mediation model examining whether cognitive flexibility and psychological resilience explain the relationship between physical exercise and learning engagement among Chinese college students.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 670 Chinese college student. Participants completed the Physical Activity Rating Scale, Learning Engagement Scale, Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, and Psychological Resilience Scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 and the PROCESS macro (Version 4.2) for serial mediation analysis with 5,000 bootstrap samples.

Regression analyses revealed that physical exercise positively predicted cognitive flexibility (β = 0.507, p < 0.001) and psychological resilience (β = 0.381, p < 0.001). Cognitive flexibility further predicted psychological resilience (β = 0.336, p < 0.001) and learning engagement (β = 0.370, p < 0.001). Crucially, the mediation analysis confirmed a significant direct effect of exercise on learning engagement (β = 0.143, 95% CI = [0.068, 0.218]). Three specific indirect effects were significant: through cognitive flexibility (β = 0.188, 95% CI [0.141, 0.234]), through psychological resilience (β = 0.086, 95% CI [0.050, 0.126]), and serially through both (β = 0.038, 95% CI [0.020, 0.059]).

This cross-sectional study reveals a significant positive association between physical exercise and learning engagement among Chinese college students. The findings support a model in which cognitive flexibility and psychological resilience act as sequential mediators in this relationship. These results suggest that fostering psychological resources alongside physical activity may be a relevant consideration for promoting student engagement in learning. Future longitudinal and intervention studies are needed to establish causality.