Physical exercise and crisis coping in college students: evidence from a chain mediation model of resilience and emotion regulation

Psychological crisis coping is an important component of college students' mental health adaptation, yet the psychological mechanisms through which physical exercise is associated with crisis coping remain insufficiently understood. Clarifying these mechanisms may help identify practical pathways for university-based mental health promotion. The present study examined the association between physical exercise and crisis coping among college students, with particular attention to the mediating roles of resilience and emotion regulation strategies, including cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. A convenience sampling method was employed, and data were collected via the Wenjuanxing platform from first- to third-year undergraduates, yielding 1,026 valid responses (60.04% male; mean age = 20.28 years). Structural equation modeling and bootstrap analysis were used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results showed that physical exercise was positively associated with crisis coping both directly and indirectly through multiple mediating pathways. Resilience emerged as a key mediator, and cognitive reappraisal was further associated with the indirect pathway. A significant chain mediation pathway-physical exercise → resilience → cognitive reappraisal → crisis coping-was also identified. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the psychological processes linking physical exercise to crisis coping and provide practical implications for integrating physical exercise into university mental health interventions.