The Relationship Between Parental Exercise Support And Depressed Mood Of Freshmen

The number of freshmen has increased in recent years with the expansion of university enrolment,which means that the problem of depressed mood among them may become more acute.The new school,new life,new relationships and other new things mean that freshmen need to adapt and change.In the process,they are more likely to be depressed.Therefore,it is necessary to carry out relevant research in the current situation.Based on the characteristics of freshmen and previous research results on exercise behaviour and body self-esteem,this study explores the influence mechanism of parental exercise support on freshmen’s depressed mood from the perspective of parental support and exercise.And tests whether exercise behaviour and body self-esteem have a chain mediating effect between parental exercise support and depression.This study used the Parental Exercise Support Scale,the Depression Self-Rating Scale,the Physical Activity Rating Scale and the Physical Self-Esteem Scale as instruments to conduct a questionnaire survey on 780 university freshmen.A total of 766 valid questionnaires were collected.The software SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 25.0 were mainly used to analyse the data,and the following results were obtained:(1)University freshmen scored higher on parental exercise support;however,they scored lower on exercise behaviour and physical self-esteem,and higher on depressed mood.(2)Significant differences existed between university freshmen of different genders on the four variables of parental exercise support(p < 0.05),exercise behavior(p < 0.001),physical self-esteem(p < 0.01)and depressed mood(p < 0.001).Significant differences existed between university freshmen of different residence on the three variables of parental exercise support(p<0.001),exercise behavior(p<0.01)and depressed mood(p<0.05),but not on the variable of body self-esteem(p>0.05).(3)There were significant two-by-two correlations between the four variables of parental exercise support,exercise behaviour,body self-esteem and depressed mood.Parental exercise support was positively correlated with exercise behavior(r=0.399,p<0.01)and physical self-esteem(r=0.297,p<0.01)and negatively correlated with depression(r=-0.296,p<0.01).Exercise behaviour was positively correlated with physical self-esteem(r=0.628,p<0.01)and negatively correlated with depression(r=-0.531,p<0.01).Physical self-esteem was negatively associated with depression(r=-0.446,p<0.01).(4)Exercise behaviour and physical self-esteem had significant separate and chained mediating effects between parental exercise support and depressed mood.Based on the above findings,the conclusions are as follows.Parental exercise support is an important factor in reducing depressed mood.Exercise behavior and physical self-esteem were mediating variables between parental exercise support and depressive mood.Elevated parental exercise support can directly contribute to a decrease in depressed mood.Parental exercise support can indirectly reduce depressed mood by increasing either exercise behaviour or physical self-esteem.Parental exercise support can indirectly reduce depression through a chain mediating effect of increased exercise behaviour and physical self-esteem.According to the conclusion,the following suggestions are put forward.(1)In terms of motivation,parents should often encourage freshmen to participate in exercise and praise their exercise behavior.(2)In terms of conditional support,parents should enhance their awareness of exercising together with their children,accompany their children to exercise and watch their children’s sports games when there is an opportunity.(3)In terms of instrumental support,considering the fact that freshmen are not economically independent,parents should take the initiative to buy necessary sports clothes and equipment for them,encourage them to participate in sports associations,and provide training expenses for them if they are willing to participate in sports training.(4)In terms of information support,parents themselves should often participate in exercise and competition,create a good exercise atmosphere in the family,and often discuss exercise-related topics with freshmen.