The Relationship Between Physical Exercise and Aggressive Behavior Among College Students: The Mediating Roles of Life Satisfaction, Meaning in Life, and Depression

Feiyang Liu,1 Huicun Duan,2 Yongqing Hou,3 Bohua Zhang,3 Jinlong Wu,1 Liya Guo1 1School of Physical Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 2Research Center of Psychology and Social Development, Southwest University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 3Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Liya Guo, School of Physical Education, Southwest University, Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China, Email 974634029@qq.comPurpose: The deleterious impact of aggressive behavior on college students necessitates urgent mitigation. To explore the influencing factors and underlying mechanisms of aggressive behaviors among college students, this study aims to validate the mediating roles of life satisfaction, meaning in life, and depression by examining the relationship between physical exercise and aggressive behaviors among college students.Methods: The Physical Activity Rating Scale-3 (PARS-3), Satisfaction with Life Scale, Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Chinese Version DASS-21 and 12-item Perception of Aggression Scale (POAS) were tested on 1596 college students from three universities in western China, and SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8.3 were used for analysis.Results: Physical exercise exhibited a significant negative correlation with both aggressive behaviors and depression among college students (r = – 0.57, P < 0.001; r = – 0.36, P < 0.001), as well as a significant positive correlation with life satisfaction and meaning in life (r = 0.45, P < 0.001; r = 0.27, P < 0.001). Regarding the impact of physical exercise on aggressive behaviors among college students, the mediating effects of life satisfaction, meaning in life, and depression were significant. The respective effect sizes were − 0.11, − 0.08, and − 0.03. The chain mediation effect of life satisfaction through depression was also found to be significant, with an effect s