Background: As a crucial juncture in students’ educational journey, junior high school presents challenges that profoundly influence well-being and academic performance. Physical activity emerges as a pivotal factor shaping the holistic development of junior high school students. Beyond its recognized impact on physical and mental health, engaging in regular physical activity proves effective in augmenting students’ adaptability to school life. Despite its importance, the mechanisms through which physical activity influences school adaptation in junior high school students remain understudied in academic research.Objective: In exploring the potential mechanisms, this study aims to validate the mediating roles of resilience and coping styles by examining the association between physical activity and school adaptation among junior high school students.Methods: This study employed cross-sectional survey approach among junior high school students in China. Through the convenience sampling, 1,488 participants aged from 12 to 16 years old (Average age = 13.59, SD = 1.017) from two Junior high schools in Changsha City, Hunan Province were recruited to complete the Physical Activity Scale, School Adaptation Questionnaire for Junior High School Students, Resilience Scale for Adolescents, and Simple Coping Styles Questionnaire. For data analysis, the SPSS 26.0 and Amos 26.0 were used for statistical processing.Results: The results showed that physical activity exhibited a significant correlation with school adaptation (r = 0.656, p < 0.001). Resilience, positive coping style and negative coping style played partial mediating roles between physical activity and school adaptation, with the effect size were 0.229, 0.170, 0.171. The chain mediation effect size of resilience and positive coping style was 0.042, while the chain mediation effect size of resilience and negative coping style was 0.050.Conclusion: Physical activity positively predicts Chinese junior high school students’ school adaptation through resilience and coping styles, suggesting that junior high school students should engage in regular physical activity, so as to improve their resilience and positive coping styles, mitigating negative coping styles, thus promoting their school adaptation.

Objective: Loneliness is a prevalent issue among rural left-behind children in China, adversely affecting their physical and mental well-being, as well as social stability. However, the influencing factors and potential mechanisms of loneliness have not yet been fully clarified. This study aims to validate the mediating roles of social anxiety and psychological resilience by examining the association between affective/cognitive empathy and loneliness among Chinese rural left-behind children. Methods: This cross-sectional survey employed a convenience sampling approach among Chinese left-behind children. A total of 540 participants aged 6 to 11 years old (Average age = 8.54, SD = 1.682) from 3 primary schools in Hunan Province completed the Children’s Loneliness Scale, Social Anxiety Scale for Children, The Chinese version of Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and Basic Empathy Scale. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 27.0, Origin 2020, and Mplus 8.3. Results: Pearson correlation analyses suggested strong significant correlations among affective/cognitive empathy, loneliness, social anxiety, and psychological resilience. Path analyses indicated that the chain mediation effect size of social anxiety and psychological resilience was 0.016 between affective empathy and loneliness, while the chain mediation effect size between cognitive empathy and loneliness was − 0.011. Conclusion: Affective empathy positively correlates with loneliness among Chinese left-behind children through social anxiety and resilience, while cognitive empathy negatively correlates with loneliness. These findings suggest that left-behind children should enhance their cognitive empathy and psychological resilience to reduce their social anxiety, thereby mitigating their loneliness.

Background: In China, sleep disorders have become a public health concern. This study aimed to model the relationship between adverse events and sleep quality, as well as the effect of group step aerobics on sleep quality. Methods: The modeling was built on surveying 2760 16–19-year-old adolescents. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to evaluate sleep quality, and the Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Checklist (ASLEC) was used to evaluate adverse events. Adolescents with sleep disorders (PSQI ≥ 8) were randomized into the control (n = 26) and exercise (n = 26) groups. The exercise group participated in 12-week step aerobics, and the 300 min weekly volume is compliant with the WHO physical activity guidelines. Results: The double Poisson distribution was chosen to fit the data. ASLEC had a nonlinear relationship with the PSQI. Participants in the exercise group slept better (p < 0.05) from the eighth week until the end of the study. A random adolescent, therefore, has a 92.5% probability of experiencing improved sleep quality after 12 weeks of step aerobics. Conclusions: Intervention should be implemented before adverse events accumulate. An active lifestyle should be a preparedness strategy for increasing the resilience of adolescent mental health in the face of adversity.

Purpose: To explore the impact of physical activity on academic burnout among rural left-behind children. Methods: In total, 195 rural left-behind children of Furen Primary School in Yongzhou City by combining stratified and cluster sampling methods. Participants completed the Physical Activity Scale, the Academic Burnout Scale, the Loneliness Scale, and the General Self-efficacy Scale. Results: (1) Empirical evidence indicates alarming rates of academic burnout among rural left-behind children in China. (2) Physical activity was significantly associated with reduced academic burnout. Our serial mediation model showed that physical activity had a significant direct effect on academic burnout ( β = −0.231, 95% CI = [−0.308, −0.154]) in addition to significant chain-mediated effects on academic burnout via loneliness and general self-efficacy ( β = −0.051, 95% CI = [−0.093, −0.018]); the more exercise participation, the lower the academic burnout among rural left-behind children. (3) These findings suggest that physical activity is an important interventional target when aiming to reduce academic burnout. Conclusion: Physical activity can affect rural left-behind children’ academic burnout both directly and through mediating effects. Loneliness and general self-efficacy partially mediate the impact of physical activity and academic burnout.

This study aims to examine the effects of three intervention approaches—Latin dance intervention alone, mindfulness intervention alone, and a combined mindfulness–Latin dance intervention—on social anxiety among left-behind adolescents in rural China. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 84 participants(age = 10.90 ± 3.05) assigned to four groups: a Latin dance-only group, a mindfulness-only group, a combined Latin dance and mindfulness group, and a control group. The intervention lasted 12 weeks. Social anxiety was assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and at a 6-week follow-up. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Significant reductions in social anxiety were observed over time in all three intervention groups (F(3, 80) = 15.42, p < 0.001), with no significant change in the control group (p > 0.05). The combined intervention group showed the greatest improvement, and treatment effects were maintained at follow-up. Combined intervention produced the most substantial and sustained reductions in social anxiety, whereas Latin dance led to rapid but less durable improvements and mindfulness yielded modest but stable effects. These findings suggest that integrating body-based and cognitive-emotional approaches may represent a superior strategy for enhancing both the effectiveness and maintenance of social anxiety interventions in left-behind adolescents.