Much evidence has indicated that adherence to the 24 h movement guidelines (physical activity, screen time and sleep) is associated with physical health, while little is known about the adherence to the 24 h movement guidelines and self-reported physical fitness in adolescents. This study, therefore, aims to explore the association between the 24 h movement guidelines (in isolation or combination) and self-reported physical fitness in a sample of Chinese adolescents in an age range of 10–17. Methods: A convenient sample of 3807 children and adolescents from 12 schools was adopted in the present study. A questionnaire based on the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children was used to assess physical activity and screen time, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Scale was utilized to measure sleep duration. The International Fitness Scale was used to assess physical fitness in study participants. Ordinal logistic regression was performed to estimate the association between adherence to the 24 h movement guidelines and self-reported physical fitness. Results: Of all study participants, 0.9% of them met the 24 h movement guidelines, and meeting the guidelines was significantly associated with higher levels of self-reported physical fitness. The analysis for the association between specific combinations of 24 h movement guidelines and self-reported physical fitness underscored the importance of meeting the physical activity recommendations. Conclusion: Adherence to more recommendations contained in the 24 h movement guidelines was associated with higher self-reported physical fitness, especially cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength. Our study also stressed the importance of promoting moderate to vigorous physical activity in children and adolescents. Further works should focus on the association of a recommendation of adherence with other health indicators and replicate this study on larger samples among Chinese children and adolescents. Additionally, longitudinal or interventional studies that include more socio-demographic factors are needed to explore the association between 24 h movement guidelines and self-reported physical fitness, and the 24 h movement guidelines also should be promoted on a large scale in Chinese children and adolescents. Moreover, it is also needed to gain better insights into the directionality of the relationship between compliance with 24 h movement guidelines and self-reported physical fitness, as well as the mechanisms underlying the associations in Chinese children and adolescents.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between physical fitness (PF) level and Chinese middle-school students’ perceived well-being, motivation, and enjoyment. Method: In this study, the participants were randomly selected from 16 Beijing-based middle schools in China. In addition to the collection of demographic data (i.e., gender, age, and parental education), tools including the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, the Behavioural Regulation in Sport Questionnaire, and the Physical Activity Children’s Enjoyment Scale were employed for collecting data on other variables of well-being, motivation, and enjoyment, respectively. Results: A total of 1678 adolescents (M age = 14.66 years, SD = 1.80) participated in this study. According to the results, significant gender differences could be observed in the PF categories of mean age, BMI, vital capacity, 50-m sprint, muscular strength, and flexibility (all p < 0.05). In contrast, there was no significant gender difference in the levels of well-being, motivation, and enjoyment observed, with similar scores for boys and girls (p > 0.05). Indeed, adolescents with low BMI scores and high levels of vital capacity, muscular strength, and flexibility showed better well-being, motivation, and enjoyment. However, no association was observed between timed sit-ups and pull-ups and well-being, motivation, and enjoyment. Conclusions: This study produced preliminary findings on the relationship between PF and Chinese adolescents’ perceived well-being, motivation, and enjoyment. To improve the health of adolescents, it is necessary to adopt prospective and experimental research designs for advocating for fitness education in school-based programs in future research.

Aim: An increasing body of evidence has evidenced that physical activity is negatively associated with depression and anxiety in adolescents, although the associations between various modalities of PA with depression and anxiety have yet to be effectively explored. This study aimed to investigate the associations between sports participation and depression and anxiety among a sample of Chinese adolescents. Methods: 2,374 adolescents from eight schools were invited to participate in this survey, of whom 1,714 adolescents from grades 7, 8, 10 and 11 were included for final analysis. Depressive symptoms and anxiety disorder were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire−9 (PHQ-9), as well as the Generalized Anxiety Disorder−7 (GAD-7), respectively. Sport participation was assessed using a single question. Additionally, sociodemographic factors were assessed using a self-reported questionnaire. Ordinal logistic regression was used to estimate sport participation's associations with depressive symptoms and anxiety disorders separately, having controlled for all sociodemographic covariates. Results: Among all study participants, those with less participation in sport-related activities had a greater likelihood of reporting depressive symptoms (Odd ratio [OR] for never = 2.07; OR for 1–3 times per month = 1.77; OR for 1–2 times per week = 1.77), as well as anxiety disorders (OR for never = 1.61; OR for 1–3 times per month = 1.69; OR for 1–2 times per week = 1.38). Conclusion: Encouraging adolescents to engage in more sports participation would provide an effective and feasible approach for mental health promotion. Despite this study having found promising evidence, the research findings should be replicated using more improved research with an enhanced study design. Future researchers are encouraged to design and implement sports participation interventions aimed at promoting mental health among adolescents, while future China-based studies are encouraged to replicate or negate our study findings.

Background: This study aims to explore the relationship and influencing pathways between mental health indicators and athlete burnout among Chinese competitive athletes.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 501 elite Chinese athletes from several national and provincial sports teams. Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) was used to measure anxiety, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ- 9) was used to measure depression, Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire (APSQ) was used to measure perceived stress, and Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) was used to measure burnout. The results were derived using reliability testing, descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and structural equation modeling.Results: The following results were obtained: (a) the clinical detection rates of anxiety and depression in this sample were within normal levels, but the detection rate of perceived stress (78.64%) was relatively high; (b) all three mental health indicators were significantly correlated with athlete burnout; (c) in our model, there was a direct path with APSQ directly contributing to 69.95% of the variance in athlete burnout, and two indirect paths with APSQ exerting an indirect effect through depression or/and anxiety accounting for 30.05% of the variance.Conclusion: The findings revealed the psychological characteristics of Chinese competitive athletes and the direct and indirect effects of the APSQ on burnout. Future research should actively promote the international development and application of burnout assessment tools, conduct more comprehensive studies on athlete mental health monitoring, and intensify efforts in athlete education, treatment, and support services, as well as strategies for athlete’s coping stress.