The relationship between exercise commitment and psychological detachment from academic activities among Chinese college students: the chain mediating roles of self-identity and sense of belonging.

BACKGROUND

Mental health concerns among college students have received increasing attention in recent years. Psychological detachment-defined as mentally disengaging from academic-related thoughts during non-study time-is typically conceptualized as a recovery-related experience; however, its role in academic contexts may be context-dependent.

OBJECTIVE

This study examines the association between exercise commitment and psychological detachment and explores the roles of self-identity and sense of belonging within a multi-level framework.

METHODS

A stratified multi-site sampling strategy combined with classroom-based recruitment was used to survey 850 Chinese college students (aged 17-25 years; 48.82% male). Measures included the Exercise Commitment Scale, the psychological detachment subscale of the Recovery Experience Questionnaire (REQ), the Self-Identity Scale, and the Sense of Belonging Inventory. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlations and Hayes' PROCESS macro (Model 6) with bias-corrected bootstrap resampling (5,000 samples).

RESULTS

Exercise commitment was negatively associated with psychological detachment (r = -0.501, p < 0.001). Indirect associations via self-identity (37.02%), sense of belonging (14.19%), and their sequential association (13.84%) were statistically significant. Alternative model specifications produced comparable results, suggesting that the proposed mediation structure is not uniquely supported.

CONCLUSION

Higher exercise commitment was associated with lower psychological detachment in academic contexts. The functional meaning of this association remains context-dependent. These findings should be interpreted as theoretically informative rather than conclusive, given the cross-sectional, self-report design. No causal inferences can be drawn.