A variable- and person-centered study of physical exercise volume and psychological flourishing among Chinese college students: serial indirect associations of self-compassion and body appreciation and latent profile analysis

IntroductionPromoting psychological flourishing among college students is a central goal of positive mental health research. Guided by an embodied positive psychology perspective, this cross-sectional study examined the association between physical exercise volume and psychological flourishing among Chinese college students, focusing on indirect associations through self-compassion and body appreciation and on heterogeneity in positive self-body relationship profiles.MethodsA total of 2,401 students from 15 universities in Sichuan Province, China, completed measures of physical exercise volume, self-compassion, body appreciation, and psychological flourishing. Structural equation modeling was used to examine direct, specific indirect, and serial indirect associations. Latent profile analysis was used to identify configurations of self-compassion dimensions and body appreciation, and R3STEP and BCH analyses were used to examine associations with physical exercise volume and differences in psychological flourishing.ResultsPhysical exercise volume was positively associated with psychological flourishing. Significant indirect associations were observed via self-compassion, body appreciation, and the serial association through self-compassion and body appreciation. The indirect association via self-compassion was larger than that via body appreciation. Four profiles were identified: low self-compassion-low body appreciation, high self-compassion-high body appreciation, mindfulness-dominant moderate, and low-mindfulness moderate. Higher physical exercise volume was associated with lower odds of the low self-compassion-low body appreciation profile and higher odds of the high self-compassion-high body appreciation profile relative to the low-mindfulness moderate profile. Psychological flourishing was highest in the high self-compassion-high body appreciation profile, lowest in the low self-compassion-low body appreciation profile, and intermediate and statistically comparable in the two moderate profiles.ConclusionIntegrating average-level indirect associations with person-centered self-body configurations provides a more nuanced account of the relationship between physical exercise and psychological flourishing among college students. Given the cross-sectional design, the findings should be interpreted as theoretically meaningful associations rather than causal mechanisms.