The Effect of Physical Activity on Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Subjective Well-Being and the Moderating Role of Gender

PURPOSE: To explore the role of subjective well-being in the relationship between physical activity (PA) and anxiety and whether the model is moderated by gender. METHODS: We conducted a questionnaire survey by selecting 1153 college students from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, and data were analyzed using SPSS, Process, and AMOS. RESULTS: 1) Correlation analysis showed that PA, subjective well-being, and anxiety were significantly related. Also, we found subjective well-being to differ significantly on the demographic variable registered residence. 2) Subjective well-being played a mediating role between PA and anxiety. 3) Gender played a moderating role in the direct effect of PA on anxiety, shown by the significant difference in the path coefficients between the male and female models (male: β = −0.03, p > 0.05, female: β = 0.10, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Subjective well-being mediated the relationship between PA and anxiety, and gender moderated the mediating model. These findings highlight the importance of PA in reducing anxiety and increasing subjective well-being in the context of an epidemic.