Search Results (453)

Background/Objectives: The present exploratory study evaluates the feasibility and psychological effects of a structured Qigong intervention implemented in an Italian university setting. Qigong is a traditional Chinese mind–body practice combining gentle movements, breathwork, and mindful attention, aimed at enhancing mind–body integration and interoceptive awareness. Methods: A total of 332 undergraduate students voluntarily enrolled in a 12-week Qigong program. The intervention was based on Neidan Qigong and integrated both static and dynamic exercises. Psychological functioning was assessed through several self-report measures evaluating a range of constructs, including mindfulness (FFMQ), interoceptive ability (MAIA), perceived stress (PSS), depression, anxiety, and stress (BDI; DASS-21; STAI Y), emotion regulation (DERS), alexithymia (TAS), and sleep quality (PSQI). Results: A total of 114 students completed the intervention. The protocol was well received by participants and demonstrated high feasibility in the academic context, with good attendance rates and overall engagement. Preliminary findings indicate consistent improvements across several psychological domains. Conclusions: The results suggest that Qigong may be associated with improvements in mental health and well-being in young adults and may represent a promising, low-cost intervention. The findings should be interpreted as preliminary. Further research using controlled and methodologically rigorous designs is needed to assess the stability of these effects over time, incorporate physiological measures, and clarify the specific therapeutic contribution of spontaneous movement within Qigong practice. Full article

Background: Inadequate water intake is prevalent among Chinese college students, a group at a critical stage for establishing lifelong health habits. However, nationwide data on their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding water intake remain scarce. This study aims to describe regional variations in water-related KAP among undergraduates across seven major geographical regions of China, providing evidence for developing targeted health promotion strategies. Methods: A cross-sectional survey employed multistage stratified convenience sampling to recruit undergraduate students (N = 3161) from one university in each of China’s seven regions. Participants completed a KAP questionnaire. Data analysis utilized chi-square tests with Bonferroni correction, reporting effect sizes and confidence intervals. Results: A total of 3161 valid responses were obtained (response rate: 98.3%). Students in South China demonstrated the lowest awareness of regular water intake (52.0%) but the highest awareness of daily recommended water intake (32.9%). South China and Northeast China exhibited weaker recognition of water’s importance (65.6% and 94.0%, respectively) and the lowest prevalence of “thirst-driven” drinking behavior (21.7% and 32.4%, respectively). Conclusions: The knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) status regarding water consumption among Chinese university students is concerning and exhibits significant regional disparities. Key issues include knowledge gaps, disconnect between attitudes and behaviors, and deeply ingrained unscientific drinking habits. Analysis based on KAP theory indicates that future health promotion strategies must move beyond mere knowledge dissemination and adopt region-specific, multilevel comprehensive interventions. Full article

Little attention has been paid to whether an instructor’s hand-pointing gestures or use of a mouse-guided arrow can mitigate the attentional loss caused by an instructor’s happy facial expressions or can enhance the social benefits of these expressions in instructional videos. The goal of the present study is to determine whether social cues in an instructional video affect learning processes and outcomes. The participants were 57 female students from a university. We employed a 2 × 2 mixed experimental design. The instructor’s facial expression was a within-subject variable, while the type of pointing cue was a between-subject variable. Students who had the smiling instructor rather than the bored instructor gave higher ratings of the perceived positive emotion of the instructor, felt more positive emotion, and had more motivation to learn. Eye-tracking technology showed that students who learned with the smiling instructor spent more time looking at the content on the slides than those who learned with a bored instructor. Students who learned with the smiling instructor scored higher on a learning outcome post-test than those who learned with the bored instructor. Among female Chinese students, this pattern is consistent with the five steps posited by the positivity principle, which concludes that people learn better from instructors who exhibit positive social cues. Pointing with a human hand was not superior to pointing with an arrow, suggesting that in this case hand-pointing was not a strong social cue and did not moderate the effects of facial expression. Given the exclusively female sample, future research should examine whether these effects generalize across genders. Full article

This study investigates the role of Agreeableness as a personality trait in promoting psychological well-being, with a specific focus on the potential mediating mechanism of social support, and how this pathway is influenced by family’s income. 3206 college students from China’s universities were recruited from Internet, randomly. Subjects were demanded to complete the Agreeableness Subscale of Chinese Big Five Inventory Brief version (CBF-PI-B), the Chinese Campbell Index of Well-Being (Campbell IWB), the Chinese Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS) and demographic variables. The results, analyzed using a moderated mediation procedure, confirmed that perceived social support mediates the relationship between Agreeableness and subjective well-being. Furthermore, family yearly income was found to significantly moderate the first stage of this mediation pathway. Specifically, the positive associative effect of Agreeableness on perceived social support was stronger for individuals with lower annual family income. This result suggests that, for those with fewer economic resources, a prosocial and agreeable disposition is a particularly critical asset for building the social support networks that subsequently enhance well-being. The findings highlight the complex interplay between personality and socioeconomic context, indicating that social support serves as a healthy coping mechanism, the utility of which is conditionally shaped by an individual’s financial circumstances. Full article

In university campus design, the relationship between spatial elements and students’ sense of belonging has attracted growing interest. However, existing research tends to examine isolated space types rather than the integrated psychological experience of the campus as a whole. To holistically understand how campus space influences belonging, it is essential to investigate how—and to what extent—campus spatial satisfaction shapes students’ sense of belonging. The prevalent semi-enclosed management model of most Chinese university campuses offers a distinct context for examining how satisfaction with functional spaces affects this sense of belonging. This study investigates the relationship between students’ satisfaction with functional spaces and their sense of campus belonging through a multidimensional evaluation framework and comparative quantitative analysis. The findings demonstrate that (1) campus belonging is influenced not by the simple accumulation of satisfaction with individual space types but by four underlying behavioral dimensions—diversity of extended activities, residential comfort, learning convenience, and transportation comfort—which collectively explain approximately 50% of the variance in belonging; (2) the overall campus spatial layout significantly moderates the satisfaction–belonging relationship, with integrated residential-activity configurations promoting spontaneous use and strengthening belonging; and (3) among personal attributes, behavioral factors such as internet usage and physical activity patterns exhibit stronger effects than demographic variables. These results highlight the importance of a holistic, behavior-oriented approach to campus planning to enhance students’ psychological adaptation and sense of belonging. Full article

Positive eating behaviors may be linked to improved health outcomes, but reliable assessment tools are scarce. This study aims to translate the Positive Eating Scale (PES) into Chinese (PES-C), culturally adapt it, and examine its psychometric properties and its relationship with psychological symptoms among Chinese college students. A two-stage cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2024 to April 2025. A total of 800 valid questionnaires were collected in Stage 1 and 1882 in Stage 2. PES-C showed good structural validity (CFI = 0.991, RMSEA = 0.067) and high internal agreement (Cronbach α = 0.963), with measurement invariance established across gender and ethnicity. Correlation analysis showed that PES-C score was significantly negatively correlated with depression (PHQ-9, r = −0.24) and anxiety (GAD-7, r = −0.22), positively correlated with the frequency of vegetable consumption (r = 0.13–0.18), and negatively correlated with beverage consumption (r = −0.01–−0.17). These findings indicate that positive eating attitudes help improve psychological symptoms and may also affect food choices. PES-C is a dependable and effective tool for assessing the eating behaviors of Chinese university students, offering both theoretical and practical support for campus nutrition and mental health promotion programs. Full article

Critical thinking, regarded as an indispensable high-order thinking for pre-service teachers, is of great significance in effective teaching and the cultivation of students’ critical thinking. Given that it has been confirmed by previous studies that the development of pre-service teachers’ critical thinking can be promoted by microteaching, a “Practice-Feedback-Journal” microteaching model was innovatively constructed in this study, aiming to cultivate the critical thinking of pre-service teachers. To investigate the impact of this model, 41 participants from a Chinese normal university were selected for a 12-week microteaching intervention experiment. Subsequently, content analysis of their online reflective journals was conducted using the Nvivo 20 software, based on the critical thinking framework. The findings suggest that the model has the potential to enhance Chinese pre-service teachers’ critical thinking. Evidence indicates that reflective feedback and case-based teaching strategies appear supportive, while cooperative learning also emerged as a promising approach due to its dual simulation of both student and teacher perspectives. As a small-scale exploratory study, this research offers preliminary insights and potential avenues for cultivating higher-order thinking in teacher education. Full article

The teacher–student relationship is often more strongly associated with learning outcomes than the family relationship during emerging adulthood, primarily through self-efficacy. However, most of these findings are based on offline contexts, where teachers interact with students face-to-face and families remain relatively distant. Online learning may involve different dynamics, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when families became more engaged and teacher–student interactions were digitally mediated. These shifts may also reshape the traditionally blurred boundaries between parental and teacher roles in China, where teachers are often regarded as quasi-parental figures. Therefore, it is necessary to re-examine and compare the relative contributions of family and teacher–student relationships to online learning outcomes. Data were collected from 1793 university students (Mage = 21.28, SD = 2.26; 50.08% male) across 32 provinces in China. Structural equation modeling with bootstrapping was used to test mediation and compare direct and indirect effects. The results showed that (a) both family and teacher–student relationships were positively associated with online learning outcomes via self-efficacy, and (b) although total effects were similar, the teacher–student relationship exhibited a stronger indirect effect. These findings suggest that family relationships primarily offer emotional and environmental support, maintaining background stability, whereas teacher–student relationships foster the cognitive–motivational processes underlying autonomous learning. They may play complementary roles in online learning within the Chinese higher education, where schools retain instructional authority even in digital environments and families continue to act as educational mediators. Full article

Background: Reward expectation is an important motivation for aggression. However, despite substantial progress in behavioral studies related to reward expectation in aggression, the neural basis underlying this process remains unclear. Methods: To investigate the brain correlates of aggressive reward expectation, we developed the Harm–Gain Task (HGT). In this task, participants were informed that they could gain money by causing harm to another person and were instructed to evaluate their satisfaction with the anticipated monetary reward. Additionally, we designed a questionnaire to measure participants’ moral disengagement concerning aggressive decision-making in the HGT. Thirty-four healthy Chinese university students completed the HGT while in the scanner, and their functional images were acquired using a 3.0-T Siemens Tim Trio scanner. Data from two participants were excluded from the analysis due to excessive head motion. Finally, data from 32 participants (15 males, M_age = 19.97 years, SD_age = 2.07 years) were included in the analyses. Results: Findings show that during the reward expectation phase of the HGT, (1) relative to the baseline condition, the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and middle cingulate cortex (MCC) were significantly activated. Conversely, activation in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), bilateral inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and bilateral lateral temporal cortex (LTC) was attenuated. (2) As the monetary amount raised, activation in the OFC and ACC significantly increased, while activation in the DLPFC, IPL, and LTC significantly decreased. (3) As the monetary amount raised, the heightened activation in the OFC and ACC was significantly correlated with participants’ aggressive behavior and moral disengagement scores. Conclusions: The results provide preliminary evidence regarding neural correlates in aggressive reward expectation, promoting further exploration of the cognitive neural mechanisms underlying aggression. Full article

Parental psychological control has emerged as a significant risk factor for mental health challenges in young adults. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between parental psychological control and depression, with a specific focus on the chain mediating role of self-compassion and emotion regulation difficulties among Chinese university students. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 363 university students (aged 17–24, 43.3% males, 56.7% females), who completed measures of parental psychological control, emotion regulation difficulties, self-compassion and depression. Findings revealed a significant positive relationship between parental psychological control and depression. Both self-compassion and emotion regulation difficulties independently mediated this association. Furthermore, the chain mediation of self-compassion and emotion regulation difficulties was significant, indicating that parental psychological control was linked with increased depression through decreased self-compassion and increased emotion regulation difficulties. This study sheds light on the significance of minimizing parental psychological control and cultivating a positive family atmosphere to alleviate depression. Parental psychological control has been identified as a potential risk factor for depression, hindering the development of self-compassion, increasing emotional regulation difficulties, with the diminished self-compassion also aggravating emotion regulation difficulties. Despite the cross-sectional design limiting causal inferences, our findings still highlight potential targets for interventions aimed at reducing depression. Full article

Rapid urbanization and widening urban–rural disparities have contributed to decreasing youth engagement with rural development in China. As traditional outreach initiatives struggle to attract young people’s attention, immersive digital technologies have emerged as promising tools for strengthening connections to rural environments. This study explores how immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences shape university students’ behavioral intentions toward rural engagement. Using a cognitive–affective–behavioral (CAB) framework, an immersive VR experiment was conducted with 209 Chinese undergraduates using a panoramic rural video. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) validated a serial mediation model linking perceived sensory dimensions, restorative experiences (RE), and place identity (PI) to rural visit intention (RVI) and environmentally responsible behavioral intention (ERBI). The results show that VR significantly enhances RE and PI, with PI serving as the stronger mediator, particularly for students with limited rural exposure. Multigroup analysis further revealed demographic heterogeneity: women demonstrated stronger RE–PI pathways, while urban and short-term rural residents showed greater sensitivity to VR-induced presence. Overall, the findings indicate that immersive VR can reduce urban–rural psychological distance and strengthen youth engagement. The study demonstrates how digital immersive tools may support targeted education and policy interventions aimed at promoting sustainable rural development. Full article

To address the issue of “studying agriculture but not engaging in agricultural work” in Chinese agricultural universities, this study developed a practical teaching quality framework based on the CIPP model. The framework includes four dimensions: goal identity, resource support, process experience, and ability and emotional gain. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 433 students majoring in agricultural economics and management. The study combined structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explore how practical teaching quality influences behavioral intention to serve “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers”. The findings are as follows: (1) All four dimensions significantly positively influence behavioral intention, but the pathways differ. Process experience has the strongest direct effect (β = 0.51). Resource support (β = 0.125) and ability-emotional gain (β = 0.155) are partially mediated by student satisfaction, while goal identity is completely indirectly driven through satisfaction. (2) Three configurations for high behavioral intention are identified: the all-dimensional driven type (coverage 52.8%), the emotion-experience driven type (coverage 7.5%), and the experience-ability compensation type (coverage 12.5%), with an overall consistency of 93.46%; (3) The study confirms the applicability of the CIPP model and customer satisfaction theory in agricultural education. It reveals a multiple transmission mechanism of “quality–satisfaction–behavioral intention”. The study provides a theoretical basis and practical paradigm for constructing a precision practical teaching system and strengthening talent support for rural revitalization. Full article

Why do individuals, when facing institutional injustice, direct their anger toward peers rather than powerful actors? The existing literature typically explains displaced aggression through emotional arousal or power asymmetries. However, we argue that interpretive meaning within specific institutional contexts plays a more decisive role in shaping aggressive behavior. Drawing on a triadic framework of structural stimulus, narrative interpretation, and behavioral response, we conducted a scenario-based survey of 1109 Chinese university students across five institutions. The results show that perceived institutional inequality significantly increases displaced aggression (β = 0.388, p < 0.001), but not upward aggression (β = 0.091, p = 0.061). Two mediating mechanisms, perceived cost of aggression and inequality justification, account for 15.3% and 12.4% of the total effect, respectively. Moreover, pro-authoritarian attitude significantly amplifies the effect of perceived inequality on displaced aggression (interaction β = 0.224, p < 0.001). In addition, we find a counterfactual result that females show 0.248 units more displaced aggression than males under perceived inequality. These findings highlight how individuals internalize inequality as meaningful and actionable, even in constrained political settings. This study contributes a narrative-based theoretical framework for understanding misdirected aggression under institutional inequality. Full article

Background: Cultivating core literacy in physical education (PE) is increasingly recognized as crucial for talent development in higher education. Although diverse assessment tools exist for various literacies, none specifically evaluate the core literacy of the PE discipline among Chinese university students. This study aimed to develop and validate a scale for assessing this core literacy. Methods: An initial item pool was developed through a comprehensive literature review and in-depth expert interviews. Following three rounds of Delphi expert consultation (n = 15) and a pilot test, five items exhibiting insufficient discriminative power or conceptual redundancy were removed, yielding the final Chinese University Students’ Physical Education Core Literacy Assessment Scale. The scale was administered to 1008 university students. Its reliability and validity were examined through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: The finalized scale contains 43 items across three dimensions. Model fit indices were excellent: χ²/df of 1.252, RMSEA of 0.016, CFI of 0.934, TLI of 0.992. Conclusion: The newly developed scale proves to be a valid and reliable instrument for measuring core PE literacy among Chinese university students. Full article

In this study, we examined the interrelations between motivation and self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies in the context of online English language instruction among Chinese university students. Data were collected from 1100 first-year undergraduates enrolled in an online College English course. Canonical correlation analysis revealed significant multivariate associations between motivational constructs and SRL strategies. Cluster analysis further identified two distinct learner profiles, Engaged Strategic Learners and Disengaged Learners, demonstrating differences in motivation, SRL use, and online learning experiences. Thematic analysis of open-ended responses offered additional insights into students’ perceived challenges and instructional needs. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how motivational and SRL characteristics influence learners’ engagement and outcomes in online English learning environments. Full article