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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Dec 19, 2025; 15(12): 109558
Published online Dec 19, 2025. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i12.109558
Published online Dec 19, 2025. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i12.109558
Targeted exercise interventions on stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders in PhD students
Fei-Long Wu, Qun Yang, Yin-Chuan Jin, Department of Military Medical Psychology, Air Force Medical University, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China
Juan Jiang, Martial Arts and Dance College, Shenyang Sport University, Shenyang 110034, Liaoning Province, China
Jing Yu, College of Sports Science, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, Liaoning Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Fei-Long Wu and Qun Yang.
Author contributions: Wu FL wrote the original draft, designed the study, and acquired funding; Wu FL, Jiang J, and Yu J were responsible for developing the methodology and participated in the formal analysis and investigation; Wu FL, Yang Q, Jiang J, Yu J, and Jin YC participated in the review and editing of subsequent versions; Wu FL and Yang Q were equally responsible for providing scientific research resources, managing the research team, and revising the manuscript for important intellectual content, they contributed equally to this article, they are the co-corresponding authors of this manuscript; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
Supported by the Key Think Tank Research Project of the Shaanxi Federation of Social Sciences, No. 2023ZD1080.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Martial Arts and Dance College, Shenyang Sport University, approval No. 20241012.
Informed consent statement: All participants provided written informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Fei-Long Wu, PhD, PsyD, Post Doctoral Researcher, Professor, Department of Military Medical Psychology, Air Force Medical University, No. 169 Changle West Road, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China. 201607025@xaau.edu.cn
Received: May 15, 2025
Revised: June 17, 2025
Accepted: October 14, 2025
Published online: December 19, 2025
Processing time: 196 Days and 21 Hours
Revised: June 17, 2025
Accepted: October 14, 2025
Published online: December 19, 2025
Processing time: 196 Days and 21 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study compared the effectiveness of targeted exercise and Tai Chi in alleviating stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders among doctoral students. While Tai Chi positively impacted mental health, targeted exercise was a more effective and sustainable intervention. This study addressed a gap in previous research that predominantly focused on the effects of a single exercise. Our study provided a new perspective and preliminary evidence for future mental health intervention strategies. Consequently, this study proposed more effective sports intervention strategies, thereby enriching the theoretical foundation of mental health interventions