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World J Psychiatry. Oct 19, 2026; 16(10): 121800
Published online Oct 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.121800
Published online Oct 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.121800
Pakistani students’ physical activity and psychological well-being: A structural equation modeling approach
Rizwan A Laar, College of Physical Education, Hubei Normal University, Huangshi 435002, Hubei Province, China
He-Xuan Xiang, Bijie Vocational and Technical College, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756, Jeonbuk, South Korea
Qi Zhang, School of Physical Education, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, Hebei Province, China
Rong-Rong Liu, College of Foreign Studies, Hubei Normal University, Huangshi 435002, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Laar RA performed the majority of the writing, prepared the figures and tables; Xiang HX, Zhang Q, and Liu RR designed the outline and coordinated the writing of the paper.
AI contribution statement: AI tools Grammarly (Premium) (Grammarly, Inc., San Francisco, CA, United States, https://app.grammarly.com) were used solely for linguistic refinement and formatting assistance. No AI tool was involved in the generation of research data, interpretation of results, or formulation of conclusions. All AI-generated outputs were critically reviewed and revised by the authors.
Supported by Youth Fund Project for Humanities and Social Sciences Research of the Ministry of Education of China, No. 25YJC890054.
Institutional review board statement: This study adhered to the ethical guidelines outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol of this study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pakistan. The ethical approval number was No. FAPT/PS/897.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent for publication and participation was obtained from all participants before participating in any study procedure. The participants were assured that their personal identities will not be disclosed in subsequent research reports.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The data generated and/or analyzed in the current study are not publicly available because ethics approval was granted on the basis that only researchers involved in the survey could access the de-identified data. The minimum retention period was five years from publication. Supporting documents are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding authors.
Corresponding author: Qi Zhang, Lecturer, School of Physical Education, Yanshan University, No. 438 Hebei Street, Qinhuangdao 066004, Hebei Province, China. qzhang0115@ysu.edu.cn
Received: April 7, 2026
Revised: May 12, 2026
Accepted: July 10, 2026
Published online: October 19, 2026
Processing time: 191 Days and 7.6 Hours
Revised: May 12, 2026
Accepted: July 10, 2026
Published online: October 19, 2026
Processing time: 191 Days and 7.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study had two main goals. First, it aimed to directly investigate how physical activity (PA) affects levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Second, it sought to test a detailed theoretical model to understand how PA leads to better psychological well-being.