Physical activity, self-esteem, and mental health in students from ethnic minorities attending colleges in China

We investigated the relationships among physical activity, self-esteem, and mental health in students at colleges in China who are from ethnic minorities. We administered the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) to 849 participants. The results showed that total physical activity and moderate intensity activity had significant negative correlations with the respective SCL-90-R factor scores and significant positive correlations with self-esteem. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that study stress was an independent risk factor for mental health, whereas high levels of physical activity and self-esteem were preventive factors. The results suggest that promoting physical activity in college students from ethnic minorities has the potential to increase self-esteem and decrease the risk of mental disorders.