Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
University students are increasingly exposed to academic, social and career-related stressors, and identifying mechanisms that promote their capacity to adapt to adversity has become a key priority in higher education. Ultimate frisbee, a cooperative team sport that emphasises fair play and communication, may provide a favourable context for developing mental resilience. This cross-sectional study examined how perceived team cohesion is related to mental resilience among vocational college students enrolled in ultimate frisbee courses, and whether basic psychological need satisfaction in exercise and intrinsic motivation operate as parallel mediators. A total of 390 students from five vocational colleges in Guangxi, China, completed validated Chinese versions of the Group Environment Questionnaire (team cohesion), the Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale, the intrinsic motivation subscale of the BREQ-3, and the 10-item Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (SmartPLS 4.0) was used to estimate a parallel mediation model. The model explained 21.8% of the variance in basic psychological need satisfaction, 43.9% in intrinsic motivation and 46.4% in mental resilience. Team cohesion showed a significant direct positive effect on mental resilience ( β = 0.279) and was positively associated with basic psychological need satisfaction ( β = 0.467) and intrinsic motivation ( β = 0.663). Both mediators, in turn, positively predicted mental resilience ( β = 0.227 and β = 0.320, respectively). Bootstrap analyses indicated that basic psychological need satisfaction and intrinsic motivation each exerted significant partial mediating effects between team cohesion and mental resilience. These findings highlight the psychological benefits of highly cohesive ultimate frisbee course(s) in vocational colleges and suggest that fostering supportive, need-satisfying team climates may be an effective pathway to enhancing students’ mental resilience.
Chen et al. (Fri,) studied this question.