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Objective The acceleration of population aging has become a major bottleneck constraining improvements in the quality of life of middle-aged and older adults. Enhancing subjective wellbeing is a critical entry point for overcoming this constraint and addressing this developmental challenge. Insufficient physical exercise is associated with subjective wellbeing and physical health among middle-aged and older people. This study aimed to explore the effect of physical exercise on the subjective wellbeing of middle-aged and older adults and examine the chain mediating role of self-esteem and psychological resilience. Methods A total of 601 middle-aged and older people were surveyed using physical exercise scale, self-esteem scale, psychological resilience scale, and subjective wellbeing scale. The data were analyzed by reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, common method bias test, correlation analysis, structural equation model, and Bootstrap method to test the mediating effect. Results Physical exercise had a significant positive correlation on the subjective wellbeing of middle-aged and older people ( β = 0.229, p 0.001). Self-esteem ( β = 0.505, p 0.001, 95%CI = 0.099, 0.238) and psychological resilience ( β = 0.271, p 0.001, 95%CI = 0.020, 0.093) played an independent mediating role in this effect. Self-esteem and psychological resilience ( β = 0.531, p 0.001, 95%CI = 0.042, 0.118) played a chain-mediating role in the effect of physical exercise on subjective wellbeing in middle-aged and older people. Conclusion Using a chain mediation model, this study explored the relationship between physical exercise and subjective wellbeing among middle-aged and older people, as well as the mediating roles of self-esteem and psychological resilience. The results indicate that physical exercise is significantly and positively associated with subjective wellbeing and that self-esteem and psychological resilience exert a significant chain mediating effect in this relationship. This study not only confirms the important role of physical exercise in enhancing subjective wellbeing but also deepens understanding of the underlying mechanisms, thereby providing a theoretical basis for promoting the physical and mental health of middle-aged and older people.
Chen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.