Randomized trial demonstrates that combining music listening with sports games boosts mental energy and reduces stress in secondary students, highlighting a feasible mental health intervention.
Chinese secondary school students suffer from increasing academic stress and mental health problems, while evidence for synergistic effects of music and sports games on positive psychological traits remains insufficient. This study examined the effects of an 8-week music listening and sports games intervention on athletic mental energy (AME) and mental toughness among Chinese secondary school students. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 200 students, who were block-randomized into four groups ( n = 50): music-only, sports games-only, combined music-sports games, and control (traditional exercise). Outcome assessors and statisticians were blinded. Outcome measures included the Chinese Athletic Mental Energy Scale (C-AMES), Mental Toughness Questionnaire-48 (MTQ-48), blood oxygen saturation (SpO₂), and serum cortisol. Results: The combined and sports games groups showed significant AME elevation (both p < 0.001), with the combined group yielding the largest improvement. All experimental groups exhibited increased mental toughness ( p < 0.05). SpO₂ was significantly elevated in the combined and sports games groups (both p < 0.001), while serum cortisol was reduced in all experimental groups ( p < 0.001), with the lowest level in the combined group. Gender showed no significant moderating effect. Conclusion: The combined music and sports games intervention is superior to single interventions in enhancing AME and mental toughness, and effectively regulates SpO₂ and serum cortisol. It provides a low-cost, feasible strategy to improve mental health among Chinese secondary school students.
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Wu et al. (2026) studied this question.
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