Exercise intention, positive body image, and mental health and well-being among elite young adult athletes in china: a network analysis incorporating gender differences

Abstract

Abstract Elite young adult athletes’ mental health is a critical global sports governance priority, yet existing research is limited by linear models, Western-centric samples, and insufficient exploration of gender-specific structural patterns among psychological constructs. We applied Gaussian and Bayesian network analyses to 444 Chinese elite young adult athletes aged 18–25 years to investigate interconnections between exercise intention, positive body image, subjective well-being, and psychological distress, along with the potential gender differences in the relationships. Results showed no variation in global network strength ( p  = 0.38) but significant structural disparities ( p  = 0.04), with happiness as the most central node across both genders. Body appreciation was negatively associated with depression in females but not in males, and this gender difference was significant ( p  = 0.03). In males, the Bayesian network retained an indicative probabilistic configuration connecting exercise intention, happiness, and body appreciation, whereas this pattern was absent in females. No probabilistic directional connections from exercise intention or body appreciation to depression or anxiety were retained in either gender. This study provides a system-level understanding of gender-specific psychological network patterns in Chinese elite young adult athletes, with findings that may serve as hypotheses for future longitudinal and applied studies and inform gender-sensitive mental health considerations in sport.