Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p> Objective This study uses a longitudinal tracking design to investigate physical exercise, mental health, psychological resilience, and school adaptation among college students. It explores the correlations among these four variables, and examines their longitudinal predictive relationships to understand how physical exercise influences college students' mental health. Method A four-month longitudinal follow-up survey was conducted among 2,177 undergraduate students at Nanning University. The study utilized the Physical Activity Rating Scale (PARS-3), Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), Adolescent Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and College Student School Adaptation Scale (CCSAS). Descriptive statistics and intergroup difference analyses were performed with SPSS and Pearson correlation analyses. AMOS 24.0 was used to analyze the longitudinal predictive relationship between physical exercise and mental health Results Physical exercise, mental health, psychological resilience, and school adaptation were all significantly correlated with each other ( <italic>p</italic> < 0.01). A unidirectional predictive relationship was observed between physical exercise and mental health. Physical exercise significantly and positively predicted psychological resilience and school adaptation. Psychological resilience significantly and positively predicted school adaptation. School adaptation significantly and positively predicted mental health. Conclusion Physical exercise is an antecedent variable of mental health. It can enhance an individual’s psychological resilience and improve their school adaptation level, which in turn positively impacts on mental health. The research findings provide a theoretical basis for optimizing design of university physical education programs and implementing mental health education practices. </p>