The Effect of Outdoor Sports Education on University Students' Employment Anxiety: The Mediating role of Fear of Failure and Self-Management

The Effect of Outdoor Sports Education on University Students' Employment Anxiety: The Mediating role of Fear of Failure and Self-Management | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The Effect of Outdoor Sports Education on University Students' Employment Anxiety: The Mediating role of Fear of Failure and Self-Management Hailong Chang, Chao Chen, Danyang Wang, Chuang Yan, Lei Wang, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8764437/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 02 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in BMC Psychology → Version 1 posted 13 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background University students are at a critical stage of professional socialization, where intense competition in the job market exposes them to considerable employment challenges and pressure. These factors often lead to negative expectations regarding future career prospects and contribute to the development of employment anxiety. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between outdoor sports education and employment anxiety using a combined longitudinal and cross-sectional design. Specifically, the research examined both the long-term effects and immediate associations of this relationship, as well as the potential mediating roles of self-management and fear of failure. Methods A total of eight classes (39 students per class) were selected and randomly allocated to either an intervention group (four classes) or a control group (four classes). The intervention group participated in a structured outdoor sports education program, while the control group engaged in conventional physical activities (e.g., basketball, aerobics). Data were analyzed using independent-samples t-tests, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and mediation analysis. Mediation effects were examined through Baron and Kenny’s (1986) causal steps approach, supplemented by 5,000 bootstrap iterations to assess the statistical significance of indirect effects. Results Following the intervention, students in the intervention group showed significantly lower levels of anxiety in the domains of Personal Ability, Career Replaceability, and Social Relations compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Conversely, they exhibited significantly higher scores across all four dimensions of self-management: Behavior Management, Emotion Management, Time Management, and Cognition Management (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the intervention group reported significantly lower scores on three dimensions of fear of failure—Fear of Experiencing Embarrassment, Fear of Devaluation by Others, and Fear of Others Losing Interest (p < 0.05). Regarding effect decomposition, outdoor sports education accounted for 28.1% of the total effect, reflecting a significant direct predictive role on employment anxiety. The indirect effect mediated by self-management contributed 26.3%, while that mediated by fear of failure explained 33.3% of the total effect. Additionally, the chain-mediated pathway involving both self-management and fear of failure accounted for 12.3% of the total effect. Conclusions Outdoor sports education plays a significant role in mitigating employment anxiety and fostering self-management competencies among university students, while also reducing their fear of failure. Both self-management and fear of failure function as independent mediating factors in the link between outdoor sports education and employment anxiety. Furthermore, these two variables operate sequentially in a chain-mediation pathway, jointly accounting for a meaningful proportion of the overall effect. Outdoor sports education Employment anxiety Mediating role Self-management Fear of failure Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Introduction The expansion of higher education has led to a consistent increase in university enrollments, resulting in a growing number of graduates annually. In China, for instance, the graduating cohort of 2025 is projected to reach a historic high of 12.22 million. While the overall employment landscape remains relatively stable, graduates encounter distinct challenges during their job search. On one hand, emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, new energy, and biomedicine exhibit strong demand for specialized talent. On the other hand, employment opportunities in several traditional sectors have diminished. Compounding this situation is a pronounced skills mismatch, as many graduates lack the practical competencies required to meet employers' immediate needs [ 1 ]. According to the China National Mental Health Development Report, employment anxiety has emerged as a significant mental health concern among university graduates [ 2 ]. University students are at a pivotal stage of professional socialization, where intense labor market competition exposes them to substantial employment pressure and challenges, often fostering pessimistic outlooks regarding future career prospects and contributing to the onset of employment anxiety [ 3 ]. Such anxiety not only undermines the psychological well-being of students but also impairs the effectiveness of institutional career services and may adversely influence their eventual employment outcomes [ 4 ]. Employment anxiety is defined as a state of emotional tension and unease experienced by college students when they perceive themselves as unlikely to attain their desired employment outcomes [ 5 ]. Empirical studies indicate that employment anxiety represents a prevalent psychological issue in this population, with many students reporting significant levels of anxiety characterized by heightened tension and other negative psychological symptoms. While mild anxiety may serve an adaptive function by mobilizing personal resources and enhancing motivation to confront career-related challenges [ 6 ], excessive or chronic anxiety—beyond a critical threshold—can undermine social functioning, impede effective problem-solving, disrupt daily activities, and potentially escalate into clinical anxiety disorders or maladaptive coping behaviors, thereby increasing the risk of academic and occupational setbacks [ 7 ]. Given its direct implications for students’ mental well-being, career decision-making, and employment prospects, it is imperative to investigate the underlying mechanisms of employment anxiety and formulate evidence-based intervention strategies. Fear of failure is conceptualized as a negative affective response that occurs when individuals anticipate being unable to attain a desired goal in achievement-related contexts [ 8 ]. In such situations, individuals typically engage in a cognitive appraisal of both task difficulty and their own capabilities. If they perceive themselves as competent to succeed, positive emotions such as satisfaction and excitement are likely to follow [ 9 ]. Conversely, when they judge their ability as insufficient or anticipate a high probability of failure, the task is perceived as threatening, evoking anxiety and apprehension. In the contemporary context—characterized by both intense competition and abundant opportunities—university students are particularly susceptible to heightened fear of failure [ 10 ]. This fear can undermine psychological resilience, elevate general anxiety levels, and, when severe, contribute to negative emotional states including anxiety and depression [ 11 ]. Consequently, fear of failure represents a key psychological factor that not only exacerbates anxiety among students but also amplifies employment-related distress. Self-management encompasses a set of regulatory processes through which individuals engage in self-awareness, self-evaluation, self-discipline, and self-motivation to promote personal development [ 12 ]. Grounded in agency theory, which posits that individuals possess the capacity for self-regulation and proactive adaptation [ 13 ], self-management aligns with educational philosophies that emphasize learner autonomy. For instance, the Chinese educator Tao Xingzhi advocated for the cultivation of self-management competencies, arguing that education should foster self-disciplined, adaptable individuals capable of contributing to societal progress [ 14 ]. From a human development perspective, nurturing self-management skills is regarded as integral to holistic personal growth and essential for meeting the developmental needs of university students [ 15 ]. Outdoor sports education is an experiential pedagogical approach that uses outdoor physical activities as a medium to integrate multidisciplinary knowledge and skills, involving various stakeholders with the aim of enhancing participants' physical and psychological well-being [ 16 ]. Its curriculum should incorporate multi-level and cross-disciplinary content, extending beyond technical outdoor skills to include elements of natural science, cultural literacy, social responsibility, and teamwork, thereby enriching its educational value [ 17 ]. Through deliberately designed, challenging, and goal-oriented activities, outdoor sports education fosters constructive psychological attributes and proactive life attitudes. Empirical evidence suggests that its distinctive pedagogical format can effectively mitigate negative emotional states such as anxiety and depression among participants [ 18 ]. In summary, against a backdrop of evolving labor markets and mounting employment pressures, university students face escalating levels of employment anxiety. Cultivating a resilient psychological disposition during academic training and maintaining well-being throughout the transition to work are therefore imperative. Fear of failure constitutes a major contributor to anxiety and is closely tied to students' mental health, underscoring the need to foster a constructive orientation toward setbacks. Self-management, which comprises self-organization and self-control capacities, enables greater cognitive flexibility in career adaptation. Individuals with well-developed self-management skills are better able to direct attention toward positive cues, form adaptive attributions, and experience more favorable affect in employment contexts [ 19 ]. Notably, outdoor sports education has been shown to promote positive psychological traits in students. The challenging nature of its activities is conceptually linked to fear of failure, while its varied instructional settings and demands call for proficient self-management [ 20 ]. Whether outdoor sports education can meaningfully alleviate employment anxiety, and whether fear of failure and self-management serve as salient mediators in this relationship, remain empirical questions warranting investigation within the proposed theoretical framework. Methods Design This study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board of Tangshan Normal University (Approval No. TSTC2025-8-10) and was prospectively registered in the Tangshan Normal University Trial Registry (Registration No. TSTC20258P10). Employing a combined longitudinal and cross-sectional design, the research aimed to examine both the immediate associations and the sustained effects of outdoor sports education on employment anxiety. During the longitudinal phase, an extended experimental intervention was conducted to systematically assess the overall impact of outdoor sports education on university students' employment anxiety, self-management, and fear of failure. Based on these empirical findings, a theoretical mediation model was developed, positing self-management and fear of failure as key mediators to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions through which outdoor sports education influences employment anxiety. Participants and procedure The study recruited third-year undergraduate students enrolled in compulsory physical education courses, who regularly attended these classes as part of the standard university curriculum, thereby ensuring consistent participation throughout the experiment. Prior to commencement, potential participants underwent screening for injuries, mental health concerns, or other conditions that might preclude safe involvement; those deemed ineligible were excluded. To achieve adequate statistical power for mediation analysis, eight classes—each comprising 39 students—were selected and randomly allocated to either the intervention group (four classes) or the control group (four classes). The intervention protocol was collaboratively developed and finalized by faculty members in the College of Physical Education. Participants assigned to the intervention group engaged in an outdoor sports education program, which included both individual challenge activities (e.g., rock climbing) and team-based cooperative tasks (e.g., orienteering). In comparison, the control group participated in conventional physical activities such as basketball and aerobics. The intervention spanned 16 weeks, with one 90-minute session conducted weekly. To assess changes in key variables, validated questionnaires measuring employment anxiety, self-management, and fear of failure were administered one week prior to the intervention and one week following its conclusion. Measures The Future Employment Anxiety Scale, developed by Chen Wang et al. [ 20 ], was constructed through qualitative interviews and iterative item generation. Its correlated four-factor structure—comprising Personal Ability, Knowledge Application, Career Replaceability, and Social Relations—was established and validated via exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Responses are recorded on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree), with higher total scores reflecting greater levels of employment anxiety. In the present study, the scale demonstrated high internal consistency, with Cronbach’s α coefficients of 0.965, 0.971, 0.955, and 0.965 for the respective subscales. The Self-Management Questionnaire compiled by Zhang Guoli et al. [ 21 ] was administered to assess self-regulation capacities. The instrument contains 42 items distributed across four dimensions: behavior management, emotion management, time management, and cognition management. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (completely inconsistent) to 5 (completely consistent), with 12 items reverse-scored. Higher total scores indicate stronger self-management competencies. In this sample, the full scale exhibited excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.941). Subscale reliability coefficients were as follows: behavior management = 0.837, emotion management = 0.797, cognition management = 0.816, and time management = 0.826. Fear of failure was measured using the Chinese adaptation of the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory, originally developed by Conroy et al. and adapted by Zhuo Guoxiong and Lu Junhong [ 22 ]. The scale consists of 18 items (e.g., “When I fail, I blame myself for lacking talent”) organized into four dimensions: fear of experiencing embarrassment, fear of devaluation by others, fear of others losing interest, and fear of disappointing important others. Responses are given on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with higher total scores representing stronger fear of failure. The scale showed good internal consistency in this study (Cronbach’s α = 0.79). Construct validity was supported by a significant Bartlett’s test of sphericity (p < 0.001), a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of 0.750, and robust factor loadings ranging from 0.80 to 0.91 across all items. Statistical analysis All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS Statistics (Version 26.0, IBM Corp). To investigate the mediating roles of fear of failure and self-management in the relationship between outdoor sports education and employment anxiety, Baron and Kenny’s three-step mediation procedure was employed. In addition to testing the direct relationships via three regression equations, the bootstrapping method with 5,000 resamples was applied to evaluate the reliability of the indirect effects. Bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed for the indirect effects; an effect was considered statistically significant if its 95% CI did not include zero. Independent-samples t-tests were used to compare the intervention and control groups on the three primary variables: fear of failure, self-management, and employment anxiety. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated to examine bivariate associations among the study variables, with significance levels set at p < 0.05 and p < 0.01. Missing data were addressed through multiple imputation, which involved generating several complete datasets, analyzing each independently, and then pooling the estimates to yield final results while minimizing bias. Result Descriptive statistics of outcome of participation Table 1 presents the comparative analysis of key variables across demographic groups. Significant gender differences were identified in employment anxiety and fear of failure (p 0.05). Additionally, scores on employment anxiety, fear of failure, and self-management did not differ significantly by age group or between the intervention and control groups prior to the intervention (all p > 0.05). Table 1 Descriptive statistics of outcome of participation Demographic Employment anxiety Self-management Fear of failure Gender Male self-management 3.28 ± 0.28 4.29±.037 Female 4.53 ± 0.39 3.32 ± 0.31 4.45 ± 0.55 P 0.05 0.05 > 0.05 > 0.05 Group Intervention group 4.30 ± 0.50 3.29 ± 0.29 4.38 ± 0.52 Control group 4.34 ± 0.34 3.21 ± 0.44 4.36 ± 0.36 P > 0.05 > 0.05 > 0.05 Differences in employment anxiety after the experiment As presented in Table 2 , students in the intervention group exhibited significantly lower scores than the control group on three dimensions of employment anxiety following the outdoor sports education program: Personal Ability, Career Replaceability, and Social Relations (p 0.05). Overall, participation in outdoor sports education was associated with a reduction in employment anxiety levels among students in the intervention group, suggesting that this educational model effectively alleviates employment anxiety and yields favorable intervention outcomes. Table 2 Differences in employment anxiety Intervention group(n = 157) Control group(n = 153) P Personal Ability 3.55 ± 0.37 3.93 ± 0.21 0.05 Career Replaceability 3.70 ± 0.31 4.19 ± 0.35 < 0.05 Social Relations 3.32 ± 0.24 3.79 ± 0.30 < 0.05 Differences in self-management after the experiment As shown in Table 3 , students who participated in the outdoor sports education program achieved significantly higher post-intervention scores across all four dimensions of self-management—Behavior Management, Emotion Management, Time Management, and Cognition Management—compared to their counterparts in the control group (p < 0.05). These results indicate that the outdoor sports education model effectively enhances self-management competencies among university students. Table 3 Differences in self-management after the experiment Intervention group(n = 157) Control group(n = 153) P Behavior management 3.95 ± 0.26 3.32 ± 0.43 < 0.05 Emotion managemen 4.27 ± 0.28 3.69 ± 0.35 < 0.05 Time management 4.08 ± 0.32 3.61 ± 0.30 < 0.05 Cognition management 4.03 ± 0.37 3.57 ± 0.37 < 0.05 Differences in fear of failure after the experiment As shown in Table 4 , students who completed the outdoor sports education program reported significantly lower scores on three dimensions of fear of failure—Fear of Experiencing Embarrassment, Fear of Devaluation by Others, and Fear of Others Losing Interest—relative to the control group (p 0.05). Overall, participation in outdoor sports education was associated with a reduction in fear of failure, supporting the model’s efficacy in mitigating this psychological construct among university students. Table 4 Differences in fear of failure after the experiment Intervention group(n = 157) Control group(n = 153) P Fear of experiencing embarrassment 3.32 ± 0.20 3.91 ± 0.21 < 0.05 Fear of devaluation by others 2.97 ± 0.31 3.58 ± 0.35 < 0.05 Fear of others losing interest 3.56 ± 0.25 4.13 ± 0.28 0.05 Common method bias test To mitigate and assess the potential common method bias arising from self-reported measures, this study implemented both procedural controls (e.g., reverse scoring on selected dimensions, anonymous responses) and statistical approaches. Harman's single-factor test was applied to analyze the data for common method bias. Exploratory factor analysis extracted more than one factor, with the first factor accounting for 29.85% of the total variance—below the critical threshold of 40%. Thus, common method bias in this study is considered to be within an acceptable range. Correlation snalysis among outdoor sports education, employment anxiety, self-management, and fear of failure Correlation analyses (Table 5 ) revealed several notable associations. Outdoor sports education correlated strongly with Personal Ability, Emotion Management, Cognition Management, and two fear-of-failure dimensions (Fear of Experiencing Embarrassment and Fear of Devaluation by Others). Employment anxiety was similarly associated with Behavior Management and Emotion Management from the self-management construct, and with the same two fear-of-failure dimensions. Furthermore, fear of failure was significantly correlated with all dimensions of both employment anxiety and self-management, displaying particularly high correlations with Knowledge Application and Behavior Management. Table 5 Correlations Among Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1.Outdoor Sports Education 1 2.Personal Ability 0.508* 1 3.Knowledge Application 0.323* 0.637* 1 4.Career Replaceability 0.398* 0.543* 0.487* 1 5.Social Relations 0.290 0.396* 0.463* 0.276 1 6.Behavior management 0.681** 0.618* 0.589** 0.387* 0.421* 1 7.Emotion management 0.519** 0.570* 0.636** 0.411* 0.398* 0.698** 1 8.Time management 0.386* 0.352* 0.578** 0.218 0.419* 0.701** 0.470* 1 9.Cognition management 0.473* 0.477* 0.499* 0.193 0.331* 0.560** 0.558* 0.532** 1 10.Fear of experiencing embarrassment -0.572** -0.351* -0.536** -0.336* -0.360* -0.523** -0.337* -0.463* -0.631** 1 11.Fear of devaluation by others -0.596** -0.471* -0.507** -0.387* -0.357* -0.560** -0.471* -0.581** -0.550** 0.535** 1 12.Fear of others losing interest -0.371* -0.510* -0.385* -0.510** -0.301* -0.480* -0.359* -0.373* -0.490* 0.761** 0.689** 1 13.Fear of disappointing important others -0.460* -0.462* -0.411* -0.343* -0.361* -0.526** -0.433* -0.298 -0.533** 0.566** 0.571** 0.613** 1 Note. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01 Structural model fit assessment A direct effect model was first tested, with outdoor sports education as the independent variable and employment anxiety as the dependent variable. The model showed acceptable fit indices: χ²/df = 6.18, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.91, RMSEA = 0.08, SRMR = 0.04. Results indicated that outdoor sports education was a significant positive predictor of employment anxiety. Subsequently, a chain mediation model was examined, incorporating fear of failure and self-management as mediators. This model also demonstrated good fit to the data: χ²/df = 5.91, CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.06, SRMR = 0.05. Path analysis revealed significant coefficients from outdoor sports education to both fear of failure and self-management, from both mediators to employment anxiety, and between fear of failure and self-management. The detailed path coefficients and the structural diagram of the chain mediation model are presented in Fig. 2 . To examine the mediating effects, bootstrap analyses with 5,000 resamples and bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were conducted. As summarized in Table 6 , the direct effect of outdoor sports education (OSE) on employment anxiety (EA) was significant (effect = − 0.16, 95% CI [–0.27, − 0.12]), accounting for 28.1% of the total effect. The indirect effect mediated by self-management (SM) was − 0.15 (95% CI [–0.23, − 0.10]), explaining 26.3% of the total effect. The indirect effect via fear of failure (FF) was − 0.19 (95% CI [–0.31, − 0.11]), contributing 33.3%. The chain-mediated effect through both SM and FF was − 0.07 (95% CI [–0.18, − 0.02]), representing 12.3% of the total effect. In summary, both SM and FF independently mediated the relationship between OSE and EA, and they also operated sequentially as a chain mediator, jointly explaining a substantial portion of the total effect. Table 6 Results of Bootstrap Analyses Mediating path Effect LLCI ULCI Proportion OSE→EA −0.16 −0.27 −0.12 28.1% OSE→SC→EA −0.15 −0.23 −0.10 26.3% OSE→FF→EA −0.19 −0.31 −0.11 33.3% OSE→SC→FF→EA −0.07 −0.18 −0.02 12.3% Total effect −0.57 −0.71 −0.39 Discussion Associations between outdoor sport education and employment anxiety University students navigate a critical life transition, facing multifaceted stressors including leaving home, establishing independence, assuming adult responsibilities, and managing academic demands. Research indicates that a substantial proportion of students report heightened perceived stress, whereby environmental demands are appraised as exceeding coping resources, often resulting in persistent negative emotions such as anxiety and depression [ 23 ]. Chronic psychological stress is not only closely linked to academic performance, campus involvement, and attrition rates but may also constitute a significant long-term risk to mental health [ 24 ]. The present study further reveals that university students commonly experience employment anxiety, along with challenges related to fear of failure and self-management, with female students reporting comparatively higher levels of anxiety and fear of failure. In this context, outdoor sports education emerges as an innovative intervention with demonstrated potential to alleviate employment anxiety and enhance psychological adaptation. Our findings indicate that outdoor sports education is directly associated with reduced employment anxiety and also operates indirectly through improvements in fear of failure and self-management, underscoring its distinctive educational value. This aligns with research suggesting that outdoor environments facilitate direct observation, experiential learning, and contextualized cognition, promoting attentional restoration, reducing mental fatigue, and fostering positive affect [ 25 ]. Regarding employment anxiety, outdoor sports not only provide a physical outlet for stress reduction but also leverage the restorative qualities of natural settings to regulate emotion and build psychological resilience. Goal-setting, overcoming challenges, and achieving success in outdoor activities can strengthen students’ self-efficacy, while the inherent uncertainty and variability of natural environments offer practical contexts for developing adaptive coping and an optimistic outlook [ 26 ]. Through such mechanisms, outdoor sports education enhances psychological resilience and self-efficacy, equipping students with a more positive mindset to navigate employment anxiety, fear of failure, and related concerns. Supporting this, students with positive psychological dispositions are more likely to employ problem-focused coping strategies, which are in turn associated with lower levels of employment anxiety [ 27 ]. In summary, outdoor sports education represents not merely a physical intervention but a multidimensional educational model that integrates psychological, behavioral, and environmental components. By enhancing self-management competence, modulating fear of failure, offering restorative natural exposure, and accumulating positive psychological resources, it serves as an effective means of mitigating employment anxiety among university students. The mediating role of self management in the association between outdoor sport education and employment anxiety In the context of today’s highly competitive labor market, employment anxiety has emerged as a prominent issue adversely affecting the mental health and career development of university students [ 28 ]. Through a systematic investigation of the relationships between outdoor sports education, self-management, and employment anxiety, this study identifies self-management capacity as a central mechanism and a key transformative pathway through which outdoor sports education confers psychological benefits. Self-management is defined as the ability to integrate and regulate personal resources across cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and temporal domains [ 29 ]. Findings indicate that outdoor sports education does not directly reduce employment anxiety; rather, it exerts a psychologically protective influence by substantially enhancing students’ self-management capabilities. This mechanism is consistent with the Conservation of Resources Theory, whereby outdoor sports education facilitates the accumulation and optimization of personal psychological resources—specifically self-management competencies—thereby improving students’ efficiency in mobilizing and allocating these resources under employment-related stress. The distinctive value of outdoor sports education resides in its structured, experiential approach to systematically developing self-management skills. At the behavioral level, goal-setting and task execution in outdoor activities help students establish coherent action sequences from planning to implementation [ 30 ]. In emotional management, navigating challenges in natural settings fosters emotional awareness and regulatory skills. Regarding time management, training in pacing and activity rhythm enhances the effective allocation of temporal resources [ 31 ]. In the cognitive domain, adapting to complex environmental demands strengthens cognitive flexibility and evaluative capacities. Together, these four dimensions constitute an integrated self-regulatory system that is critical for addressing employment-related challenges. Notably, the self-management competencies cultivated in outdoor settings demonstrate strong real-world transferability. Skills such as goal setting, emotion regulation, and time planning acquired in natural environments can be directly applied to self-management strategies during the job-search process [ 32 ]. This transfer elevates outdoor sports education beyond conventional physical exercise, positioning it as an effective pedagogical vehicle for fostering career adaptability. Educational practice further suggests that explicitly embedding self-management training within outdoor curricula, designing progressively challenging tasks, and providing timely behavioral feedback can optimize the psychological benefits of such programs [ 33 ]. In summary, outdoor sports education equips university students with essential psychological and behavioral resources to cope with employment pressure by systematically enhancing their self-management abilities. Self-management not only directly mitigates anxiety but also operates through multiple protective pathways. These findings imply that interventions aimed at reducing employment anxiety should extend beyond improving external labor-market conditions and actively promote the cultivation of intrinsic self-management competencies through experiential learning approaches. The mediating role of fear of failure in the association between outdoor sport education and employment anxiety Fear of failure is conceptualized as a pattern of excessive concern among university students regarding potential negative evaluations, self-doubt, and career setbacks during the job-search process, predominantly reflected in two dimensions: fear of embarrassing experiences and fear of devaluation by others [ 34 ]. The present study identifies fear of failure as a significant mediator in the relationship between outdoor sports education and employment anxiety, functioning as a pivotal psychological factor in both the development and mitigation of such anxiety. Outdoor sports offer structured yet challenging scenarios that allow participants to engage in “simulated failure” within a contained and supportive setting. Through such graduated exposure, students’ sensitivity to failure is diminished, and their cognitive appraisal of setbacks is constructively reframed [ 35 ]. Consistent with this, our results show that students who underwent outdoor sports education scored significantly lower on the dimensions of fear of embarrassing experiences and fear of devaluation by others. In group-based outdoor activities, failure is reconceptualized not as a definitive judgment but as an integral part of the learning process. Observing peers’ responses to challenges helps students internalize a growth-oriented perspective, wherein failure is viewed as a normative and instructive phase of development, thereby attenuating catastrophic interpretations of setbacks [ 36 ]. Moreover, repeated experiences of overcoming outdoor challenges bolster participants’ self-efficacy, a sense of competence that can be transferred to employment-related contexts, empowering students to confront the uncertainties of the job market with increased resilience. The dynamic and unpredictable nature of outdoor environments parallels the volatility of contemporary labor markets, rendering coping strategies developed in such settings particularly transferable. Natural contexts furnish immediate and tangible feedback on action outcomes, enabling students to refine self-assessment skills and counteract fear-amplifying cognitive distortions. Furthermore, the multi-layered support system inherent in group outdoor activities—combining peer encouragement and instructor guidance—serves to buffer the psychological impact of failure experiences [ 37 ]. This study further reveals that self-management capacity moderates the association between fear of failure and employment anxiety. Students with higher self-management competencies demonstrate a greater ability to regulate the negative affective states elicited by fear of failure. Through effective time, behavior, and cognitive management, they are better equipped to contextualize and derive meaning from failure, thereby diminishing its distressing impact. Collectively, these findings position fear of failure as a critical psychological conduit through which outdoor sports education contributes to the reduction of employment anxiety. In summary, by facilitating controlled exposure to failure, fostering cognitive restructuring, and strengthening psychosocial support mechanisms, outdoor sports education effectively lowers university students’ fear of failure, which in turn mediates the alleviation of employment anxiety. The chain mediation role of self management and fear of failure in the associations between outdoor sport education and employment anxiety The findings of this study indicate that outdoor sports education mitigates employment anxiety not only through direct effects but also via two interrelated psychological pathways: an emotional regulation pathway mediated by fear of failure and a behavioral competency pathway mediated by self-management. Together, these mechanisms constitute an integrated intervention framework. As an emotional mediator, fear of failure operates principally through exposure-desensitization and cognitive restructuring processes [ 38 ]. This pathway underscores the foundational importance of emotional regulation in interventions. By engaging students in controlled, challenging outdoor scenarios, the program facilitates repeated exposure to “micro-failures” within a supportive context, thereby reducing fears of embarrassment and social devaluation [ 39 ]. Such structured experiences not only alleviate the affective weight associated with anticipated failure but also promote a reappraisal of failure as a constructive component of learning, disrupting the self-perpetuating cycle of failure and anxiety. Concurrently, self-management acts as a competency-based mediator, fostering the development of multidimensional self-regulatory skills. Outdoor sports education enhances students’ capabilities across four core domains: behavioral control, emotional regulation, time management, and cognitive flexibility. This holistic skill set enables students to approach job-search activities with greater organization, regulate emotional responses more effectively, allocate personal resources efficiently, and ultimately build resilience against employment-related stressors [ 40 ]. Importantly, the two pathways do not function in isolation but interact sequentially within a chain-mediation model. This sequential pattern reveals that competency development facilitates emotional regulation; specifically, heightened self-management capacity strengthens students’ ability to modulate fear of failure—a relationship corroborated by the significant negative correlation observed between cognitive management and fear of failure. These sequential dynamics imply that effective interventions should follow a progressive structure: behavioral competency development should precede and support the enhancement of emotional regulation, which subsequently contributes to anxiety reduction [ 41 ]. In summary, outdoor sports education reduces employment anxiety through a dual-pathway model comprising fear of failure reduction and self-management enhancement. While each pathway exerts independent effects, they also operate synergistically within a sequential mediation chain. This evidence suggests that interventions aimed at alleviating employment anxiety should transcend unilateral approaches focused exclusively on emotional or skill-based components. Instead, an integrated developmental model is recommended—one that systematically cultivates self-management competencies while concurrently attenuating fear of failure—to effectively mitigate employment anxiety among university students. Conclusion Outdoor sports education effectively reduces employment anxiety and enhances self-management competencies among university students, while also mitigating fear of failure. Both self-management and fear of failure function as independent mediators in the relationship between outdoor sports education and employment anxiety, and further operate sequentially through a chain-mediation pathway, jointly accounting for a substantial portion of the observed effect. These findings advocate for the adoption of an integrated developmental approach—one that concurrently strengthens self-management capacities and reduces fear of failure—as an effective strategy to alleviate employment anxiety in this population. Declarations Ethical approval The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. This study involving human participants was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Tang Shan Normal University (TSTC2025-8-10), and registered in TSTC(TSTC20258P10). Written informed consent was obtained from individual or guardian participants. Confidentiality was assured and questionnaires were submitted anonymously. Consent for publication Not applicable. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Funding This study was supported by the 2023–2024 Hebei Province Higher Education Teaching Reform Research and Practice Project (2023GJJG563). Author Contribution Hailong Chang was responsible for conceptualizing the research framework and drafting the manuscript; Chao Chen conducted literature review and contributed to the synthesis of background sections; Danyang Wang performed data analysis; and Chuang Yan and Feng Bao implemented the pedagogical experiment. Acknowledgements The authors of this study would like to appreciate all participants. Data Availability The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. References Peng R. The effect of upward social comparison on employment anxiety among university students: The chain mediating role of relative deprivation and fear of failure [J]. China J Health Psychol. 2023;31(9):1389–93. Chen W, Huang M, Zhao SY. The influence of employment social support on employment anxiety among university graduates: A moderated mediation model [J]. Chin J Special Educ, 2020, (5): 84–9. Achdut N, Refaeli T. Unemployment and psychological distress among young people during the COVID-19 pandemic: Psychological resources and risk factors [J]. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(19):7163. Linden M, Muschalla B, Olbrich D. The Job Anxiety Scale (JAS): The development of a new instrument for the assessment of workplace-related anxieties [J]. Z Für Arbeits- und Organ psychologie. 2008;52(3):126–34. Shi XJ, Wu SX. Effect of psychological capital on employment anxiety of university students: The mediating role of self-management [J]. China J Health Psychol. 2023;31(10):1558–63. Wang MH, Wang QL, Xu B. The influence of university students' time management disposition on career choice anxiety: The mediating role of career choice self-efficacy [J]. J Xinyang Normal Univ (Philosophy Social Sci Edition). 2021;41(4):100–6. Xing CJ, Zheng LG, Li YZ, et al. Influencing factors of university students' employment psychology: The mediating role of general self-efficacy [J]. China J Health Psychol. 2023;31(3):413–7. Conroy DE. Progress in the development of a multidimensional measure of fear of failure: The Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI) [J]. Volume 14. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping; 2001. pp. 431–52. 4. Yosopov L, Saklofske DH, Smith MM, et al. Failure Sensitivity in Perfectionism and Procrastination: Fear of Failure and Overgeneralization of Failure as Mediators of Traits and Cognitions [J]. J Psychoeducational Assess. 2024;42(6):705–24. Duru E, Balkis M, Duru S. Fear of failure and academic satisfaction: The mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties and procrastination [J]. Eur J Psychol Educ. 2024;39:2901–14. de Sousa-Filho JM, Lessa BS, Garcia-Salirrosas EE, et al. The role of fear of failure on students’ entrepreneurial intentions in Latin America [J]. Int J Manage Educ. 2023;21:100880. Zhang G, Feng WX, Zhao LY, et al. The association between physical activity, self-efficacy, stress self-management and mental health among adolescents [J]. Sci Rep. 2024;14:5488. Na H, Jo M, Lee C, et al. Development and evaluation: A behavioral activation mobile application for self-management of stress for university students [J]. Healthcare. 2022;10(10):1880. Sirbu V, David OA. Efficacy of app-based mobile health interventions for stress management: A systematic review and meta-analysis of self-reported, physiological, and neuroendocrine stress-related outcomes [J]. Clin Psychol Rev. 2024;114:102515. Gilbertson K, Ewert A, Siklander P, et al. Outdoor Education: Methods and Strategies [M]. Illinois: Human Kinetics; 2022. Sun H, Lan ZL. An Analysis of the Current Situation of Outdoor Education Major Settings in Foreign Universities [J]. J Phys Educ. 2014;21(6):96–9. MacDonald K, Breunig M. Back to the Garten: Ontario kindergarteners learn and grow through schoolyard pedagogy [J]. J Outdoor Environ Educ. 2018;21(2):133–51. Amanvermez Y, Zhao R, Cuijpers P, et al. Effects of self-guided stress management interventions in university students: A systematic review and meta-analysis [J]. Internet Interventions. 2022;28:100503. Qin M, Dong HJ. Study on the influence of sports extension training on university students' interpersonal communication and interpersonal trust [J]. J Shenyang Sport Univ. 2017;36(3):89–92. Wang, et al. Development and validation of future employment anxiety scale in China. BMC Psychol. 2025;13:1066. Zhang GL, Wu XM, He PY. Preliminary development of a self-management questionnaire for university students [J]. Chin J Clin Psychol. 2009;17(3):312–4. Zhuo Guoxiong L. Revision of the Chinese Version of the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory: Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses [J]. J Coll Phys Educ. 2005;7(2):111–23. Ayotte-Beaudet JP, Chastenay P, Beaudry MC, et al. Exploring the impacts of contextualised outdoor science education on learning: The case of primary school students learning about ecosystem relationships [J]. J Biol Educ. 2023;57(2):277–94. Zhang GL, Wu XM, He PY. Preliminary development of a self-management questionnaire for university students [J]. Chin J Clin Psychol. 2009;17(3):312–4. Lamóneda J, González-Víllora S, Evangelio C, et al. Hybridizing Outdoor Adventure Education and Cooperative Learning in physical education. Students and teachers’ views [J]. J Adventure Educ Outdoor Learn. 2024;24(2):159–74. Down MJA, Picknoll D, Edwards T et al. Outdoor adventure education for adolescent social and emotional well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis [J]. J Adventure Educ Outdoor Learn, 2024: 1–30. Merkas M, Brajsa-Žganec A. Children with different levels of hope: Are there differences in their self-esteem, life satisfaction, social support, and family cohesion? [J]. Child Indic Res. 2011;4:499–514. Zhao K, Lyu J, Liu JP, et al. Correlation analysis among university students' career self-efficacy, psychological resilience, career maturity, and career choice anxiety [J]. Chin J School Health. 2013;34(7):824–6. Benzo RP. Self-management programs and the pursuit of behavior change [J]. Respir Care. 2024;69(6):678–85. Morikawa M, Martela F, Hakanen JJ. Are employee self-management and organizational self-management related to work engagement or burnout? Evidence from two studies [J]. Bus Res Q. 2024;28(2):387–98. Azemi S, Dianat I, Abdollahzade F, et al. Work-related stress, self-efficacy and mental health of hospital nurses [J]. Work. 2022;72(3):1007–14. Zhao K, Lyu J, Liu JP, et al. Correlation analysis among university students' career self-efficacy, psychological resilience, career maturity, and career choice anxiety [J]. Chin J School Health. 2013;34(7):824–6. Klefl S, Fischer S, Schmitt J. Self-employed and stressed out? The impact of stress and stress management on entrepreneurs’ mental health and performance [J]. Front Psychol. 2024;15:1365489. Jackson C, Van Houtte M. System failure? Exploring the interplay of fear of failure, competition, cooperation and sense of belonging in education in England and Flanders [J]. Br Edu Res J. 2025;00:1–23. White RL, Babic MJ, Parker PD, et al. Domain-specific physical activity and mental health: A meta-analysis [J]. Am J Prev Med. 2017;52(5):653–66. Cashman MR, Strandh M, Högberg B. Does fear-of-failure mediate the relationship between educational expectations and stress-related complaints among Swedish adolescents? A structural equation modelling approach [J]. Eur J Pub Health. 2024;34(1):101–6. Eriksson K, Strimling P. Gender differences in competitiveness and fear of failure help explain why girls have lower life satisfaction than boys in gender equal countries [J]. Front Psychol. 2023;14:1131837. Cheng Y, Zheng Y, Schiavone F, et al. Fantasy of success, fear of failure and entrepreneurial choice: The moderating role of business vibrancy and failure experience [J]. Int J Entrepreneurial Behav Res. 2024;30(11):331–59. González-Hernández J, Gómez-López M, Manzano-Sánchez D, et al. Motivated and without fear of failure: the strength of basic psychological needs in youth Spanish athletes in team sports [J]. J Hum Kinetics. 2023;87:235–45. Atal D, Admiraal W, Saab N. Effects of 360° video virtual reality-supported reflection on student teachers’ classroom management self-efficacy and their stress levels [J]. Teach Teacher Educ. 2024;144:104573. Pisarik CT, Rowell PC, Thompson LK. A phenomenological study of career anxiety among university students [J]. Career Dev Q. 2017;65(4):339–52. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8764437","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":588226330,"identity":"217f7daf-4a66-4467-8dbc-ed999479d147","order_by":0,"name":"Hailong Chang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tangshan Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hailong","middleName":"","lastName":"Chang","suffix":""},{"id":588226331,"identity":"190321ae-fe80-4998-a824-e71d96469ff0","order_by":1,"name":"Chao Chen","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1ElEQVRIie3LMQrCMBTG8ReEuES7Pim0Vwh0VDxLRWhXJ3ESSyGTByg4eAWPkBLoJHUVdGhxcNXNRTEgDg6SujnkD2948P0AbLY/jLaThbrNBu+3AekylZxgG+Fr3YR4GKcBEeoHQmEk3Andzf11WsFlqsBZLUwkF27GDsgLyklWKsCjNBCSCGSoCWXQ6ggFHEMDaRFNeIm+0OTeiFCSBiyUCIUmpBFhJKkzOe5tiojnyzJmuDcQf32u5PUxdPxU1dVt2veczEA+kvrYD3ubzWazfesJCA8+UkCQvFsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Tangshan Normal University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chao","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":588226332,"identity":"64c8addf-54e7-4f1d-8e77-4222f9963b88","order_by":2,"name":"Danyang Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tangshan Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Danyang","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":588226333,"identity":"a27eb29a-fd71-45a0-9714-c7c3ec07958e","order_by":3,"name":"Chuang Yan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tangshan Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chuang","middleName":"","lastName":"Yan","suffix":""},{"id":588226334,"identity":"8c382425-e0a6-4610-8d69-6a236391d7b1","order_by":4,"name":"Lei Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tangshan Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lei","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":588226335,"identity":"b7c2d07e-6dd2-4a6e-b718-dbb5494b79d4","order_by":5,"name":"Feng Bao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hebei Software Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Feng","middleName":"","lastName":"Bao","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-02 11:39:24","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8764437/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8764437/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-04498-2","type":"published","date":"2026-04-02T15:59:21+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102408354,"identity":"5f63917a-9f24-43eb-9be5-2cc93f49d1d8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-11 11:28:20","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":39436,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eLegend not included with this version.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8764437/v1/2fbe83530cdbb91817e4cc8f.png"},{"id":102408350,"identity":"ece58f45-3a7e-4c2d-945d-5f22bd27cc78","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-11 11:28:20","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":22406,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMediation model showing role of fear of failure and self control on relationship between outdoor sports education and employment anxiety. Values shown are standardized coefficients*p \u0026lt; 0.05.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8764437/v1/65d783d5ca4e882b40141693.png"},{"id":106343759,"identity":"4bf27523-a6e0-4b0d-9505-fd55aa779797","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-07 16:08:51","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1142533,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8764437/v1/904862f2-24ee-4547-8c4e-11c77266740e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The Effect of Outdoor Sports Education on University Students' Employment Anxiety: The Mediating role of Fear of Failure and Self-Management","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe expansion of higher education has led to a consistent increase in university enrollments, resulting in a growing number of graduates annually. In China, for instance, the graduating cohort of 2025 is projected to reach a historic high of 12.22\u0026nbsp;million. While the overall employment landscape remains relatively stable, graduates encounter distinct challenges during their job search. On one hand, emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, new energy, and biomedicine exhibit strong demand for specialized talent. On the other hand, employment opportunities in several traditional sectors have diminished. Compounding this situation is a pronounced skills mismatch, as many graduates lack the practical competencies required to meet employers' immediate needs [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e]. According to the China National Mental Health Development Report, employment anxiety has emerged as a significant mental health concern among university graduates [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e]. University students are at a pivotal stage of professional socialization, where intense labor market competition exposes them to substantial employment pressure and challenges, often fostering pessimistic outlooks regarding future career prospects and contributing to the onset of employment anxiety [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e]. Such anxiety not only undermines the psychological well-being of students but also impairs the effectiveness of institutional career services and may adversely influence their eventual employment outcomes [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmployment anxiety is defined as a state of emotional tension and unease experienced by college students when they perceive themselves as unlikely to attain their desired employment outcomes [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e]. Empirical studies indicate that employment anxiety represents a prevalent psychological issue in this population, with many students reporting significant levels of anxiety characterized by heightened tension and other negative psychological symptoms. While mild anxiety may serve an adaptive function by mobilizing personal resources and enhancing motivation to confront career-related challenges [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e], excessive or chronic anxiety\u0026mdash;beyond a critical threshold\u0026mdash;can undermine social functioning, impede effective problem-solving, disrupt daily activities, and potentially escalate into clinical anxiety disorders or maladaptive coping behaviors, thereby increasing the risk of academic and occupational setbacks [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e]. Given its direct implications for students\u0026rsquo; mental well-being, career decision-making, and employment prospects, it is imperative to investigate the underlying mechanisms of employment anxiety and formulate evidence-based intervention strategies.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFear of failure is conceptualized as a negative affective response that occurs when individuals anticipate being unable to attain a desired goal in achievement-related contexts [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e]. In such situations, individuals typically engage in a cognitive appraisal of both task difficulty and their own capabilities. If they perceive themselves as competent to succeed, positive emotions such as satisfaction and excitement are likely to follow [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e]. Conversely, when they judge their ability as insufficient or anticipate a high probability of failure, the task is perceived as threatening, evoking anxiety and apprehension. In the contemporary context\u0026mdash;characterized by both intense competition and abundant opportunities\u0026mdash;university students are particularly susceptible to heightened fear of failure [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e]. This fear can undermine psychological resilience, elevate general anxiety levels, and, when severe, contribute to negative emotional states including anxiety and depression [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e]. Consequently, fear of failure represents a key psychological factor that not only exacerbates anxiety among students but also amplifies employment-related distress.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelf-management encompasses a set of regulatory processes through which individuals engage in self-awareness, self-evaluation, self-discipline, and self-motivation to promote personal development [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e]. Grounded in agency theory, which posits that individuals possess the capacity for self-regulation and proactive adaptation [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e], self-management aligns with educational philosophies that emphasize learner autonomy. For instance, the Chinese educator Tao Xingzhi advocated for the cultivation of self-management competencies, arguing that education should foster self-disciplined, adaptable individuals capable of contributing to societal progress [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e]. From a human development perspective, nurturing self-management skills is regarded as integral to holistic personal growth and essential for meeting the developmental needs of university students [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOutdoor sports education is an experiential pedagogical approach that uses outdoor physical activities as a medium to integrate multidisciplinary knowledge and skills, involving various stakeholders with the aim of enhancing participants' physical and psychological well-being [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e]. Its curriculum should incorporate multi-level and cross-disciplinary content, extending beyond technical outdoor skills to include elements of natural science, cultural literacy, social responsibility, and teamwork, thereby enriching its educational value [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e]. Through deliberately designed, challenging, and goal-oriented activities, outdoor sports education fosters constructive psychological attributes and proactive life attitudes. Empirical evidence suggests that its distinctive pedagogical format can effectively mitigate negative emotional states such as anxiety and depression among participants [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn summary, against a backdrop of evolving labor markets and mounting employment pressures, university students face escalating levels of employment anxiety. Cultivating a resilient psychological disposition during academic training and maintaining well-being throughout the transition to work are therefore imperative. Fear of failure constitutes a major contributor to anxiety and is closely tied to students' mental health, underscoring the need to foster a constructive orientation toward setbacks. Self-management, which comprises self-organization and self-control capacities, enables greater cognitive flexibility in career adaptation. Individuals with well-developed self-management skills are better able to direct attention toward positive cues, form adaptive attributions, and experience more favorable affect in employment contexts [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e]. Notably, outdoor sports education has been shown to promote positive psychological traits in students. The challenging nature of its activities is conceptually linked to fear of failure, while its varied instructional settings and demands call for proficient self-management [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e]. Whether outdoor sports education can meaningfully alleviate employment anxiety, and whether fear of failure and self-management serve as salient mediators in this relationship, remain empirical questions warranting investigation within the proposed theoretical framework.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eDesign\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board of Tangshan Normal University (Approval No. TSTC2025-8-10) and was prospectively registered in the Tangshan Normal University Trial Registry (Registration No. TSTC20258P10). Employing a combined longitudinal and cross-sectional design, the research aimed to examine both the immediate associations and the sustained effects of outdoor sports education on employment anxiety. During the longitudinal phase, an extended experimental intervention was conducted to systematically assess the overall impact of outdoor sports education on university students' employment anxiety, self-management, and fear of failure. Based on these empirical findings, a theoretical mediation model was developed, positing self-management and fear of failure as key mediators to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions through which outdoor sports education influences employment anxiety.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eParticipants and procedure\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study recruited third-year undergraduate students enrolled in compulsory physical education courses, who regularly attended these classes as part of the standard university curriculum, thereby ensuring consistent participation throughout the experiment. Prior to commencement, potential participants underwent screening for injuries, mental health concerns, or other conditions that might preclude safe involvement; those deemed ineligible were excluded. To achieve adequate statistical power for mediation analysis, eight classes\u0026mdash;each comprising 39 students\u0026mdash;were selected and randomly allocated to either the intervention group (four classes) or the control group (four classes). The intervention protocol was collaboratively developed and finalized by faculty members in the College of Physical Education. Participants assigned to the intervention group engaged in an outdoor sports education program, which included both individual challenge activities (e.g., rock climbing) and team-based cooperative tasks (e.g., orienteering). In comparison, the control group participated in conventional physical activities such as basketball and aerobics. The intervention spanned 16 weeks, with one 90-minute session conducted weekly. To assess changes in key variables, validated questionnaires measuring employment anxiety, self-management, and fear of failure were administered one week prior to the intervention and one week following its conclusion.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMeasures\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Future Employment Anxiety Scale, developed by Chen Wang et al. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e], was constructed through qualitative interviews and iterative item generation. Its correlated four-factor structure\u0026mdash;comprising Personal Ability, Knowledge Application, Career Replaceability, and Social Relations\u0026mdash;was established and validated via exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Responses are recorded on a 5-point Likert scale (1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;strongly disagree, 5\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;strongly agree), with higher total scores reflecting greater levels of employment anxiety. In the present study, the scale demonstrated high internal consistency, with Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s α coefficients of 0.965, 0.971, 0.955, and 0.965 for the respective subscales.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Self-Management Questionnaire compiled by Zhang Guoli et al. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e] was administered to assess self-regulation capacities. The instrument contains 42 items distributed across four dimensions: behavior management, emotion management, time management, and cognition management. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (completely inconsistent) to 5 (completely consistent), with 12 items reverse-scored. Higher total scores indicate stronger self-management competencies. In this sample, the full scale exhibited excellent internal consistency (Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s α\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.941). Subscale reliability coefficients were as follows: behavior management\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.837, emotion management\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.797, cognition management\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.816, and time management\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.826.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFear of failure was measured using the Chinese adaptation of the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory, originally developed by Conroy et al. and adapted by Zhuo Guoxiong and Lu Junhong [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e]. The scale consists of 18 items (e.g., \u0026ldquo;When I fail, I blame myself for lacking talent\u0026rdquo;) organized into four dimensions: fear of experiencing embarrassment, fear of devaluation by others, fear of others losing interest, and fear of disappointing important others. Responses are given on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with higher total scores representing stronger fear of failure. The scale showed good internal consistency in this study (Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s α\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.79). Construct validity was supported by a significant Bartlett\u0026rsquo;s test of sphericity (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001), a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of 0.750, and robust factor loadings ranging from 0.80 to 0.91 across all items.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eStatistical analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAll statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS Statistics (Version 26.0, IBM Corp). To investigate the mediating roles of fear of failure and self-management in the relationship between outdoor sports education and employment anxiety, Baron and Kenny\u0026rsquo;s three-step mediation procedure was employed. In addition to testing the direct relationships via three regression equations, the bootstrapping method with 5,000 resamples was applied to evaluate the reliability of the indirect effects. Bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed for the indirect effects; an effect was considered statistically significant if its 95% CI did not include zero. Independent-samples t-tests were used to compare the intervention and control groups on the three primary variables: fear of failure, self-management, and employment anxiety. Pearson\u0026rsquo;s correlation coefficients were calculated to examine bivariate associations among the study variables, with significance levels set at p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05 and p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.01. Missing data were addressed through multiple imputation, which involved generating several complete datasets, analyzing each independently, and then pooling the estimates to yield final results while minimizing bias.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Result","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eDescriptive statistics of outcome of participation\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e presents the comparative analysis of key variables across demographic groups. Significant gender differences were identified in employment anxiety and fear of failure (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05), with female participants reporting higher levels than males. No such gender disparity was evident for self-management (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). Additionally, scores on employment anxiety, fear of failure, and self-management did not differ significantly by age group or between the intervention and control groups prior to the intervention (all p\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDescriptive statistics of outcome of participation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDemographic\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmployment anxiety\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelf-management\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFear of failure\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGender\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eself-management\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.28\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.29\u0026plusmn;.037\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.53\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.32\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.45\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.55\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u0026ndash;19\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.33\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.53\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.26\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.35\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.61\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e19\u0026ndash;20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.31\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.34\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.39\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.57\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGroup\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntervention group\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.30\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.50\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.29\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.38\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.52\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eControl group\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.34\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.21\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.44\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.36\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.36\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eDifferences in employment anxiety after the experiment\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs presented in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, students in the intervention group exhibited significantly lower scores than the control group on three dimensions of employment anxiety following the outdoor sports education program: Personal Ability, Career Replaceability, and Social Relations (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). Although scores on the Knowledge Application dimension were also lower in the intervention group, this difference was not statistically significant (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). Overall, participation in outdoor sports education was associated with a reduction in employment anxiety levels among students in the intervention group, suggesting that this educational model effectively alleviates employment anxiety and yields favorable intervention outcomes.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDifferences in employment anxiety\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntervention group(n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;157)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eControl group(n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;153)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePersonal Ability\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.55\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.93\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eKnowledge Application\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.61\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.76\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCareer Replaceability\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.70\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.19\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSocial Relations\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.32\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.79\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eDifferences in self-management after the experiment\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e, students who participated in the outdoor sports education program achieved significantly higher post-intervention scores across all four dimensions of self-management\u0026mdash;Behavior Management, Emotion Management, Time Management, and Cognition Management\u0026mdash;compared to their counterparts in the control group (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). These results indicate that the outdoor sports education model effectively enhances self-management competencies among university students.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDifferences in self-management after the experiment\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntervention group(n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;157)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eControl group(n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;153)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBehavior management\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.95\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.32\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.43\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmotion managemen\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.27\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.69\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTime management\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.08\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.61\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCognition management\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.03\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.57\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eDifferences in fear of failure after the experiment\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e, students who completed the outdoor sports education program reported significantly lower scores on three dimensions of fear of failure\u0026mdash;Fear of Experiencing Embarrassment, Fear of Devaluation by Others, and Fear of Others Losing Interest\u0026mdash;relative to the control group (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). Although scores on the Fear of Disappointing Important Others dimension were also lower in the intervention group, this difference was not statistically significant (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). Overall, participation in outdoor sports education was associated with a reduction in fear of failure, supporting the model\u0026rsquo;s efficacy in mitigating this psychological construct among university students.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDifferences in fear of failure after the experiment\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntervention group(n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;157)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eControl group(n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;153)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFear of experiencing embarrassment\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.32\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.91\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFear of devaluation by others\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.97\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.58\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFear of others losing interest\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.56\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.25\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.13\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFear of disappointing important others\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.41\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.50\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eCommon method bias test\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo mitigate and assess the potential common method bias arising from self-reported measures, this study implemented both procedural controls (e.g., reverse scoring on selected dimensions, anonymous responses) and statistical approaches. Harman's single-factor test was applied to analyze the data for common method bias. Exploratory factor analysis extracted more than one factor, with the first factor accounting for 29.85% of the total variance\u0026mdash;below the critical threshold of 40%. Thus, common method bias in this study is considered to be within an acceptable range.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eCorrelation snalysis among outdoor sports education, employment anxiety, self-management, and fear of failure\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eCorrelation analyses (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e) revealed several notable associations. Outdoor sports education correlated strongly with Personal Ability, Emotion Management, Cognition Management, and two fear-of-failure dimensions (Fear of Experiencing Embarrassment and Fear of Devaluation by Others). Employment anxiety was similarly associated with Behavior Management and Emotion Management from the self-management construct, and with the same two fear-of-failure dimensions. Furthermore, fear of failure was significantly correlated with all dimensions of both employment anxiety and self-management, displaying particularly high correlations with Knowledge Application and Behavior Management.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCorrelations Among Variables\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"14\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c11\" colnum=\"11\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c12\" colnum=\"12\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c13\" colnum=\"13\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c14\" colnum=\"14\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.Outdoor Sports Education\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.Personal Ability\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.508*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.Knowledge Application\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.323*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.637*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.Career Replaceability\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.398*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.543*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.487*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.Social Relations\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.290\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.396*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.463*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.276\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.Behavior management\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.681**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.618*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.589**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.387*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.421*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7.Emotion management\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.519**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.570*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.636**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.411*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.398*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.698**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.Time management\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.386*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.352*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.578**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.218\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.419*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.701**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.470*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.Cognition management\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.473*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.477*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.499*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.193\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.331*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.560**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.558*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.532**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.Fear of experiencing embarrassment\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.572**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.351*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.536**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.336*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.360*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.523**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.337*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.463*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.631**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.Fear of devaluation by others\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.596**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.471*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.507**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.387*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.357*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.560**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.471*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.581**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.550**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.535**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12.Fear of others losing interest\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.371*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.510*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.385*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.510**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.301*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.480*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.359*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.373*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.490*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.761**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.689**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13.Fear of disappointing important others\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.460*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.462*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.411*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.343*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.361*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.526**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.433*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.298\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.533**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.566**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.571**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.613**\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"14\"\u003eNote. *\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05, **\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.01\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eStructural model fit assessment\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eA direct effect model was first tested, with outdoor sports education as the independent variable and employment anxiety as the dependent variable. The model showed acceptable fit indices: χ\u0026sup2;/df\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;6.18, CFI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.93, TLI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.91, RMSEA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.08, SRMR\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.04. Results indicated that outdoor sports education was a significant positive predictor of employment anxiety. Subsequently, a chain mediation model was examined, incorporating fear of failure and self-management as mediators. This model also demonstrated good fit to the data: χ\u0026sup2;/df\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;5.91, CFI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.96, TLI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.93, RMSEA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.06, SRMR\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.05. Path analysis revealed significant coefficients from outdoor sports education to both fear of failure and self-management, from both mediators to employment anxiety, and between fear of failure and self-management. The detailed path coefficients and the structural diagram of the chain mediation model are presented in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo examine the mediating effects, bootstrap analyses with 5,000 resamples and bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were conducted. As summarized in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e, the direct effect of outdoor sports education (OSE) on employment anxiety (EA) was significant (effect = \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;0.16, 95% CI [\u0026ndash;0.27, \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;0.12]), accounting for 28.1% of the total effect. The indirect effect mediated by self-management (SM) was \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;0.15 (95% CI [\u0026ndash;0.23, \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;0.10]), explaining 26.3% of the total effect. The indirect effect via fear of failure (FF) was \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;0.19 (95% CI [\u0026ndash;0.31, \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;0.11]), contributing 33.3%. The chain-mediated effect through both SM and FF was \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;0.07 (95% CI [\u0026ndash;0.18, \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;0.02]), representing 12.3% of the total effect. In summary, both SM and FF independently mediated the relationship between OSE and EA, and they also operated sequentially as a chain mediator, jointly explaining a substantial portion of the total effect.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab6\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 6\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eResults of Bootstrap Analyses\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMediating path\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEffect\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLLCI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eULCI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eProportion\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOSE\u0026rarr;EA\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28.1%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOSE\u0026rarr;SC\u0026rarr;EA\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26.3%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOSE\u0026rarr;FF\u0026rarr;EA\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.19\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e33.3%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOSE\u0026rarr;SC\u0026rarr;FF\u0026rarr;EA\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.07\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.02\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12.3%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal effect\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.57\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.71\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;0.39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eAssociations between outdoor sport education and employment anxiety\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eUniversity students navigate a critical life transition, facing multifaceted stressors including leaving home, establishing independence, assuming adult responsibilities, and managing academic demands. Research indicates that a substantial proportion of students report heightened perceived stress, whereby environmental demands are appraised as exceeding coping resources, often resulting in persistent negative emotions such as anxiety and depression [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e]. Chronic psychological stress is not only closely linked to academic performance, campus involvement, and attrition rates but may also constitute a significant long-term risk to mental health [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e]. The present study further reveals that university students commonly experience employment anxiety, along with challenges related to fear of failure and self-management, with female students reporting comparatively higher levels of anxiety and fear of failure.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn this context, outdoor sports education emerges as an innovative intervention with demonstrated potential to alleviate employment anxiety and enhance psychological adaptation. Our findings indicate that outdoor sports education is directly associated with reduced employment anxiety and also operates indirectly through improvements in fear of failure and self-management, underscoring its distinctive educational value. This aligns with research suggesting that outdoor environments facilitate direct observation, experiential learning, and contextualized cognition, promoting attentional restoration, reducing mental fatigue, and fostering positive affect [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRegarding employment anxiety, outdoor sports not only provide a physical outlet for stress reduction but also leverage the restorative qualities of natural settings to regulate emotion and build psychological resilience. Goal-setting, overcoming challenges, and achieving success in outdoor activities can strengthen students\u0026rsquo; self-efficacy, while the inherent uncertainty and variability of natural environments offer practical contexts for developing adaptive coping and an optimistic outlook [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e]. Through such mechanisms, outdoor sports education enhances psychological resilience and self-efficacy, equipping students with a more positive mindset to navigate employment anxiety, fear of failure, and related concerns. Supporting this, students with positive psychological dispositions are more likely to employ problem-focused coping strategies, which are in turn associated with lower levels of employment anxiety [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn summary, outdoor sports education represents not merely a physical intervention but a multidimensional educational model that integrates psychological, behavioral, and environmental components. By enhancing self-management competence, modulating fear of failure, offering restorative natural exposure, and accumulating positive psychological resources, it serves as an effective means of mitigating employment anxiety among university students.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eThe mediating role of self management in the association between outdoor sport education and employment anxiety\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the context of today\u0026rsquo;s highly competitive labor market, employment anxiety has emerged as a prominent issue adversely affecting the mental health and career development of university students [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e]. Through a systematic investigation of the relationships between outdoor sports education, self-management, and employment anxiety, this study identifies self-management capacity as a central mechanism and a key transformative pathway through which outdoor sports education confers psychological benefits. Self-management is defined as the ability to integrate and regulate personal resources across cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and temporal domains [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e]. Findings indicate that outdoor sports education does not directly reduce employment anxiety; rather, it exerts a psychologically protective influence by substantially enhancing students\u0026rsquo; self-management capabilities. This mechanism is consistent with the Conservation of Resources Theory, whereby outdoor sports education facilitates the accumulation and optimization of personal psychological resources\u0026mdash;specifically self-management competencies\u0026mdash;thereby improving students\u0026rsquo; efficiency in mobilizing and allocating these resources under employment-related stress.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe distinctive value of outdoor sports education resides in its structured, experiential approach to systematically developing self-management skills. At the behavioral level, goal-setting and task execution in outdoor activities help students establish coherent action sequences from planning to implementation [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e]. In emotional management, navigating challenges in natural settings fosters emotional awareness and regulatory skills. Regarding time management, training in pacing and activity rhythm enhances the effective allocation of temporal resources [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003e]. In the cognitive domain, adapting to complex environmental demands strengthens cognitive flexibility and evaluative capacities. Together, these four dimensions constitute an integrated self-regulatory system that is critical for addressing employment-related challenges.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNotably, the self-management competencies cultivated in outdoor settings demonstrate strong real-world transferability. Skills such as goal setting, emotion regulation, and time planning acquired in natural environments can be directly applied to self-management strategies during the job-search process [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e]. This transfer elevates outdoor sports education beyond conventional physical exercise, positioning it as an effective pedagogical vehicle for fostering career adaptability. Educational practice further suggests that explicitly embedding self-management training within outdoor curricula, designing progressively challenging tasks, and providing timely behavioral feedback can optimize the psychological benefits of such programs [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn summary, outdoor sports education equips university students with essential psychological and behavioral resources to cope with employment pressure by systematically enhancing their self-management abilities. Self-management not only directly mitigates anxiety but also operates through multiple protective pathways. These findings imply that interventions aimed at reducing employment anxiety should extend beyond improving external labor-market conditions and actively promote the cultivation of intrinsic self-management competencies through experiential learning approaches.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eThe mediating role of fear of failure in the association between outdoor sport education and employment anxiety\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFear of failure is conceptualized as a pattern of excessive concern among university students regarding potential negative evaluations, self-doubt, and career setbacks during the job-search process, predominantly reflected in two dimensions: fear of embarrassing experiences and fear of devaluation by others [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e34\u003c/span\u003e]. The present study identifies fear of failure as a significant mediator in the relationship between outdoor sports education and employment anxiety, functioning as a pivotal psychological factor in both the development and mitigation of such anxiety. Outdoor sports offer structured yet challenging scenarios that allow participants to engage in \u0026ldquo;simulated failure\u0026rdquo; within a contained and supportive setting. Through such graduated exposure, students\u0026rsquo; sensitivity to failure is diminished, and their cognitive appraisal of setbacks is constructively reframed [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003e]. Consistent with this, our results show that students who underwent outdoor sports education scored significantly lower on the dimensions of fear of embarrassing experiences and fear of devaluation by others. In group-based outdoor activities, failure is reconceptualized not as a definitive judgment but as an integral part of the learning process. Observing peers\u0026rsquo; responses to challenges helps students internalize a growth-oriented perspective, wherein failure is viewed as a normative and instructive phase of development, thereby attenuating catastrophic interpretations of setbacks [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e36\u003c/span\u003e]. Moreover, repeated experiences of overcoming outdoor challenges bolster participants\u0026rsquo; self-efficacy, a sense of competence that can be transferred to employment-related contexts, empowering students to confront the uncertainties of the job market with increased resilience.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe dynamic and unpredictable nature of outdoor environments parallels the volatility of contemporary labor markets, rendering coping strategies developed in such settings particularly transferable. Natural contexts furnish immediate and tangible feedback on action outcomes, enabling students to refine self-assessment skills and counteract fear-amplifying cognitive distortions. Furthermore, the multi-layered support system inherent in group outdoor activities\u0026mdash;combining peer encouragement and instructor guidance\u0026mdash;serves to buffer the psychological impact of failure experiences [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e37\u003c/span\u003e]. This study further reveals that self-management capacity moderates the association between fear of failure and employment anxiety. Students with higher self-management competencies demonstrate a greater ability to regulate the negative affective states elicited by fear of failure. Through effective time, behavior, and cognitive management, they are better equipped to contextualize and derive meaning from failure, thereby diminishing its distressing impact. Collectively, these findings position fear of failure as a critical psychological conduit through which outdoor sports education contributes to the reduction of employment anxiety. In summary, by facilitating controlled exposure to failure, fostering cognitive restructuring, and strengthening psychosocial support mechanisms, outdoor sports education effectively lowers university students\u0026rsquo; fear of failure, which in turn mediates the alleviation of employment anxiety.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eThe chain mediation role of self management and fear of failure in the associations between outdoor sport education and employment anxiety\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe findings of this study indicate that outdoor sports education mitigates employment anxiety not only through direct effects but also via two interrelated psychological pathways: an emotional regulation pathway mediated by fear of failure and a behavioral competency pathway mediated by self-management. Together, these mechanisms constitute an integrated intervention framework. As an emotional mediator, fear of failure operates principally through exposure-desensitization and cognitive restructuring processes [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e38\u003c/span\u003e]. This pathway underscores the foundational importance of emotional regulation in interventions. By engaging students in controlled, challenging outdoor scenarios, the program facilitates repeated exposure to \u0026ldquo;micro-failures\u0026rdquo; within a supportive context, thereby reducing fears of embarrassment and social devaluation [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e39\u003c/span\u003e]. Such structured experiences not only alleviate the affective weight associated with anticipated failure but also promote a reappraisal of failure as a constructive component of learning, disrupting the self-perpetuating cycle of failure and anxiety.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eConcurrently, self-management acts as a competency-based mediator, fostering the development of multidimensional self-regulatory skills. Outdoor sports education enhances students\u0026rsquo; capabilities across four core domains: behavioral control, emotional regulation, time management, and cognitive flexibility. This holistic skill set enables students to approach job-search activities with greater organization, regulate emotional responses more effectively, allocate personal resources efficiently, and ultimately build resilience against employment-related stressors [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e40\u003c/span\u003e]. Importantly, the two pathways do not function in isolation but interact sequentially within a chain-mediation model. This sequential pattern reveals that competency development facilitates emotional regulation; specifically, heightened self-management capacity strengthens students\u0026rsquo; ability to modulate fear of failure\u0026mdash;a relationship corroborated by the significant negative correlation observed between cognitive management and fear of failure. These sequential dynamics imply that effective interventions should follow a progressive structure: behavioral competency development should precede and support the enhancement of emotional regulation, which subsequently contributes to anxiety reduction [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e41\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn summary, outdoor sports education reduces employment anxiety through a dual-pathway model comprising fear of failure reduction and self-management enhancement. While each pathway exerts independent effects, they also operate synergistically within a sequential mediation chain. This evidence suggests that interventions aimed at alleviating employment anxiety should transcend unilateral approaches focused exclusively on emotional or skill-based components. Instead, an integrated developmental model is recommended\u0026mdash;one that systematically cultivates self-management competencies while concurrently attenuating fear of failure\u0026mdash;to effectively mitigate employment anxiety among university students.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eOutdoor sports education effectively reduces employment anxiety and enhances self-management competencies among university students, while also mitigating fear of failure. Both self-management and fear of failure function as independent mediators in the relationship between outdoor sports education and employment anxiety, and further operate sequentially through a chain-mediation pathway, jointly accounting for a substantial portion of the observed effect. These findings advocate for the adoption of an integrated developmental approach\u0026mdash;one that concurrently strengthens self-management capacities and reduces fear of failure\u0026mdash;as an effective strategy to alleviate employment anxiety in this population.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":" \u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eEthical approval\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cp\u003e The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. This study involving human participants was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Tang Shan Normal University (TSTC2025-8-10), and registered in TSTC(TSTC20258P10). Written informed consent was obtained from individual or guardian participants. Confidentiality was assured and questionnaires were submitted anonymously.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eFunding\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study was supported by the 2023\u0026ndash;2024 Hebei Province Higher Education Teaching Reform Research and Practice Project (2023GJJG563).\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eHailong Chang was responsible for conceptualizing the research framework and drafting the manuscript; Chao Chen conducted literature review and contributed to the synthesis of background sections; Danyang Wang performed data analysis; and Chuang Yan and Feng Bao implemented the pedagogical experiment.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe authors of this study would like to appreciate all participants.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eData Availability\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePeng R. 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Z F\u0026uuml;r Arbeits- und Organ psychologie. 2008;52(3):126\u0026ndash;34.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShi XJ, Wu SX. Effect of psychological capital on employment anxiety of university students: The mediating role of self-management [J]. China J Health Psychol. 2023;31(10):1558\u0026ndash;63.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWang MH, Wang QL, Xu B. The influence of university students' time management disposition on career choice anxiety: The mediating role of career choice self-efficacy [J]. J Xinyang Normal Univ (Philosophy Social Sci Edition). 2021;41(4):100\u0026ndash;6.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eXing CJ, Zheng LG, Li YZ, et al. Influencing factors of university students' employment psychology: The mediating role of general self-efficacy [J]. China J Health Psychol. 2023;31(3):413\u0026ndash;7.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eConroy DE. 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J Hum Kinetics. 2023;87:235\u0026ndash;45.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAtal D, Admiraal W, Saab N. Effects of 360\u0026deg; video virtual reality-supported reflection on student teachers\u0026rsquo; classroom management self-efficacy and their stress levels [J]. Teach Teacher Educ. 2024;144:104573.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePisarik CT, Rowell PC, Thompson LK. A phenomenological study of career anxiety among university students [J]. Career Dev Q. 2017;65(4):339\u0026ndash;52.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-psychology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"psyo","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Psychology](http://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"BMC Psychology","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Outdoor sports education, Employment anxiety, Mediating role, Self-management, Fear of failure","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8764437/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8764437/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eUniversity students are at a critical stage of professional socialization, where intense competition in the job market exposes them to considerable employment challenges and pressure. These factors often lead to negative expectations regarding future career prospects and contribute to the development of employment anxiety. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between outdoor sports education and employment anxiety using a combined longitudinal and cross-sectional design. Specifically, the research examined both the long-term effects and immediate associations of this relationship, as well as the potential mediating roles of self-management and fear of failure.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eA total of eight classes (39 students per class) were selected and randomly allocated to either an intervention group (four classes) or a control group (four classes). The intervention group participated in a structured outdoor sports education program, while the control group engaged in conventional physical activities (e.g., basketball, aerobics). Data were analyzed using independent-samples t-tests, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and mediation analysis. Mediation effects were examined through Baron and Kenny\u0026rsquo;s (1986) causal steps approach, supplemented by 5,000 bootstrap iterations to assess the statistical significance of indirect effects.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eFollowing the intervention, students in the intervention group showed significantly lower levels of anxiety in the domains of Personal Ability, Career Replaceability, and Social Relations compared to the control group (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). Conversely, they exhibited significantly higher scores across all four dimensions of self-management: Behavior Management, Emotion Management, Time Management, and Cognition Management (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). Furthermore, the intervention group reported significantly lower scores on three dimensions of fear of failure\u0026mdash;Fear of Experiencing Embarrassment, Fear of Devaluation by Others, and Fear of Others Losing Interest (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). Regarding effect decomposition, outdoor sports education accounted for 28.1% of the total effect, reflecting a significant direct predictive role on employment anxiety. The indirect effect mediated by self-management contributed 26.3%, while that mediated by fear of failure explained 33.3% of the total effect. Additionally, the chain-mediated pathway involving both self-management and fear of failure accounted for 12.3% of the total effect.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eOutdoor sports education plays a significant role in mitigating employment anxiety and fostering self-management competencies among university students, while also reducing their fear of failure. Both self-management and fear of failure function as independent mediating factors in the link between outdoor sports education and employment anxiety. Furthermore, these two variables operate sequentially in a chain-mediation pathway, jointly accounting for a meaningful proportion of the overall effect.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The Effect of Outdoor Sports Education on University Students' Employment Anxiety: The Mediating role of Fear of Failure and Self-Management","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-11 11:26:49","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8764437/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-02-19T05:26:17+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-12T11:21:56+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-09T11:18:21+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"133515021124038870908355711225239956884","date":"2026-02-09T10:54:46+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"67310714164783423620959420793007328855","date":"2026-02-06T16:39:45+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"290815806096881102067384835967669020611","date":"2026-02-06T10:28:25+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-06T09:52:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"205249473809544719495060713932630496624","date":"2026-02-06T08:19:19+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-06T06:55:46+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-04T12:50:39+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-02-03T04:56:08+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-02-03T04:54:08+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Psychology","date":"2026-02-02T11:10:23+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-psychology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"psyo","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Psychology](http://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"BMC Psychology","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"caacf3f1-9334-4a8a-a787-d8393b93d0ad","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 11th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-07T16:04:25+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-8764437","link":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-04498-2","journal":{"identity":"bmc-psychology","isVorOnly":false,"title":"BMC Psychology"},"publishedOn":"2026-04-02 15:59:21","publishedOnDateReadable":"April 2nd, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-11 11:26:49","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1186/s40359-026-04498-2","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-04498-2","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8764437","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8764437","identity":"rs-8764437","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}