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This systematic review and meta-analysis examined whether soft Chinese martial arts — primarily Tai Chi and Baduanjin — can help alleviate depressive symptoms in college students, a population increasingly affected by mental health difficulties. Researchers searched seven major databases for studies published up to July 2025, ultimately including eleven randomised controlled trials involving 750 participants in total. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool, and the analysis followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.
The pooled results showed a statistically significant reduction in depressive symptoms among students who practised soft Chinese martial arts compared to control groups, with a moderate-to-large standardised mean difference of negative 0.71. Subgroup analyses suggested that interventions lasting nine to fourteen weeks and individual sessions of twenty to sixty minutes may produce stronger effects. However, the level of heterogeneity across studies was high, meaning the results varied considerably between trials, which complicates interpretation.
Important limitations must be noted. The number of included studies was small, publication bias cannot be ruled out, and the overall certainty of the evidence was rated as very low according to the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations framework. Risk of bias was also a concern across the included trials.
Conclusion: Soft Chinese martial arts such as Tai Chi and Baduanjin show promise as non-pharmacological approaches to reducing depression in college students, but the very low certainty of evidence means findings should be interpreted with considerable caution pending higher-quality research.
Source: Shi L, Wang Q, Li W and colleagues. Frontiers in psychiatry (2026). View on PubMed (PMID 42979354) · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1850402
