The relationship between volleyball experience and mental rotation ability in university students: the mediating role...

This study aims to explore the relationships among university students' volleyball experience, executive functions, and mental rotation ability, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Using a cross-sectional design, 60 university students were categorized into high (HVEG), medium (MVEG), and low (LVEG) volleyball experience groups, and their mental rotation ability and executive functions were assessed. Multiple linear regression was conducted, structural equation modeling was performed with Mplus 8.3, and mediation effects were tested using 5,000 bootstrap samples. Results showed that significant differences among the three groups in executive function and mental rotation ability (p < 0.05), with the HVEG showing significantly shorter reaction times than the LVEG. Among the sub-components of executive function, only updating function was significantly correlated with mental rotation ability (p < 0.01). Mediation analysis revealed that volleyball experience was significantly associated with mental rotation ability (direct effect: β = -0.492, 83.8% of the total effect), and the updating function played a partial mediating role in this relationship (indirect effect: β = -0.094, 16.2% of the total effect). In conclusion, greater volleyball experience was associated with better (faster) mental rotation performance in university students, with the updating function playing a partial mediating role in this association.