The role of traditional sports games in relieving psychological stress and enhancing social support for students with benign tumors
Abstract
Students diagnosed with benign tumors often experience psychological stress and social isolation, which can adversely affect their emotional well-being. Traditional sports games, which are culturally important and promote physical activity, offer a potential intervention to alleviate stress and improve social support. The research discovers the role of traditional sports games in relieving psychological stress and improving social support for students with benign tumors. A total of 131 students diagnosed with benign tumors were divided into two groups: the intervention group (IG) (n = 91), which participated in traditional sports games, and the Control group (CG) (n = 40), which continued with their regular activities without engaging in sports games. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was utilized to evaluate psychological stress, while the Social Support Scale (SSS) measured the level of social support received by participants, concentrating on emotional, informational, and instrumental support. The statistical analysis utilized IBM SPSS software version 29. The data were analyzed utilizing statistical methods, including descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, and correlation analysis. The IG attained positive outcomes across all factors, with emotional support at 90%, the group perceived cohesiveness at 88%, self-efficacy at 80%, 82% for informational support, 75% for instrumental support, and 68% for psychological stress1. Traditional sports games and team bonds facilitate positive interactions among students. This mode promotes emotional interaction, facilitating social interaction where players support and encourage each other through play, which helps them communicate emotionally. Consequently, these enjoyable social dynamics facilitate lowering psychological stress and a sense of community among students having benign tumors, which enhances our students’ psychological well-being. The results indicate that the IG displayed an important reduction in psychological stress, with developed PSS and SSS scores. Reductions in stress and anxiety, as well as increases in self-efficacy, were significantly correlated with group perceived cohesiveness. Traditional sports games help reduce stress and improve social support for students with benign tumors by fostering peer relationships, building a sense of community, and improving emotional well-being with health-focused programs.
Copyright (c) 2026 Hutong Tian, Wenmei Dong, Hongjun Jin, Jialiang Guo, Yanrong Li

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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