Influence mechanisms of health Qigong embodied experience on meaning in life among older adults: a mixed-methods study

Objective This study used a mixed-methods approach (qualitative and quantitative) to develop the Health Qigong Embodied Experience Scale, code its dimensions, and examine associations between Health Qigong embodied experience and meaning in life among older adults, with particular attention to the mediating roles of psychological capital (optimism, resilience, hope, and self-efficacy). Methods This study first employed thematic analysis to code themes of Health Qigong embodied experience, from which two dimensions were extracted: bodily regulation experience and psychological regulation experience. Next, convenience sampling was used to survey 500 older adults across six communities in Guangzhou. Data were collected using the Health Qigong Bodily Regulation Experience Scale, the Health Qigong Psychological Regulation Experience Scale, the Psychological Capital Scale, and the Meaning in Life Scale. SPSS 27.0 and AMOS 26.0 were used to assess scale reliability and validity and to conduct confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We then conducted common method bias testing, descriptive statistics, and correlation analyses. Finally, Model 4 of the PROCESS 4.0 macro was applied to examine the mediating roles and the total association hypotheses. Results The results indicated that Health Qigong bodily regulation experience and psychological regulation experience were each associated with older adults’ meaning in life ( β = 0.532, p < 0.01; β = 0.593, p < 0.01). Optimism partially mediated the relationships between bodily regulation experience ( β = 0.048, Bootstrap 95% CI [0.012, 0.086]) and psychological regulation experience ( β = 0.045, Bootstrap 95% CI [0.009, 0.082]) with meaning in life. Resilience partially mediated the relationships between bodily regulation experience ( β = 0.211, Bootstrap 95% CI [0.138, 0.282]) and psychological regulation experience ( β = 0.205, Bootstrap 95% CI [0.139, 0.269]) with meaning in life. Hope partially mediated each of the relationships between bodily regulation experience ( β = 0.076, Bootstrap 95% CI [0.028, 0.130]) and psychological regulation experience ( β = 0.066, Bootstrap 95% CI [0.018, 0.115]) and meaning in life. Notably, self-efficacy did not play a mediating role ( β = 0.025, Bootstrap 95% CI [−0.046, 0.091]; β = 0.028, Bootstrap 95% CI [−0.024, 0.076]). Conclusion In the qualitative component, this study developed a new scale. In the quantitative component, conservation of resources (COR) theory was applied at the macro level to frame the structural relationships among the mediation pathways, whereas embodied cognition theory was used at the micro level to explain the mechanisms linking Health Qigong embodied experience to older adults’ meaning in life, alongside psychological capital playing a mediating role. Among these, optimism, hope, and resilience each played a partially mediating role in these relationships, whereas self-efficacy did not. This indicates that, through Health Qigong embodied experience, older adults’ meaning in life is nurtured by process-oriented and acceptance-based psychological resources rather than by outcome-oriented self-efficacy.