Research Article: Family matters: the role of parents in adolescent motivation and exercise promotion
Abstract:
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between parents' exercise habits (PEH), exercise motivation (EMO), and exercise behavior (EB) among junior high school students in Shanghai, with a particular focus on the mediating effects of different types of motivation.
A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Shanghai from February to June 2023 using purposive sampling. A total of 803 questionnaires were distributed through online platforms, and 777 valid responses were included in the final analysis. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was applied using SmartPLS 4.0 to examine the direct and indirect pathways among variables.
The results showed that PEH was positively associated with EB both directly and indirectly. Among the five types of EMO, competence motivation (CMO) and fitness motivation (FMO) were positively related to EB, whereas social motivation (SMO) was negatively related to EB. Mediation analysis indicated that CMO served as a significant positive mediator, while SMO acted as a significant negative mediator in the relationship between PEH and EB. Enjoyment motivation (EJMO) and appearance motivation (AMO) were not significantly associated with EB. In addition, PEH was positively associated with all five dimensions of EMO.
PEH play an important role in shaping adolescents' EB through distinct motivational pathways. Autonomous motivations, particularly competence-related motivation, facilitated exercise engagement, whereas socially controlled motivation was associated with lower EB. These findings highlight the need for family- and school-based interventions that emphasize autonomy and competence support rather than social pressure to promote sustained physical activity (PA) among adolescents.
Introduction:
A lack of physical activity (PA) affects adolescent bone development and functional health, increases the incidence of obesity and a range of noncommunicable chronic diseases, and may contribute to vision loss ( 1 , 2 ). “National policies such as China's Sunshine Sports Campaign for hundreds of millions of students” and “The Opinions on Strengthening School Sports to Promote Students’ Physical and Mental Health and All-round Development” emphasize encouraging young people to go to the playground and form…
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