Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating role of exercise value cognition between family function (FF) and exercise behavior and the moderating role of an only-child status. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 504 Chinese college students using the FF scale, the exercise value cognition scale, and the exercise behavior scale. The analysis yielded four main findings. (1) There are significant differences between an only-child and a non-only-child for negative exercise behavior and FF. The only-child group has a higher average FF score and a lower average negative exercise score. (2) Exercise behavior and four of its dimensions—exercise autonomy, attention control, exercise planning, and situational induction—are each significantly positively correlated with FF and exercise value cognition. (3) FF is a significantly positive predictor of exercise behavior, both directly and through exercise value cognition, which plays a partial mediating role. (4) Only-child status significantly moderates the mediating effect of exercise value cognition in the link between FF and exercise behavior. The intergroup differences mainly manifest in the influence of FF on exercise behavior and the influence of exercise value cognition on exercise behavior. In the only-child subsample, exercise value cognition plays a complete mediating role. The results of the current study demonstrated the important role that FF and exercise value cognition played in promoting the exercise behavior of college students. These findings have important implications for exercise behavior in adolescents by maintaining sound communication between family members and developing a healthy lifestyle or value cognition.
Highlights
Interpretation of scholars and the intervention angle on individual exercise behavior have gradually shifted from focusing on a single factor or the individual level to considering the entire social ecosystem
The basic unit of society and one of the mesosocial ecosystems affecting exercise behavior (Schmidt et al, 2016; Kilanowski, 2017), provides crucial environmental support for the Chinese Family Function and Exercise Behavior health education and healthy development of family members, and it is a key area of youth exercise promotion research
The process control steps included, for example, explaining the anonymity and confidentiality of completed questionnaire responses, and assuring that the data would only be used in academic research
Summary
Interpretation of scholars and the intervention angle on individual exercise behavior have gradually shifted from focusing on a single factor or the individual level to considering the entire social ecosystem. In the 1980s, China adopted the relatively strict one-child policy (OCP), aiming to control population growth, restructure population development, and boost national development and economic growth This policy made only-child families become a common phenomenon in China. The educational philosophy of Chinese parents has gradually shifted from “intellectual development” to “comprehensive development”—a change that provides an opportunity for promoting exercise by college students at the family level Based on these developments and against the background of China’s social culture, this research explores the role of family function (FF) in physical exercise promotion for only-child and non-only-child college students. To this end, it combines the social ecology theory of exercise behavior with the FF process-orientation theory, thereby providing theoretical and practical support for promoting the healthy development of college students
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