In-person sports event attendance and residents' health-related wellbeing: empirical evidence from CGSS 2023.

BACKGROUND: In-person sports event attendance is an important way for residents to encounter sporting events, engage in leisure activities, and expand social interaction. Examining the relationships among in-person sports event attendance, physical exercise, and residents' health-related wellbeing can help clarify the public health value of sports event resources. METHODS: Using data from the 2023 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS 2023), this study measured residents' health-related wellbeing across four dimensions: physical health, mental health, social interaction, and subjective happiness. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, potential mediating-pathway tests, ordered logit models, binary logit models, alternative-indicator tests, and propensity score matching (PSM) were used to examine the association between in-person sports event attendance and health-related wellbeing and the potential behavioral pathway involving physical exercise. RESULTS: In-person sports event attendance was significantly and positively associated with residents' health-related wellbeing (β = 0.412, p < 0.01). Standardized dimension-specific results showed that the association was relatively more apparent for social interaction (β = 0.151, p < 0.01), followed by subjective happiness (β = 0.054, p < 0.01) and physical health (β = 0.037, p < 0.01); the association with mental health was positive and marginally significant (β = 0.025, p < 0.10). In-person attendance was also significantly associated with physical exercise (β = 0.419, p < 0.01), and physical exercise was significantly associated with health-related wellbeing (β = 0.314, p < 0.01). Bootstrap tests showed an indirect association through physical exercise of 0.123, accounting for 29.8% of the total association. Subgroup regressions supported the positive association across urban-rural residence, age, and education groups, but interaction tests did not show significant between-group differences. CONCLUSION: In-person sports event attendance is consistently and positively associated with residents' health-related wellbeing, with social interaction being the most prominent dimension. Physical exercise may constitute a potential mediating pathway linking in-person attendance and health-related wellbeing. Sports event resources should be connected with community health promotion and public sports services, and support mechanisms should be strengthened to link viewing experiences with everyday physical activity.