Shujia Liu, Tong Liu, Hui Ma, Zhonggen Yin, Chen Zhu, Wenjie Cheng
Perceived parental emotional warmth is associated with lower academic burnout among physical education pre-service teachers, partially through a behavioral sequence of increased physical activity and reduced smartphone addiction. Due to the cross-sectional design, causal inferences cannot be drawn. Nevertheless, these findings suggest perceived parental emotional warmth may associate with academic outcomes through a dynamic process associated with constructive behaviors and reduced risky behaviors. The results provide a novel behavioral-ecological perspective and may inform the development of future interventions combining family support, health behavior promotion, and digital literacy training.
OBJECTIVE: Academic burnout is a prominent challenge for physical education pre-service teachers facing dual pressures of academic study and physical training. This study aimed to examine the statistical association between perceived parental emotional warmth and academic burnout. Guided by self-determination theory and the behavioral substitution perspective, we also explored the chain mediating pathways involving physical activity and smartphone addiction to provide an integrated theoretical framework.
METHODS: A cross-sectional design was adopted. In December 2025, a stratified sample of 1,192 physical education pre-service teachers from 15 Chinese provinces completed the S-EMBU (perceived parental emotional warmth), Physical Activity Scale, SAS-SV, and ALBI. Data were analyzed using PROCESS Model 6 in SPSS 25.0 with 5,000 bootstrap resamples.
RESULTS: Correlation analysis showed all variables significantly intercorrelated. After controlling for gender and grade, the chain mediation model was supported. Perceived parental emotional warmth showed a direct negative statistical association with academic burnout and was also linked via three indirect pathways: (1) physical activity alone (β = -0.290, 95% CI [-0.323, -0.257]); (2) smartphone addiction alone (β = -0.026, 95% CI [-0.040, -0.012]); and (3) the sequential pathway via physical activity then smartphone addiction (β = -0.066, 95% CI [-0.080, -0.054]).
CONCLUSION: Perceived parental emotional warmth is associated with lower academic burnout among physical education pre-service teachers, partially through a behavioral sequence of increased physical activity and reduced smartphone addiction. Due to the cross-sectional design, causal inferences cannot be drawn. Nevertheless, these findings suggest perceived parental emotional warmth may associate with academic outcomes through a dynamic process associated with constructive behaviors and reduced risky behaviors. The results provide a novel behavioral-ecological perspective and may inform the development of future interventions combining family support, health behavior promotion, and digital literacy training.