Minmin Wei, Qing Wei, Zixia Wang
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.
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.