Jun Xia, Yu-Xuan Yang
Exercise adherence tendency among undergraduates in Sichuan Province was associated with the interplay of course experience, psychological need satisfaction, and health belief. The SEM and fsQCA findings provide complementary variable-oriented and configurational evidence. Given the cross-sectional design, the results should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects.
OBJECTIVE: This study examined the association between integrated physical education course experience and exercise adherence tendency among undergraduates in Sichuan Province, China. It focused on indirect associations involving exercise psychological need satisfaction and health belief and on configurations associated with high exercise adherence tendency.
METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 3,391 undergraduates from 25 universities in Sichuan Province, China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine a theory-informed chain mediation model linking integrated physical education course experience, exercise psychological need satisfaction, health belief, and exercise adherence tendency. Bootstrap analysis with 5,000 resamples assessed direct and indirect associations, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) identified sufficient configurations associated with high exercise adherence tendency.
RESULTS: Integrated physical education course experience showed a positive direct association with exercise adherence tendency (β = 0.131, 95% CI [0.061, 0.198]). The specific indirect associations through exercise psychological need satisfaction (β = 0.110), health belief (β = 0.185), and the sequential pathway through exercise psychological need satisfaction and health belief (β = 0.209) were significant. The sequential pathway accounted for the largest specific indirect proportion of the total association (32.86%), and the total indirect association accounted for 79.40%. The fsQCA identified six partially overlapping sufficient configurations (solution coverage = 0.516; solution consistency = 0.891). Health belief appeared in all six configurations, and exercise psychological need satisfaction appeared in five.
CONCLUSION: Exercise adherence tendency among undergraduates in Sichuan Province was associated with the interplay of course experience, psychological need satisfaction, and health belief. The SEM and fsQCA findings provide complementary variable-oriented and configurational evidence. Given the cross-sectional design, the results should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects.