ArticleBMC public health2026
The impact of social support on exercise persistence in adolescents: the mediating effect of exercise self-efficacy and autonomic motivation.
Article in BMC public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- The relationship among college students' social support, exercise motivation, and physical exercise behavior: a cross-lagged analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- From exercise dose to social dose: a narrative review of the components, mechanisms, and design principles of group-based physical activity interventions to reduce loneliness.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
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Abstract
objectiveThis study aims to explore the relationship between social support and exercise persistence among junior high school students. Furthermore, it introduces exercise self-efficacy and autonomous motivation as mediating variables to analyze the pathway through which social support influences exercise persistence in this population.
methodsA total of 4,294 junior high school students from 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province were surveyed using the Social Support Scale, Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale, Autonomous Motivation Scale, and Exercise Persistence Scale. After data cleaning, 3,776 valid responses were retained, yielding a valid response rate of 83%. Mediation analysis and bootstrapping methods were employed to test the hypothesized mediation model.
results(1) Social support was significantly positively correlated with exercise persistence (r = 0.275), exercise self-efficacy (r = 0.045), and autonomous motivation (r = 0.245). A small but significant positive correlation was also found between exercise self-efficacy and autonomous motivation (r = 0.044). (2) Mediation analysis indicated that social support not only had a direct positive effect on exercise persistence among junior high school students but also exerted indirect effects via exercise self-efficacy and autonomous motivation. The total effect was 0.368, with a direct effect of 0.239 and an indirect effect of 0.129.
conclusion(1) Social support plays a significant and direct role in promoting exercise persistence among junior high school students. (2) Exercise self-efficacy and autonomous motivation serve as important mediators in the relationship between social support and exercise persistence, with autonomous motivation exerting a stronger mediating effect. (3) A complete mediation pathway was identified, progressing from social support to exercise self-efficacy, then to autonomous motivation, and ultimately to exercise persistence, although the effect size of this pathway was relatively small.
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