Relationships between physical activity, general self-efficacy, sport motivation and physical self-concept among primary school students.

Introduction: Physical activity is fundamental to children's physical and psychological development, yet the psychological correlates of the association between physical activity and physical self-concept remain incompletely understood. This study examined associations among self-reported physical activity, general self-efficacy, positive sport-participation motivation, and physical self-concept in Chinese primary school students and tested a theory-informed serial indirect model of cross-sectional associations. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 782 students in Dunhua, Jilin Province, China, using a study-specific adapted composite questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and Hayes' PROCESS Model 6 with 5,000 bootstrap samples were used to examine the specified indirect associations, controlling for gender, grade, parental education, and parental companionship in physical activity. Results: Self-reported physical activity was positively associated with physical self-concept (r = 0.442, Conclusion: These findings suggest that general self-efficacy and positive sport-participation motivation are related to the cross-sectional association between self-reported physical activity and physical self-concept in primary school students. Given the cross-sectional design, the reported indirect estimates should be interpreted as statistical indirect associations rather than as evidence of temporal ordering or causal mechanisms.