Zhang Junmin, Liu Yongfeng, Zhang Xiaogang, Hu Shuiyou
School of Sports Training, Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, China.
School of Football Sports, Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Aug 11;16:1632130. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1632130. eCollection 2025.
Academic engagement is a critical aspect of adolescent development. Understanding the mechanism of academic engagement will help to take effective measures to improve the academic engagement of middle school students. This study used a serial mediation model to delve into the complex association among physical activity, interpersonal relationships, academic support, and academic engagement in middle school students.
A sample of 746 participants in middle school (51.1% female) completed validated measurement tools for each variable.
Results showed that grade was negatively correlated with physical activity and academic engagement, yet positively associated with interpersonal relationships, and significant positive correlations among the four variables. In contrast, gender and only-child status had weak correlations with other measured variables. Findings from regression analyses further underscored that physical activity positively directly predicted academic engagement. Notably, mediation analyses showed that both interpersonal relationships and academic support mediated the separate relationship between physical activity and academic engagement, and they also supported the hypothesized serial mediation effect. The final serial mediation model effectively explained a substantial 31.8% portion of the variance in academic engagement.
These findings comprehensively illustrate the complex interactions between physical activity and academic engagement, deepening our understanding of the determinants of the relationship between the two variables among middle school students. The study provides valuable empirical evidence for designing targeted interventions aimed at enhancing adolescents' academic engagement through improved physical activity, interpersonal relationships, and academic support.
学业参与是青少年发展的一个关键方面。了解学业参与的机制将有助于采取有效措施来提高中学生的学业参与度。本研究采用了一个系列中介模型来深入探究中学生的体育活动、人际关系、学业支持与学业参与之间的复杂关联。
746名中学生（51.1%为女生）的样本完成了针对每个变量的经过验证的测量工具。
结果表明，年级与体育活动和学业参与呈负相关，但与人际关系呈正相关，且这四个变量之间存在显著的正相关。相比之下，性别和独生子女身份与其他测量变量的相关性较弱。回归分析结果进一步强调，体育活动直接正向预测学业参与。值得注意的是，中介分析表明，人际关系和学业支持都介导了体育活动与学业参与之间的单独关系，并且它们也支持了假设的系列中介效应。最终的系列中介模型有效地解释了学业参与中31.8%的方差。
这些发现全面说明了体育活动与学业参与之间的复杂相互作用，加深了我们对中学生这两个变量之间关系的决定因素的理解。该研究为设计有针对性的干预措施提供了有价值的实证证据，这些干预措施旨在通过改善体育活动、人际关系和学业支持来提高青少年的学业参与度。
