The Influence Of Social Support On College Students’ Physical Activity

This study explored the relationship between different sources and types of social support and the psychological mechanism of college students’physical activities.Using social cognitive theory as the guiding model,the purpose of this study was to test through a pre-study and three formal studies in college students.Pre-study:To examined the structure of social support from different sources for physical activity in college students,this study used a revised questionnaire to conduct in 253 college students(M_age=20.89±2.74 years old,including 59 boys and194 girls).The survey found that the social support of college students’physical activity is a second-order reflection-formative structure through item analysis,dimensional structure test and reliability and validity test.The four first-order factors are information support,esteem support,emotion support and instrument support,and the second-order factor is the social support of parents/friends.The questionnaire has good reliability and validity.Study 1:In order to test whether different nature of social support have predictive effects on college students,this study investigated 481 college students(M_age=19.01±1.62 years old,including 182 boys and 299 girls)by questionnaires.Taking the amount of physical activity as the dependent variable,the type of support from friends and the type of support from parents as independent variables,it was found that only the esteem support from friend（β=.250,t=5.168,p<.001,ΔR²=.086）and the emotion support from parents（β=.101,t=2.095,p=.095,ΔR²=.008）can predict the amount of physical activity through multiple linear regression analysis.The equation can explain 9.5%of variance in physical activity.Study 2:In order to examine the psychological mechanisms between different social support and physical activities in the social cognitive theory framework,this study investigated 338 college students(M_age=19.02±1.55 years old,including 126boys and 212 girls)by questionnaires.The study found that social support from friends/parents can directly influence physical activity,and influence on physical activity through self-efficacy.The friends support-physical activity model can explain 19.1%of variance in physical activity,and the parents support-physical activity model can explain 19.6%of variance in physical activity.Considering the role of different types of social support,it was found that in both models,the total effect of esteem support from friends and information support from parents on physical activity was greatest.Study 3:In order to test the intervention effect of friend support,this study conducted a one-month intervention on 30 college students’friend support(5 boys and 13 girls in the experimental group,M_age=19.94±1.43 years old;3 boys and 9girls in the control group,Mage=19.42±1.00 years old).The form of intervention is to affirm and encourage the participants’physical activity through WeChat messages.Taking the post-measured physical activity as the dependent variable,social support as the independent variable,and pre-measured physical activity as the covariate variable,this study did not find any difference between the experimental group and the control group in post-measured physical activity by univariate covariance analysis.Conclusion:（1）Social support can predict and explain college students’physical activity,but the effect is limited.（2）Both friends social support and parents social support can influence physical activities through self-efficacy.