Qian Huang

Objective: This study explores the relationship between appearance anxiety (AA) and exercise participation and constructs a chain mediation model through the mediating effects of negative body image (NBI) and exercise self-efficacy. Methods: This study employed the Appearance Anxiety Scale-Brief Version, the Negative Physical Self Scale-General Appearance Subscale (NPSS-G), the Self-efficacy for Exercise (SEE) scale, and the Physical Activity Rating Scale (PARS-3) to conduct a questionnaire survey among Chinese college students. A total of 1,145 questionnaires were distributed, and 1,052 valid responses were collected, yielding an effective response rate of 91.88%. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and the bootstrap method were used to analyze the relationships among the variables and the mediating effects, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results: The results revealed that appearance anxiety was significantly negatively correlated with exercise participation and exercise self-efficacy and significantly positively correlated with negative body image. Both negative body image and exercise self-efficacy significantly mediated the relationship between appearance anxiety and participation in exercise, and together, they formed a significant chain-mediating relationship. Discussion: The findings of this study indicate a chain-linked association pattern among appearance anxiety, negative body image, exercise self-efficacy, and exercise participation that aligns with the theoretical model, suggesting that appearance-related negative cognitions may be connected to exercise participation through body image evaluation and exercise belief. In practice, while promoting exercise participation, universities should concurrently emphasize diverse aesthetic education, body acceptance support, the enhancement of exercise self-efficacy, and the optimization of the exercise context to strengthen the sustainability of college students’ exercise participation.

Background: Both physical activity (PA) and sports participation (SP) are considered important for the promotion of health among adults in the post-disease outbreak period. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the study applied the Socio-ecological Model, with a total of 45 factors on four levels: individual characteristics, individual behaviors, interpersonal relationships, and community environment. The aim was to apply interpretable machine learning algorithms in the examination of common and distinct determinants of PA and SP with the purpose of deriving specific insights relevant to public health policy. Methods: To examine the comparable but different patterns of behavior regarding PA and SP, this research used the Chinese General Social Survey of 2021 with a sample of N = 2,717 participants. Eight machine learning models were designed with the aid of Python coding, including the following models: Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine, Decision Tree, Random Forest (RF), Adaptive Boosting, Gradient Boosting Decision Tree, eXtreme Gradient Boosting Model (XGBoost), and Light Gradient Boosting. As part of evaluating these models' performance, Accuracy, Area Under the Curve (AUC), and the F1-score results were used after executing the grid search on the models' respective variables. The Permutation Feature Importance method was used to quantify factor importance and identify key factors, and Partial Dependence Plots were generated to interpret the direction of these influences. Results: Results showed that the best algorithm for predicting PA was the RF with an AUC of 0.613 and that it selected 10 key factors. Additionally, the best algorithm that predicted SP was XGBoost with an AUC of 0.772, and it selected 12 key factors. Common influencing factors during the COVID-19 pandemic include suitability for exercise and recreational lifestyle, with BMI category also playing a significant role. Distinctive factors of PA were primarily related to the community environment (e.g., fresh food outlets and neighborhood care), reflecting its dependence on environmental contexts. In contrast, distinctive factors of SP were more concentrated at the individual characteristics (e.g., education level and socioeconomic status) and behaviors level (e.g., learning and health examination), highlighting the role of personal initiative and the accumulation of socio-cultural and economic capital. Conclusion: The Socio-ecological Model effectively delineated commonalities as well as differences in determinants of PA and SP across adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interpretable machine learning aided in identifying and ranking multi-level determinants, offering a nuanced insight into the relative importance across levels of ecology. These findings provide data-driven insights for future disease outbreaks, facilitating the targeted allocation of intervention resources to key influencing domains.

Using a quantitative method, this paper examined the role of physical activity well-being before physical activity participation and gentrification architecture pursuit in 481 respondents (including 377 with childhood left-behind experiences) in Xi’an City, China, and tested the effect of the metacognition level of the group with childhood left-behind experiences on this pathway. The results showed that (1) physical activity participation of the group with childhood left-behind experiences had a significant positive predictive effect on gentrification architecture pursuit; (2) the level of physical activity participation of the group with childhood left-behind experiences could exert an indirect effect on gentrification architecture pursuit through physical activity well-being; (3) metacognition played a negative role in the pathway of physical activity participation predicting gentrification architecture pursuit of the group with childhood left-behind experiences; (4) the level of metacognition played a negative role in the pathway of physical activity participation and gentrification architecture pursuit of the group with childhood left-behind experiences; (5) metacognition also played a negative role in the path of physical activity well-being in predicting gentrification architecture pursuit in groups with childhood left-behind experiences. This paper is important in analyzing the complex effects of childhood left-behind experiences on individual consumption perceptions and develop a deeper understanding.

The limitations surrounding the education and teaching of green building courses in higher education institutions are becoming increasingly evident. The roles of instructors, the learning environments of green building-related courses, and the impact of student engagement in these courses are attracting significant academic interest. This study delves into the cross-level mediating roles of the green building learning climate and helping behaviors, exploring the link between instructors’ sense of responsibility and student engagement. It employs a multi-layer structural equation model for statistical analysis, utilizing paired survey data from 543 students and 51 instructors of green building courses, based on social cognitive theory. This paper incorporates the educational psychology concepts of “climate” and “mutual aid” with the green building learning climate and mutual aid behaviors. It provides a theoretical analysis of how instructors’ sense of responsibility in colleges influences students’ learning of green building knowledge and skills. By merging the ideas of “climate” and “mutual aid”, this study aims to theoretically examine the impact of instructors’ responsibility on student engagement with green building concepts. This approach seeks to offer new theoretical insights for pedagogical studies in green building courses.

In light of China’s burgeoning sports competition and performance sector, the evident shift towards diverse sports consumption preferences underscores an urgent need to refine the current consumption structure. Notably, the underdeveloped ornamental sports consumption sphere impedes the evolution of this structure. This study, focusing on the pivotal demographic in the sports event consumption market—college students, deploys a questionnaire-based approach to explore patterns in ornamental sports consumption, internet usage behavior, perceived value associated with ornamental sports, and trust towards this mode of consumption. Leveraging the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model and integrating various theories, we constructed hypothetical models. Utilizing structural equation modeling, we probed the intricate relationships among these variables through path analysis. This empirical investigation specifically scrutinized the impact of college students’ internet behavior on their spectator sports consumption, extending to the intermediary roles played by the perceived value and trust related to ornamental sports. Key findings indicate: (1) A direct positive correlation exists between college students’ internet behaviors and their affinity for spectator sports. (2) The perceived value of ornamental sports acts as a mediator between students’ internet activities and their consumption behaviors. (3) Trust in ornamental sports consumption mediates the relationship between internet usage and consumption patterns.

Green buildings play a pivotal role in advancing ecological civilization and promoting green, low-carbon development. Numerous studies have delved into the construction techniques, process attributes, economic benefits, risk management, and benefit assessments associated with green buildings. Concurrently, research on the profitability models, marketing strategies, and public purchasing intentions of commercial fitness clubs has also yielded extensive findings. Yet, there is a noticeable gap: limited research has investigated the nexus between green building development and consumers’ propensity to purchase fitness services from these commercial establishments. Building upon the foundation set by previous scholars and employing the Extended IAD Decision-Making Model, this study utilizes the PLS-SEM method to analyze collected questionnaire data. Through path analysis, we examine the relationships between variables. Our findings indicate that: (1) Positive perceptions of green building consumption bolster the purchasing intentions toward fitness services in commercial fitness clubs. (2) Perceived risk mediates the relationship between green building consumption perceptions and consumers’ fitness service purchasing intentions in commercial fitness clubs. (3) Environmental awareness enhances the correlation between green building consumption perceptions and the propensity to purchase services in these clubs. The goal of this research is to underscore the importance of green buildings both in environmental and economic contexts and to offer insights that can elevate the profitability of commercial fitness clubs.