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Background Physical activity (PA) in adolescents plays a critical role in their healthy development. Although parental PA is associated with adolescents' PA, the role of family PA support in this relationship remains unclear. This study aims to examine how family PA support mediates the association between parental PA and adolescent PA. Methods A 2023 survey conducted across 15 provinces in China ultimately included 11,940 participants. Multiple linear regression examined the links between parental PA, family PA support, and adolescents' PA, adjusting for potential confounders. A mediation model tested whether family PA support mediated the relationship between parental PA and adolescents' PA. Subgroup analyses explored heterogeneity across groups. Results After adjusting for confounding variables, parental PA was positively associated with adolescents' PA (β = 0.0969, 95% CI: 0.0796 to 0.1140; p 0.001). Family PA support was positively associated with adolescents' PA (β = 0.3346, 95% CI: 0.3176 to 0.3517, p 0.001). Family PA support mediated 31.99% of the total association of parental PA on adolescents' PA, with a mediation effect size of 0.0310, suggesting that higher parental PA was indirectly linked to increased adolescents' PA through greater family PA support. Conclusion The study found that parental PA was positively associated with adolescents' PA, while family PA support was positively associated with adolescents' PA, and family PA support mediated the relationship between parental PA and adolescents' PA.
Fusheng et al. (Thu,) studied this question.