{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T05:05:59Z","timestamp":1784264759223,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784246400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Physical activity is fundamental to children\u2019s 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.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>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\u2019 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.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Self-reported physical activity was positively associated with physical self-concept (r\u202f=\u202f0.442,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001). Significant indirect associations were observed via general self-efficacy (standardized indirect estimate\u202f=\u202f0.109, 95% CI\u202f=\u202f0.079\u20130.141) and positive sport-participation motivation (standardized indirect estimate\u202f=\u202f0.058, 95% CI\u202f=\u202f0.035\u20130.084), together with a serial indirect association involving both variables (standardized serial indirect estimate\u202f=\u202f0.031, 95% CI\u202f=\u202f0.019\u20130.045).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>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.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1858576","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T04:23:56Z","timestamp":1784262236000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Relationships between physical activity, general self-efficacy, sport motivation and physical self-concept among primary school students"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Ziang","family":"Zhu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physical Education, Northeast Normal University","place":["Changchun, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaohong","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physical Education, Guangxi University","place":["Nanning, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiawen","family":"Peng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physical Education, Northeast Normal University","place":["Changchun, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mingze","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physical Education, Northeast Normal University","place":["Changchun, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.84.2.191","article-title":"Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change","volume":"84","author":"Bandura","year":"1977","journal-title":"Psychol. 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