The impact of social support on exercise persistence in adolescents: the mediating effect of exercise self-efficacy and autonomic motivation

Abstract Objective This study aims to explore the relationship between social support and exercise persistence among junior high school students. Furthermore, it introduces exercise self-efficacy and autonomous motivation as mediating variables to analyze the pathway through which social support influences exercise persistence in this population. Methods A total of 4,294 junior high school students from 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province were surveyed using the Social Support Scale, Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale, Autonomous Motivation Scale, and Exercise Persistence Scale. After data cleaning, 3,776 valid responses were retained, yielding a valid response rate of 83%. Mediation analysis and bootstrapping methods were employed to test the hypothesized mediation model. Results (1) Social support was significantly positively correlated with exercise persistence (r = 0.275), exercise self-efficacy (r = 0.045), and autonomous motivation (r = 0.245). A small but significant positive correlation was also found between exercise self-efficacy and autonomous motivation (r = 0.044). (2) Mediation analysis indicated that social support not only had a direct positive effect on exercise persistence among junior high school students but also exerted indirect effects via exercise self-efficacy and autonomous motivation. The total effect was 0.368, with a direct effect of 0.239 and an indirect effect of 0.129. Conclusion (1) Social support plays a significant and direct role in promoting exercise persistence among junior high school students. (2) Exercise self-efficacy and autonomous motivation serve as important mediators in the relationship between social support and exercise persistence, with autonomous motivation exerting a stronger mediating effect. (3) A complete mediation pathway was identified, progressing from social support to exercise self-efficacy, then to autonomous motivation, and ultimately to exercise persistence, although the effect size of this pathway was relatively small.