How is mental health associated with teenagers’ attitudes toward sport participation?, The chain mediating role of exercise self-efficacy and sport confidence

PurposeTo elucidate the intrinsic psychological dynamics through which Mental Health is associated with Sport Participation Attitudes in adolescents, this study examines its direct and indirect effects through Exercise Self-Efficacy and Sport Confidence, developing a chained mediation model.MethodsA stratified cluster sampling method was employed to select 1,384 adolescents aged 12, 18 from Hunan Province as research subjects. A validated questionnaire was administered, and data were analyzed using SPSS and the PROCESS macro.ResultsAdolescent mental health has a significant positive association with attitudes toward sport participation, and exercise self-efficacy and sport confidence partly explain its effects as mediators. A significant chain mediation path is established between exercise self-efficacy and sport confidence, suggesting that mental health is associated with adolescents’ sport participation attitudes through improving exercise self-efficacy and subsequently strengthening sport confidence.ConclusionThis study clarifies the hierarchical psychological transmission mechanisms by which mental health is associated with adolescents’ sport participation attitudes, and identifies the progressive relationships of cognitive belief variables. These findings provide empirical evidence for adolescent mental health education, the optimization of campus sports teaching, and interventions in sport participation attitudes.