How Does Family Sports Atmosphere Shape Adolescents' Autonomous Physical Education Learning Behavior

Objective: To investigate the relationship between family sports climate (FSC) and adolescent autonomous physical learning behavior (APLB), and to examine the parallel mediating roles of paternal exercise motivation (PEM) and maternal exercise motivation (MEM) as well as the moderating role of gender, thereby providing empirical evidence for family-based physical activity interventions. Methods: A total of 1,625 middle and high school students (837 males, 788 females) and their parents were surveyed using the Family Sports Climate Scale, the Exercise Motivation Scale (parental versions), and the Autonomous Physical Learning Behavior Scale. SPSS, Mplus, and the PROCESS macro were used to test a moderated parallel mediation model. Results: (1) Family sports climate significantly and positively predicted APLB among adolescents (β = 0.110, p 0.05) were significantly stronger in males than in females. (4) The maternal mediation pathway was not significantly moderated by gender, suggesting that MEM exerts consistent effects on APLB regardless of gender. Conclusion: Family sports climate not only directly promotes APLB among adolescents, but also exerts a parallel mediation effect by enhancing paternal and maternal exercise motivation. Furthermore, this intervention mechanism exhibits significant gender differences on the paternal pathway, with paternal motivation demonstrating stronger effects for males, while maternal motivation provides consistent benefits across genders.