Effects of Campus Environment in Middle Schools on Adolescent Health Promotion:An Empirical Test on Mediating Effect of Physical Activity
Physical activity can reduce the incidence of excess weight or obesity,depression,and anxiety and enhance social interaction.Schools are the best places to promote health through physical activity.Adolescents in middle school are generally less physically active,so physical activities during recess and lunch breaks can positively affect their health.To fully develop promoting health in the campus environment,it is important to explore the relationships between adolescent health,the campus environment,and physical activities and improve the quality of the campus environment accordingly.This paper reports on an empirical study of the effects of campus environment on adolescent health promotion,which used the structural equation model(SEM)with physical activity as the mediating variable.First,the campus environmental characteristic factors that influence adolescent health were recognized by using the grounded theory.Second,a hypothesis model of influencing paths of campus environment on adolescent health promotion was determined.A SEM was built by using physical activity as the mediating variable and health promotion effect as the dependent variable.In the SEM,demographic characteristics(including gender,grade,and classroom floor)and adolescents'living habits(ways of getting to school)were added as the control variables.Finally,data were collected through a questionnaire survey.A pre-survey was conducted,and the questionnaire was optimized and adjusted based on the results.Subsequently,the formal questionnaire survey was carried out.Results showed that(1)campus environmental factors influencing adolescent health promotion include environmental quality,functional services,and activity support.(2)H1 passed the verification partially,while H2,H3,and H4 all passed the verification.H1a(environmental quality has obvious positive effects on adolescent health)and H1b(functional service has obvious positive effects on adolescent health)failed the significance test.(3)Campus environment influences health promotion directly or through the mediating effect of physical activities.Specifically,activity support can influence health promotion directly and indirectly through physical activity.However,environmental quality and functional services only influence health promotion indirectly through physical activity.(4)Physical activity mediates the action mechanism of the campus environment to health promotion,and the mediating effect of activity intensity is stronger than that of activity breadth.The effects of environmental quality on activity breadth are stronger than on the activity intensity.The effects of functional service on activity intensity are stronger than on the activity breadth.The effects of activity support on activity intensity are stronger than on the activity breadth.Architectural modeling is the most important factor influencing environmental quality.Stairwells,exhibition promotion,and signage are critical for functional service.Summer shading,road attraction,and activity facilities are crucial for activity support.This study has some limitations:(1)the study area focusing on Wuhan City may lead to insufficient research conclusions.More empirical studies around China can be carried out in future;and(2)since the objectively measured campus environmental factors are ignored,it is impossible to compare differences between subjectively and objectively measured campus environments in terms of adolescent health promotion.In future studies,subjectively and objectively measured campus environmental factors can be involved simultaneously.
万方数据
