Associations between Physical Education Cognition and Health-Related Physical Fitness in Adolescents Aged 13–18: A Serial Mediation Analysis

Objective This study aimed to examine the association between physical education cognition and health-related physical fitness (PFI) among adolescents aged 13–18, and to test the parallel and serial mediating roles of sports attitude and the number of proficiently mastered motor skills. Methods A cross-sectional design was adopted using data from the 2020 Macao Citizen Physical Fitness Monitoring Project. A total of 2,303 secondary school students aged 13–18 were included in the analysis. Physical education cognition, sports attitude, and the number of proficiently mastered motor skills were assessed using standardized questionnaires, while health-related physical fitness was derived from multiple physical fitness test indicators and synthesized using Z-score standardization. Correlation analysis, linear regression analysis, and serial mediation analysis were conducted, with 5,000 bootstrap samples used to construct 95% confidence intervals. Results Physical education cognition, sports attitude, the number of proficiently mastered motor skills, and health-related physical fitness were all significantly and positively correlated with one another. Serial mediation analysis revealed that physical education cognition was associated with health-related physical fitness through both direct and indirect pathways. Specifically, sports attitude and the number of proficiently mastered motor skills exerted significant parallel and serial mediating effects. Among the indirect pathways, the mediating effect of sports attitude accounted for the largest proportion, while the serial mediation pathway through sports attitude and motor skill proficiency was also statistically significant. Conclusion The findings indicate a stable association between physical education cognition and adolescents’ health-related physical fitness, which is primarily manifested through indirect pathways involving sports attitude and motor skill experience. This study provides empirical evidence for understanding the interrelationships among physical education cognition, psychological factors, and behavioral skill experience in research on adolescent physical fitness.