The Influence of Teachers’ Emotional Support on College Students’ Physical Education Engagement: A Chain Mediation Model

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the relationship between teachers’ emotional support and college students’ physical education engagement, as well as to verify the mediating roles of academic self-efficacy and positive academic emotions in this association. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was adopted, and a total of 913 college students (44.9% males and 55.1% females) from several universities located in Liaoning Province, China were recruited via the convenience sampling method to participate in a questionnaire survey. The research instruments included the Teachers’ Emotional Support Questionnaire, the Physical Education Engagement Scale, the Academic Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, and a truncated version of the College Students’ General Academic Emotions Questionnaire which only incorporated the dimension of positive academic emotions. Results: (1) Teachers’ emotional support could positively predict college students’ physical education engagement; (2) Teachers’ emotional support exerted a positive predictive effect on academic self-efficacy, which in turn positively predicted both positive academic emotions and college students’ physical education engagement; additionally, positive academic emotions were found to be a positive predictor of college students’ physical education engagement. Conclusion: Not only do academic self-efficacy and positive academic emotions mediate individually in the relationship between teachers’ emotional support and college students’ physical education engagement, but they also exert a serial mediating role therein.