The indirect association between physical fitness and physical activity enjoyment through perceived sport competence among female university students: a cross-sectional study

Physical fitness was associated with greater enjoyment of physical activity through perceived sport competence in a cross-sectional study of 312 female university students aged 18–22 at four universities in China. The researchers found a statistically significant indirect association between a composite fitness score and physical activity enjoyment through students’ perceived sport competence. Their results did not establish causation or temporal sequence: fitness was positively associated with perceived competence, and perceived competence was positively associated with enjoyment, but the design could not show that changing one factor would change another.

The study, published in BMC Psychology , used the Chinese National Student Physical Fitness Standard to operationalize physical fitness as a composite score. Its components were body mass index, calculated from measured height and weight, together with vital capacity, a 50-metre sprint, an 800-metre run, standing long jump, sit-and-reach and one-minute sit-ups. Perceived sport competence was assessed with the Sport Competence subscale of the Physical Self-Perception Profile—Revised, while physical activity enjoyment was measured with the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale, abbreviated PACES in the paper.

This combination assessed fitness through measured anthropometric and performance indicators but assessed competence and enjoyment through participants’ responses to psychological scales. Pearson correlation analyses showed that composite physical fitness was positively associated with both perceived sport competence and physical activity enjoyment, each at p < .001. The correlation between fitness and perceived competence was r = .339, while the correlation between fitness and enjoyment was r = .276.

Perceived sport competence had the largest observed correlation with physical activity enjoyment, at r = .618, also with p < .001. These coefficients describe the direction and strength of relationships within this sample. They do not by themselves demonstrate that better fitness produces a stronger sense of competence or that perceived competence causes enjoyment.

To estimate the indirect association, the researchers used PROCESS Model 4 with 5,000 bootstrap resamples. In this analysis, physical fitness remained positively associated with perceived sport competence, and perceived sport competence remained positively associated with physical activity enjoyment after accounting for fitness. The completely standardized indirect effect through perceived sport competence was 0.201, with a 95% bootstrap confidence interval of 0.131 to 0.276.

Because this interval did not include zero, the researchers classified the indirect association as statistically significant. In statistical terms, the model was consistent with perceived sport competence accounting for part, but not necessarily all, of the observed relationship between fitness and enjoyment. The findings were limited by the study’s cross-sectional design and its recruitment of participants from four Chinese universities.

The sample was restricted to women aged 18–22, so the results may not apply to male students, older adults, people with different educational settings or wider populations. No intervention was tested, and the analysis did not establish what would happen if fitness or perceptions of competence changed over time. The authors concluded that perceived sport competence may be relevant to understanding physical activity enjoyment in this population.

They said university physical education programs might consider integrating fitness development with mastery-oriented approaches intended to support perceived sport competence, but that program-design suggestion was not itself tested by the study.

Subject of Research: Associations among physical fitness, perceived sport competence and physical activity enjoyment in female university students

Article Title: The indirect association between physical fitness and physical activity enjoyment through perceived sport competence among female university students: a cross-sectional study

Article References: Su, Z., Zhang, N., & Liu, Y. (2026). The indirect association between physical fitness and physical activity enjoyment through perceived sport competence among female university students: a cross-sectional study. BMC Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05399-0

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05399-0

Keywords: physical fitness, physical activity enjoyment, perceived sport competence, female university students, cross-sectional study, China, psychological correlates, mediation analysis, physical education, student health, indirect, association