The findings of this study provide strong empirical support for all proposed hypotheses, aligning closely with Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Demonstrating that the family environment directly and indirectly (through perceived social support) influences college students’ autonomous fitness behaviors, with psychological resilience moderating this relationship, these results extend theoretical frameworks. Theoretically, they nuance SCT’s reciprocal influence concept and support SDT’s need-satisfaction mechanism in health behavior contexts. Practically, this study suggest that educational institutions can promote students’ physical health by designing family-oriented health programs to enhance support and resilience-building interventions, as boosting both family support and individual resilience may encourage regular physical activity, contributing to long – term well-being.

The relationship between family environment and autonomous fitness behavior

The results of this study indicate that family environment has a significant positive effect on college students autonomous fitness behavior, confirming Hypothesis 1. This finding aligns with previous studies that emphasize the critical role of family dynamics in shaping physical activity behaviors. Specifically, the three dimensions selected for analysis—cohesion, recreational orientation, and conflict—provide key insights into how family environments influence fitness engagement. Cohesion, as both an indicator of emotional connection and a source of support among family members, plays a pivotal role in enhancing exercise motivation. Close family ties not only provide emotional and social support but also help students develop confidence in balancing academic obligations with physical activity69. Parents’ active involvement and role modeling further reinforce students’ self-efficacy and commitment to maintaining exercise routines70. Additionally, supportive family relationships reduce psychological stress and anxiety, fostering long-term adherence to fitness behaviors71. “Recreational orientation” fosters emotional openness and interaction, enabling better communication among family members. A family environment characterized by shared enjoyment of healthy lifestyles boosts intrinsic motivation for fitness and integrates physical activity into everyday life. This positive atmosphere mitigates negative emotions related to academic pressures and social challenges, thus improving the sustainability of fitness behaviors. Conversely, “conflict” within the family can undermine motivation and engagement in exercise. Conflicts often lead to a lack of emotional support, increasing emotional burdens and detracting from fitness enthusiasm72. In our sample, students from families with frequent conflicts reported lower levels of autonomous exercise behavior, primarily attributable to emotional stress and a lack of support. This highlights the importance of a harmonious family atmosphere in promoting healthy behaviors among college students. Students from high-conflict environments may struggle to maintain regular exercise routines because of increased psychological pressure. These dynamics can be further explained through SCT73, which posits that environmental factors play a crucial role in behavioral development, The theory demonstrates how supportive family environments facilitate sustained behavioral change by providing role models and social encouragement. This theoretical framework helps elucidate how students can overcome challenges in maintaining consistent exercise regimens. In contrast, family conflicts create emotional strain, which undermines self-efficacy and hinders sustained physical activity engagement. The family environment profoundly shapes college students fitness behaviors by providing emotional support, fostering shared values, and alleviating psychological burdens. Cultivating supportive and positively engaged family dynamics proves crucial in fostering students autonomous fitness behaviors. These findings highlight the pivotal role family dynamics play in molding health behaviors throughout the transition into adulthood. Furthermore, a supportive family environment not only offers emotional and practical reinforcement but also establishes behavioral paradigms that positively impact students sustained participation in physical activities.

The relatively large standardized coefficient for the effect of family environment on autonomous fitness behavior (β = 0.846) may be related to the overlap in the measurement scopes of the variables. Specifically, both the Family Environment Scale and the Autonomous Fitness Behavior Scale contain content related to “family support” and “fitness initiative” (e.g., the conceptual association between family cohesion and autonomous fitness motivation). However, combined with the VIF results (all

In summary, the dimensions of family environment, including cohesion, recreational orientation, and conflict, profoundly influence college students’ autonomous fitness behavior through mechanisms such as emotional support, role modeling, and social support. From the perspective of Social Cognitive Theory, these mechanisms provide a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted roles and processes by which family environments promote fitness behaviors in college students. These processes not only help students maintain fitness habits amidst academic and life pressures but also offer valuable theoretical insights for the design of intervention measures, underscoring the critical role of family in shaping physical activity behaviors among college students.

The mediating effect of perceived social support

Our study found that perceived social support significantly mediates the relationship between family environment and adolescents autonomous fitness behaviors, consistent with Hypothesis 2. Specifically, the indirect effect of family environment on autonomous fitness behaviors through perceived social support was substantial, accounting for 29.20% of the total effect. This indicates that a considerable portion of the influence of family environment on autonomous fitness behaviors is mediated through perceived social support.

Moreover, the direct effect of family environment on autonomous fitness behaviors remained significant even after accounting for the mediating role of perceived social support. This suggests that while perceived social support is a critical mediator, family environment also exerts a direct and substantial impact on autonomous fitness behaviors. This pattern of results demonstrates partial mediation, suggesting that perceived social support partially mediates the relationship between family environment and autonomous exercise behavior, while additional pathways also play a role in this association. Collectively, these findings substantiate the role of perceived social support as a partial mediator, elucidating how family environment shapes adolescents autonomous exercise behavior. This mechanism reinforces the pivotal role of social support in fostering health-promoting behaviors during adolescence. Guided by Social Support Theory74, which posited that social resources bridge environmental contexts and individual behavior, we hypothesize a mediating role for perceived social support. Empirical evidence showed that supportive family environments enhance adolescents’ perception of social capital, which in turn promotes health-promoting behaviors like regular exercise75.

The mediation process can be further contextualized with the moderation finding: A supportive family environment enhances adolescents’ perception of social support particularly among those with higher psychological resilience. This may reflect two plausible mechanisms: (1) Resilience as an amplifier of support extraction: High resilience could enable individuals to actively “decode” and internalize support signals even in moderately supportive environments, transforming subtle environmental cues into perceived social capital. (2) Resilience as a synergist with strong environments: In highly supportive family contexts, resilience may act as a “booster,” magnifying the multiplicative benefits of abundant support to foster deeper perception of social support. Conversely, low resilience might blunt individuals’ sensitivity to environmental support cues, necessitating more overt or consistent FE signals to elicit comparable perception of social support. This underscores resilience’s role as a psychological filter that shapes how individuals process social environmental inputs.

Existing literature has established that perceived social support is one of the key variables influencing youth physical activity76. Appropriate social support has been shown to effectively promote adolescents’ participation in physical activity77. Specifically, perceptions of support from parents, peers, and teachers are significantly associated with adolescents’ levels of physical activity78. In this study, perceived social support is defined as the supportive system recognized by college students that meets their fitness needs. This support not only resonates with students but also profoundly influences their behavioral motivation and participation intentions on a psychological level. It fosters enthusiasm for engaging in physical activity and promotes sustained, stable, and active fitness behaviors. The findings reveal that family environment significantly promotes autonomous fitness behavior, a phenomenon closely tied to the role of perceived social support. When college students perceive support from family and social networks, they are more likely to respond positively to fitness challenges, thereby increasing their commitment to exercise. Such evidence further corroborates the critical role of social support in promoting youth participation in physical activity. Specifically, the mediating role of perceived social support highlights its importance in shaping positive exercise behaviors. By facilitating emotional and instrumental resources, perceived social support empowers individuals to overcome barriers to physical activity, reinforcing the significance of family and broader social environments in fostering sustainable fitness habits.

From a theoretical perspective, SCT offers a robust framework for understanding this mediation process. SCT emphasizes the role of observational learning and reinforcement in behavioral shaping. Specifically, perceived social support from family and peers enhances adolescents self-efficacy and motivation to engage in physical activities, thereby serving as a mediator between family environmental factors and the development of autonomous exercise habits. Adolescents who perceive such support are more likely to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors through observing and emulating the positive behaviors demonstrated within their social circles. In summary, the mediating role of perceived social support in the relationship between family environment and college students’ autonomous fitness behavior underscores the critical importance of social support in promoting healthy behaviors. Whether through emotional support, cognitive support, or positive feedback within social networks, perceived social support provides college students with a stable support system that helps them overcome challenges in fitness activities and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Future intervention strategies should focus on enhancing college students’ perception of social support by fostering collaboration between family and broader social networks. Such an approach would not only strengthen their ability to cope with obstacles but also encourage the sustained development of autonomous fitness behaviors, contributing to their overall well-being.

The moderating effect of psychological resilience

The results of this study indicate that psychological resilience plays a significant moderating role in the mediating effect of family environment on perceived social support, which aligns with Hypothesis 3. Specifically, college students with higher levels of psychological resilience are better able to regulate the influence of family environment on perceived social support, thereby fostering the development of their autonomous fitness behaviors. This finding can be explained through Resilience Development Theory, which posits that psychological resilience allows individuals to tap into internal resources and reshape their cognitive and belief systems when faced with stress or adversity, helping them restore or maintain psychological balance. While early theories emphasized resilience as a trait-like “meta-theory” enabling cognitive restructuring under adversity, contemporary frameworks highlight its malleable nature, particularly in health behaviors79. For instance, sports psychology research demonstrates that resilience can be cultivated to sustain exercise engagement during challenges, reflecting its dynamic adaptability80. Our findings align with this duality: resilient individuals leverage both stable dispositional resources and situational adjustments to amplify the positive effects of family environment on fitness behaviors. This bridges trait-based and process-oriented perspectives, showing that resilience acts as both a foundational capacity and context-sensitive mechanism in health behavior regulation. Our findings further indicate that psychological resilience moderates the first stage of the mediation model-specifically, the path from family environment to perceived social support. This suggests that individuals with higher resilience are more adept at translating supportive family contexts into perceived social support, thereby strengthening the indirect pathway to autonomous fitness behavior.

For individuals with high psychological resilience, the family environment enhances perceived social support primarily through cognitive appraisal and resource internalization—specifically, research shows that highly resilient individuals have stronger cognitive restructuring abilities, which allow them to actively interpret and utilize positive cues in their family environment81. In a supportive family setting—characterized by emotional warmth and effective communication—they selectively attend to and amplify these positive cues, converting them into heightened perceptions of available support. This occurs because they effectively leverage familial resources, integrating external support into their psychological capital, thereby reinforcing their subjective sense of social support. Conversely, for individuals with low psychological resilience, the family environment’s impact follows a different pathway. Due to ineffective coping strategies and a tendency toward negative cognitive biases, they struggle to fully benefit from supportive family dynamics. Even in a positive family environment, their limited psychological resources hinder the translation of external support into perceived social support. In adverse family conditions (e.g., high conflict or emotional neglect), their vulnerability exacerbates the situation: the lack of psychological buffering mechanisms intensifies the negative effects, further eroding their perception of support. Their reduced emotional sensitivity and difficulty in cognitive reframing diminish their ability to recognize or utilize support from family and broader social networks82.

A comparative analysis of the family environment’s impact on perceived social support reveals divergent effects under high versus low psychological resilience conditions. Individuals with high resilience exhibit a markedly stronger increase in perceived social support within a positive family environment compared to their low-resilience counterparts. Conversely, in adverse family environments, while high-resilience individuals may experience moderate effects, their capacity for psychological self-regulation enables them to sustain a relatively stable perception of available support. In stark contrast, those with low resilience demonstrate a pronounced decline in perceived support under such conditions. These findings underscore psychological resilience as a critical protective factor, moderating the influence of family environment on perceived social support—a mechanism rooted in cognitive appraisal styles, adaptive coping strategies, and psychological resource mobilization83.

Psychological resilience, as a protective mechanism against stress, helps college students effectively leverage external resources-such as support from family, friends, and coaches-to navigate the challenges encountered during physical activity. Resilient individuals exhibit greater adaptability and recovery in the face of difficulties, enabling them to utilize social support more effectively and maintain their exercise routines, even when confronted with academic pressures or time constraints. This phenomenon can be further understood through the framework of emotion regulation. Individuals with higher resilience tend to use emotion regulation strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal, to manage the stress and challenges associated with their fitness routines. This allows them to maintain a positive emotional state, enhance intrinsic motivation, and improve the sustainability of their exercise behaviors84. Such emotional regulation not only helps them cope with fatigue and pressure during workouts but also fuels their interest and engagement in physical activity, thereby fostering the development of sustained fitness behaviors. Furthermore, resilient individuals typically exhibit a strong sense of goal orientation in setting and pursuing fitness objectives. This goal-directed approach enables them to plan their exercise routines clearly and strengthens both their autonomy and persistence in maintaining these behaviors. Throughout this process, social support plays a crucial role. Support from parents, friends, and peers not only boosts their self-confidence but also provides additional motivation and resources, helping them stay committed to their fitness journey. Thus, psychological resilience, as a blend of internal and external factors, enables individuals to adjust their emotions and behaviors more flexibly in response to external challenges, ensuring the continued development of positive and lasting fitness habits.

The flexibility of emotional regulation theory further elucidates this mechanism. According to the theory, an individual’s ability to flexibly adjust their emotional regulation and coping strategies when faced with potential trauma or stress directly impacts their capacity for adaptation and recovery. In the context of fitness behaviors, college students with higher psychological resilience are better able to tailor their coping strategies to their specific circumstances, optimizing their use of social support and effectively enhancing the sustainability and intrinsic motivation for their fitness routines85. This adaptive coping mechanism not only helps individuals maintain a positive emotional state during adversity but also strengthens their sense of commitment to and engagement in physical activity.

In conclusion, psychological resilience plays a pivotal moderating role in the relationship between family environment and perceived social support. College students with higher levels of resilience are more adept at perceiving and utilizing the support available from family and social networks, which in turn facilitates the development and maintenance of their autonomous fitness behaviors. By enhancing students’ psychological resilience, we can improve their ability to cope with stress and help them more effectively access and leverage social support resources, further promoting their engagement in physical activity. These findings provide both theoretical insight and practical guidance for enhancing college students’ mental health and fitness behaviors, as well as valuable support for the design of intervention strategies.

Theoretically, this relationship aligns with Self-Determination Theory (SDT), which suggests that meeting basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness enhances engagement in supportive environments. Resilient adolescents are more likely to perceive their family environment as fulfilling these needs, leading to higher levels of perceived social support.

In summary, resilience enhances the impact of perceived family environment on perceived social support by fostering adaptive coping, fulfilling psychological needs, and buffering against stress. This relationship is supported by theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence, underscoring the importance of resilience in social support and well-being.

Cross-sectional data cannot directly test bidirectional causality. However, this study operationalizes the reciprocal nature of SCT in two key ways: First, the theoretical framework explicitly acknowledges potential bidirectionality between the family environment and autonomous fitness behavior-for instance, sustained autonomous fitness behavior may foster more frequent family physical activities, thereby enhancing the perceived family environment. Second, the discussion notes that future longitudinal studies could use a three-wave design (T1: family environment; T2: perceived social support, psychological resilience; T3: autonomous fitness behavior) and cross-lagged models to test reverse paths. The unidirectional paths estimated in the current model represent an initial validation of the proposed framework. However, they do not negate the reciprocal determinism core to SCT; instead, they lay the groundwork for more nuanced tests of dynamic interactions in subsequent longitudinal studies.

In contrast to previous studies that predominantly applied SCT or SDT in isolation to explain fitness behavior, this study contributes to existing literature by systematically integrating these two frameworks within the context of Chinese college students’ autonomous fitness behavior-a demographic and cultural setting that has been underemphasized in prior theory-driven health behavior research. Specifically, we clarify the dynamic chain of “environment (family environment)-need satisfaction (perceived social support/psychological resilience)-motivation-autonomous fitness behavior,” which aligns with the unique social and cultural characteristics of Chinese youth.