Influence of grit on adolescents' exercise adherence: The mediating role of exercise self-efficacy and the moderating role of self-control

To investigate the impact of grit on adolescents' exercise adherence, the mediating role of exercise self-efficacy and the moderating role of self-control, stratified cluster random sampling was used to select 811 adolescents from three middle schools in Fujian Province, China. The results showed that grit was significantly positively correlated with exercise adherence and exercise self-efficacy (r = 0.404, 0.492; p < 0.01); exercise self-efficacy was also significantly positively correlated with exercise adherence (r = 0.382, p < 0.01); in the relationship between grit and exercise adherence, exercise self-efficacy played a mediating role, with an effect value of 0.118, accounting for 29.21 % of the total effect value (0.404); self-control moderated the predictive effect of grit on exercise adherence. Accordingly, for individuals with high levels of self-control, grit has a stronger predictive effect on exercise adherence. Therefore, it is recommended to improve adolescents' exercise adherence by strengthening their grit, enhancing their exercise self-efficacy, and improving their self-control ability.