Influence of Sports App Usage on the Exercise Adherence of University Students

Abstract

Abstract: Students from two classes of freshmen accounting majors enrolled in the School of Economics and Management, an undergraduate university in Zhumadian City, Henan Province, China, were chosen as respondents. The Administration Class 1 was used as the experimental class, which adopted sports application (app)-assisted teaching. The Administration Class 2 was used as the control class. The study results showed that the control group only achieved significant paired samples t-test of pre-test and post-test scores in terms of exercise durability (P=0.007***) and exercise efforts (P=0.060*). In comparison, the experimental group achieved obvious improvement in terms of exercise durability, exercise interest, value judgment, cognitive selection, and exercise efforts (P<0.01***). Obvious differences were also observed in the exercise adherence (P<0.01) post-test scores between the experimental and control groups. These findings prove that the intervention of “sports app + sports teaching” has positive effects on students’ exercise adherence. The research conclusions serve as important references in disclosing the influencing mechanism of using a sports app to improve university students’ exercise adherence, attitudes and behaviors toward physical exercises while using the app. The app can also help students develop scientific exercise habits and strengthen their health management consciousness.