Physical activity awareness and its relationship with motivation among college students: development and validation...

Physical activity (PA) levels remain insufficient among young adults, particularly college students, whose behavioral patterns often persist into adulthood. Although psychological factors are recognized as important determinants of PA behavior, limited attention has been paid to how individuals perceive and interpret their own physical activity and surrounding context. This study aimed to develop and validate a multidimensional scale measuring college students' perceived PA awareness.

A sequential mixed-method design was employed. In the qualitative phase, focus group interviews were conducted to explore college students' understanding of PA awareness. Based on thematic analysis, four dimensions were identified: personal PA awareness, social support awareness, environmental awareness, and PA recommendation awareness. An initial item pool was then developed and administered to 994 undergraduate students from eight universities. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine the factorial validity of the scale, and internal consistency reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients.

CFA supported a stable four-factor structure with acceptable model fit indices (RMSEA = 0.046, SRMR = 0.035, CFI = 0.968). The subscales demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency, with Cronbach's ? values ranging from 0.741 to 0.919. These findings provide empirical support for the reliability and construct validity of the proposed scale.

The findings suggest that PA awareness is a multidimensional psychological construct reflecting both individual perceptions and contextual influences. The developed scale may contribute to a better understanding of motivational processes underlying physical activity engagement among college students and provide a structured framework for future research on psychological determinants of PA behavior.