Related Experiment Videos
Knowledge-behavior mechanisms and configurations for drowning prevention among Chinese school-aged children: a hybrid
Changlin Yuan1, Xi Yang1, Zhiping Li1
1School of Physical Education, Hubei Minzu University, Enshi, Hubei, China.
Objective:
This study examined the psychological mechanisms and configurational pathways by which water safety knowledge is associated with high-risk swimming behaviors among fifth- and sixth-grade primary school children in Hubei Province, China, with the goal of establishing a theoretical and empirical foundation for targeted drowning-prevention interventions.
Methods:
In a hybrid multi-analytical study combining regression-based mediation and fsQCA, we analyzed a single quantitative survey dataset of 1,573 fifth- and sixth-grade primary school children from four schools in Hubei Province, China mean age 11.31 ± 0.46 years; 850 boys (54.04%), 723 girls (45.96%). Data collection employed the self-report Water Safety Knowledge Scale (perceived mastery), Risk Perception Scale, Drowning Risk Attitude Scale, Swimming Self-Efficacy Scale, Sensation Seeking Scale, and Swimming High-Risk Behavior Scale. Regression-based mediation was tested with the PROCESS 4.2 macro (model 82, 5000 bias-corrected bootstrap resamples) in SPSS 27.0, and configurational analysis was conducted in fsQCA 4.2.
Results:
(1) After controlling for the grade factor, water safety knowledge had no significant direct effect on high-risk swimming behaviors (β = 0.006, t = 0.570, p > 0.05). (2) Bootstrap mediation analysis produced a total effect of ES = -0.037 (t = -2.724, p < 0.01, 95% CI [-0.059, -0.009]). The direct effect was ES = 0.006 (t = 0.570, p > 0.05, 95% CI [-0.014, 0.026]). The mediating effect of risk attitude was ES = -0.035 (95% CI [-0.050, -0.020]). The mediating effect of self-efficacy was ES = 0.002 (95% CI [0.00001, 0.005]). The mediating effect of sensation seeking was ES = -0.016 (95% CI [-0.023, -0.009]). The chain mediating effect of self-efficacy and sensation seeking was significant (ES = 0.003, 95% CI [0.001, 0.005]). (3) Configurational analysis of high-risk swimming behaviors yielded an overall solution consistency of 0.887 and coverage of 0.431. The solution yielded seven sufficient configurations; the two configurations with water safety knowledge as a core present condition are foregrounded: the "disconnect between knowledge and action-attitude deviation" type and the "disconnect between knowledge and action-impulse breakthrough" type.
Conclusions:
(1) Water safety knowledge is associated with high-risk swimming behaviors through two parallel mediating paths: "cognition - emotion" and "motivation - impulse". (2) Configuration analysis shows that the association between water safety knowledge and high-risk swimming behaviors follows a nonlinear, equifinal, and conjunctural pattern. Drowning-prevention interventions for school-age children may benefit from extending beyond knowledge transmission to comprehensive psychological adjustment.
