The associations between social support change and physical activity trajectory from late adolescence to young adulthood

BACKGROUND: Previous research examined the associations between social support and physical activity. However, little is known about the associations between social support change and trajectories of physical activity during the transition from late adolescence to young adulthood. METHODS: The current study sought to examine these issues among 434 Chinese college students (M(age) = 19.15, SD(age) = 0.61; 46.1% male), who completed questionnaires regarding demographics, physical activity, family support change, and peer support change across three waves (the data from one of the waves was retrospective). RESULTS: After controlling for covariates, the findings revealed that: (a) there was an increase in overall physical activity and duration, but a decrease in frequency during the transition from late adolescence (the second year of high school) to young adulthood (the third year of college); (b) family support change did not contribute to trajectories of physical activity, while peer support change significantly predicted the trajectory of overall physical activity, duration, and frequency. CONCLUSIONS: The findings extend the literature on physical activity from a developmental perspective by revealing different trends among physical activity duration and frequency, and unpacking different effects of family and peer support change on trajectories of physical activity. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-023-16422-z.