The Effect of Social Support on Social Media on Asian College Students' Intention to Participate in Physical Activity in the United States

BACKGROUND: College students who identified themselves as Asians in the United States (i.e., Asian college students) are facing health inequalities and engaging in increasingly low levels of physical activity (PA). Although social support was found to be effective in increasing college students' PA and social media is an important channel for social support for Asian students, few studies have explored how to provide social support through social media interventions to promote Asian students' PA level. Thus, this study aimed to explore the effects of social support on social media on Asian college students' intention to participate in PA based on the theory of planned behavior. METHODS: We conducted an online Qualtrics survey among all undergraduate students at a university on the West Coast of the United States. Among 936 respondents, 337 (36%) were Asian college students. Descriptive analysis, regression models, and mediating effect tests were performed using SPSS 28. RESULTS: For Asian students, social support on social media has both direct effects and indirect effects through perceived behavioral control (PBC) on their intention to participate in PA. CONCLUSION: Future interventions could consider encouraging Asian students to provide support to each other and form support groups using social media to increase their PBC.