The Relationship Between Physical Fitness And Academic Achievement Of Rural Primary School Students In Hebei Province:the Mediating Effects Of Executive Function And Self-Efficacy

Objective:Students’ physical fitness and academic performance have always been the focus of national attention.In recent years,with the implementation of the Rural Revitalization Strategy,rural students have received more attention.Although some studies have shown that there is a positive relationship between physical fitness and academic performance,there is a lack of research on rural students.In addition,the relationship between physical fitness and academic performance is not clear.Therefore,this study takes rural primary school students as the subjects,analyzes the relationship between physical fitness and academic performance in the rural environment,and further explores the pathway of physical fitness and academic performance through structural equation model,so as to strengthen rural schools and parents’ attention to physical fitness enhancement and provide reference suggestions for multiple ways to improve academic performance.Methods:1～6 grade students in the primary schools of Hebei province were used as the study population,which was selected by the convenience method.Physical fitness was tested according to The National Student Physical Fitness Standard（2014 Revision）issued by the Ministry of Education.The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function（BRIEF）was used to measure student’s executive function;The Physical SelfEfficacy（PSE）Scale was used to measure student’s physical self-efficacy（including perceived physical ability and physical self-presentation confidence）;The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children（PAQ-C）was used to measure student’s physical activity level;The Chinese and mathematics scores of the mid-term examination were collected as their academic achievement.Descriptive statistics and independent sample t-test were used to analyze the characteristics of each index and gender differences.Partial correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between physical fitness,academic achievement,physical self-efficacy,executive function and other main indicators.According to the results of previous studies and partial correlation analysis,Amos is used to draw the hypothetical structural equation model to further explore the relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement.Results:（1）The failing rate of physical fitness of rural primary school students is 20.3%,the passing rate is 69.9%,the good rate is 9.8%,and the excellent rate is 0%;The total score of executive function,male 178.81,female 186.57;The score of physical selfefficacy was 70.17 for men and 68.68 for women,which was at the medium level.（2）There is a positive correlation between physical fitness,Chinese achievement,mathematics achievement,executive function and physical self-presentation confidence.The correlation coefficient between physical fitness and Chinese achievement is 0.15 and that between physical fitness and mathematics achievement is0.19;Among the physical fitness indexes,Chinese performance is more closely related to skipping（r = 0.20）,and mathematics performance is more closely related to vital capacity（r = 0.22）;（3）Through the analysis of structural equation model,it is found that physical fitness can directly and positively promote the development of academic achievement,and can also indirectly promote the development of academic achievement through executive function and physical self-presentation confidence.The direct effect of physical fitness on Chinese achievement was 0.12（P < 0.01）,and the intermediary effect of executive function was 0.03;The mediating effect of physical self-presentation confidence was 0.02 and the total effect was 0.17;The direct effect of physical fitness on mathematics achievement was 0.15（P < 0.01）,the intermediary effect of executive function was 0.03,the intermediary effect of physical selfpresentation confidence was 0.01,and the total effect was 0.19.Conclusion:（1）The physical fitness of rural primary school students in Hebei Province is related to their academic performance.The better their physical fitness,the better their academic performance;rope skipping and vital capacity are more closely related to academic performance（2）physical fitness can directly promote academic performance,and can also promote academic performance by promoting the improvement of executive function and physical self-efficacy to a certain extent.