Public sports venues serve as a crucial material medium for human athletic activities. Research on their spatial distribution holds profound implications for optimizing spatial layout and promoting human sports endeavors. This paper takes interest points of sports venues in China as research samples, employing GIS spatial analysis tools, mathematical statistics, and Geo-detector as research methods. It systematically investigates the spatial distribution characteristics and causes of sports venues in China, aiming to provide insights and references for the optimization of spatial arrangement, sustainable development, and relevant policy formulation of sports venues in the country. The results indicate that: (1) In terms of overall distribution characteristics, sports venues in China present a multi-centric agglomeration in geographical space. (2) From a regional distribution perspective, the spatial layout of these venues reveals a pattern of “more in the south, less in the north,” “dense in the southeast, sparse in the northwest,” and a coastal strip distribution. (3) Regarding spatial correlation, the hot and cold spot partitions of sports venues largely align with the “Hu-Line”, with their spatial distribution tending towards a positively correlated pattern of high–high clustering and low–low clustering. (4) There is evident heterogeneity in factors affecting sports venues’ spatial distribution. The distribution results from the interactive coupling of multiple factors, where the interaction between any two factors offers stronger explanatory power for the spatial layout of the venues.

In China, the physical activity of adolescents is declining nowadays, which may be linked to their health locus of control, social support, and self-efficacy. The current study has investigated the role of health locus of control, social support, and self-efficacy in adolescents’ physical activity. Using convenient sampling, 569 (18–21 years old) adolescents were surveyed. There were 313 (55.01%) females and 256 (44.99%) males. Data were collected through questionnaires on the study variables. The results display that physical activity is directly positively affected by locus of control, self-efficacy, and social support. Both self-efficacy and social support are positively associated with locus of control and physical activity. Further, locus of control also indirectly affects physical activity through self-efficacy and social support. To conclude, we can say that locus of control, self-efficacy, and social support play a significant role in promoting physical activity. The study suggests developing effective future interventions by considering the study variables to increase physical activity.

Introduction: Education and vocation are crucial to one’s identity. The current study aimed to see the association between educational identity and career identity development among Chinese PE students. The mediating effect of self-efficacy on educational identity and career identity was explored. Further, the study intended to see the moderating role of gender for the mediating effect of self-efficacy between educational identity and career identity development. Methods: A total of 369 (age range= 16– 22) Chinese PE students were recruited as participants in the study. There were 180 (48.8%) males and 189 (51.2%) females in the sample. Hayes process model 58 was applied to develop a moderated mediation model. Results: The results reported that there was a significant positive association between educational identity with self-efficacy and career identity. However, self-efficacy was not related to career identity. Further, self-efficacy did not play a mediating role between educational identity and career identity development. On the other hand, gender significantly moderated the mediating effect of self-efficacy between educational identity and career identity development. Discussion: The study suggests that individuals who have a strong sense of educational identity are more likely to possess higher levels of self-efficacy and a clearer understanding of their career goals. However, it is notable that self-efficacy did not directly impact career identity, suggesting the presence of other factors influencing this aspect of identity formation. Interestingly, moderating role of gender suggests that the influence of self-efficacy on career identity development may vary depending on one’s gender, highlighting the importance of considering gender-specific factors in career-related interventions and counseling programs. The practical and theoretical implications of the study are discussed. Implications: The practical implications of this study suggest the importance of educational identity, the need for comprehensive career counseling interventions, and the consideration of gender-specific factors. The theoretical implications contribute to identity development theory, mediation and moderation frameworks, and cross-cultural research on career identity.