Front Public Health. 2026 May 7;14:1814656. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1814656. eCollection 2026.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: As an effective physical activity strategy and modality, Intangible Cultural Heritage Sport Program (ICHSP) may be an important direction for accessibility research for quality healthcare and quality education. It is about exploring the feasibility and sensitivity of developing the Haian Flower Drums Project (HFDP) based on situated expectancy-value theory (SEVT) as an intervention for health behavior change (HBC) in school-based physical education for university students in early adulthood.
METHODS: This study protocol was a two-arm (604 university students) 64-week randomized controlled trial with a 3-year follow-up of a single-arm longitudinal cohort at prognosis after the intervention ended. The SEVT-based Haian Fower Drum Project was used as an experimental intervention and to provide a structural model. The primary outcomes were the validity, feasibility, and sensitivity of the structural model, which incorporated university students’ academic level (independent variable), physical literacy (dependent variable), and the Teach-Practice-Play model (physical activity, covariate). The secondary outcome is an exploratory analysis of the psycho-structural characteristics of university students during their HBC. Physical literacy data will be collected throughout the study (t0-t5) to conduct exploratory analyses of the intervention’s or structural model model’s effectiveness. Demographic information and academic level (physical fitness measurements) will also be collected during the t0-t4 phases, and post-intervention satisfaction (wellbeing, self-efficacy, social support, health perceptions, and stress perception) will be assessed during the t3-t4 phases for the Haian Flower Drum Project to validate its feasibility and sensitivity, as well as to conduct an exploratory analysis of the psychological structural characteristics in the HBC process among university students. Results for the primary outcome will be analyzed using linear mixed models. The results of the secondary outcomes will be analyzed using non-parametric variables (Spearman correlations).
DISCUSSION: This study protocol focuses on the feasibility of promoting mental health and the psychosocial characteristics of ICHS in the context of HBC in early adulthood.
ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The SEVT-based Haian Flower Drum Project provides a structural model that may serve as strong evidence for physical activity in early adulthood.
CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=278225, identifier: ChiCTR2500110409.
PMID:42180442 | PMC:PMC13190210 | DOI:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1814656
