Gameful experience, exercise identity, and exercise adherence among Chinese university students: A moderated chain mediation model

Background Gamified fitness applications have grown in popularity, yet it remains unclear how gameful experience, defined as users’ subjective perception of game-like engagement during app-supported exercise, is associated with exercise adherence. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among N = 300 Chinese university students who were active users of gamified fitness applications. Data were collected via an online questionnaire platform (Questionnaire Star) from March 5 to April 5, 2026. Participants completed validated measures of gameful experience (GAMEX), exercise identity (EI), exercise habit formation (EHF), intolerance of uncertainty (IU), and exercise adherence (EA). A moderated chain mediation model was tested using hierarchical regression analysis and bias-corrected bootstrap resampling (5,000 iterations). An indirect effect was considered statistically different from zero when its 95% confidence interval excluded zero. Results Gameful experience was positively associated with exercise adherence ( β = .264, p < .001). The observed associations were consistent with three indirect pathways: GAMEX → EI → EA (effect = .065, 95% CI [.020, .114]); GAMEX → EHF → EA (effect = .043, 95% CI [.002, .087]); and GAMEX → EI → EHF → EA (effect = .085, 95% CI [.054, .123]). IU moderated the GAMEX–EI association ( β = .237, p < .001, Δ R 2 = .036); the estimated chain indirect effect ranged from .034 (95% CI [.001, .072]) at low IU to .136 (95% CI [.080, .201]) at high IU. These estimates describe conditional associations and do not establish causal or temporal ordering. Conclusions The findings are consistent with the hypothesized ordering of gameful experience, exercise i