AUTHOR=Tan Zhen , Shi Jiaxin , Xie Chao , Zhang Hui 

TITLE=The impact of water safety skills on primary school students high-risk swimming behaviors: a moderated mediation model

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1639456

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2025.1639456

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=IntroductionTo investigate the relationship between water safety skills and high-risk swimming behaviors and the underlying mechanisms of self-efficacy and water safety knowledge.MethodsWater safety skills, self-efficacy, water safety knowledge, and high-risk swimming behaviors were investigated in 1573 primary school student using a questionnaire.Results(1) After controlling for gender, age, and grade, there was a significant positive effect of water safety skills on high-risk swimming behaviors [β = 0.062, 95%CI (0.037, 0.088), p < 0.01]; (2) self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between water safety skills and high-risk swimming behavior [β = 0.050, 95%CI (0.039, 0.060), p < 0.01]; and (3) the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between water safety skills to high-risk swimming behaviors was negatively moderated by knowledge of water safety [β = −0.026, 95%CI (−0.035, −0.016), p < 0.01].ConclusionSelf-efficacy mediates between water safety skills and high-risk swimming behavior; water safety knowledge moderates between water safety skills and high-risk swimming behavior.