The associations between wearable device feedback perception and athletes' training load management behavior: the chain mediating role of physiological data literacy and recovery self-regulation.

Authors

Yufeng Han, Junli Fan

Published in

Frontiers in psychology. Volume 17. Pages 1910446. Epub Sep 30, 2026.

Abstract

Despite the rapid proliferation of wearable devices in sport, athletes vary considerably in their ability to interpret device-generated physiological feedback, and the psychological pathways linking feedback perception to training load management remain insufficiently understood. This study introduces physiological data literacy (PDL) as a content-specific form of data literacy and examines whether PDL and recovery self-regulation (RSR) sequentially mediate the association between wearable device feedback perception (WFP) and training load management behavior (TLM).
Using a cross-sectional design, 357 active athletes (189 males and 168 females; mean age = 22.76 years, SD = 3.68) completed the wearable device feedback perception scale, physiological data literacy scale, recovery self-regulation scale, and training load management behavior scale. Path analysis with bias-corrected bootstrapping (5,000 resamples) was conducted.
WFP showed a positive total association with TLM (β = 0.511). Significant specific indirect associations were observed through PDL (standardized indirect effect = 0.083, 95% CI [0.032, 0.136]) and RSR (standardized indirect effect = 0.085, 95% CI [0.048, 0.128]). A significant sequential indirect association was also observed for the theoretically specified WFP → PDL → RSR → TLM ordering (indirect effect = 0.065, 95% CI [0.040, 0.098]). The direct WFP-TLM association remained significant after inclusion of both mediators. However, the reverse sequential model yielded identical AIC and BIC values.
The findings are statistically compatible with a theoretically motivated sequential framework linking WFP, PDL, RSR, and TLM, but the cross-sectional design does not establish temporal precedence or causal direction. PDL represents a conceptually distinct competency that, together with RSR, warrants further examination in longitudinal and intervention research on wearable-supported training.

PMID:
42876707
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.