Original article
Change in Physical Education Motivation and Physical Activity Behavior during Middle School

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2008.04.020Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To test a mediational model of the relationships among motivation-related variables in middle-school physical education and leisure-time physical activity behavior.

Methods

Sixth- and seventh-grade physical education students from five middle schools in the midwest United States completed a survey containing measures of study variables on two occasions, 1 year apart.

Results

Motivation-related constructs positively predicted leisure-time physical activity behavior. Enjoyment of activities in physical education and physical activity during class mediated the relationship between self-determined motivation in physical education and leisure-time physical activity. Perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness were important antecedent variables in the model, with autonomy and relatedness showing less stability over time and positively predicting self-determined motivation.

Conclusions

Students' leisure-time physical activity is linked to motivation-related experiences in physical education. Perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness, self-determined motivation, enjoyment, and physical activity in the physical education setting directly or indirectly predict leisure-time physical activity. The associations suggest that more adaptive motivation corresponds to transfer of behavior across contexts. Also, the findings suggest that the efficacy of school-based physical activity interventions, within and outside of school, is linked to the degree of support for students' self-determined motivation.

Section snippets

Participants and procedures

After securing institutional review board and school personnel approval, fifth and sixth graders from seven elementary and five middle schools in the midwest United States were invited to participate in a 3-year longitudinal project. The present study targets the last 2 years of this larger project, when all students were in middle school. Approximately 50% of invited students returned signed parent consent forms and participated in the study. Each year of the study, during a physical education

Preliminary analyses

Descriptive statistics for both years appear in Table 1. Correlations were in anticipated directions and the measures exhibited good internal consistency reliability, including subscales for calculating self-determined motivation (α = 0.70–0.93). The 2 × 2 (Time × Grade) repeated-measures MANOVA revealed only a significant Time effect, F(6, 337) = 6.69, p < .01; Wilk's Lambda = 0.89; ηp2 = 0.11. Univariate tests showed perceived competence, self-determined motivation and enjoyment in physical

Discussion

In combating youth physical inactivity, regular physical education and adequate levels of physical activity during school have been emphasized. However, limited attention has been paid to how physical activity experiences during school relate to leisure-time physical activity or to mechanisms explaining this relationship. This study extends past research by targeting affective and behavioral aspects of the physical education experience that may foster transference of physical activity behavior

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity and the Purdue Research Foundation. We would also like to acknowledge Bonnie Blankenship and Helen Patrick for their contributions to this project and thank the teachers and students who participated.

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