Background/Purpose Physical education is often targeted as a promising avenue to address declining physical activity behavior during adolescence. Indeed, studies demonstrate positive relationships between autonomous forms of physical education motivation and leisure-time physical activity (e.g., Hagger et al., 2009). This study utilized physical education motivation to predict between-student variability in physical activity change across the middle school years.
Method Middle school students (N = 400; 225 = female) completed measures of motivation in physical education and physical activity during the fall and spring semesters of each school year. Those in the 6th grade (33.6%) at the start of the study had the opportunity to complete the survey 6 times, the 7th graders (35.3%) 4 times and the 8th graders (31%) 2 times.
Analysis/Results Multilevel modeling revealed no significant change in physical activity on average over time (β = -.01, p = .68), but significant individual variation in both intercepts (τ = .76, Wald Z = 5.21, p < .01) and slopes (τ = .02, Wald Z = 2.72, p < .01). In a subsequent model, only autonomous motivation had a significant effect on both the intercept (β = .34, p < .01) and slope of physical activity (β = -.04, p < .01).
Conclusions Although students' physical activity did not change on average, there is substantial individual variation that can be predicted by physical education motivation. Students with greater autonomous motivation have higher initial levels of physical activity and experience a slower rate of change in physical activity during middle school.