Motivation Mediates Relationship Between Determinants of and Actual Physical Activity

Background/Purpose: Autonomous motivation predicts outside of school physical activity (PA) and future engagement in PA among youth. Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT), Physical Education Dedicated to Activity for Life (PEDAL) aims to improve self-determined motivation for PA through student learning objectives and instructional tasks that target correlates and determinants of PA. The purpose of this study was to explore how autonomous motivation (Relative Autonomy Index - RAI) mediates the relationship between five determinants of PA (barriers efficacy, perceived environmental safety, perceived environmental access, sport-ability beliefs and perceived sport competence) and PA. 

Method: Seventh grade youth (n=318) completed a six page survey made up of the following; Perceived Physical Environment Inventory, measure of perceived self-efficacy for overcoming barriers, Physical Self-Perception Profile, Conceptions of the Nature of Athletic Ability questionnaire version 2, the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire version 2, and the Weekly Activity Checklist.

Analysis/Results: The independent association of neighborhood safety, equipment accessibility, barriers efficacy, sport competence, and sport ability beliefs with RAI and PA were analyzed with linear regression. The influence of RAI on the relationship between each independent variable and PA was calculated using linear regression. In reviewing relationships between the five independent variables with PA, only barriers efficacy resulted in explaining significant variance (R²=5.3%; p<.0001). Barriers efficacy (R² =25%), sport ability beliefs (R² =10.9%), neighborhood safety (R² =6.0%), and equipment accessibility (R² =3.9%) were significantly associated with RAI. After adjusting for RAI, all measures were significantly associated with PA (p<.001) and R² was greater for each (sport ability beliefs from 0.2% to 4.7%; sport competence 1.0% to 4.8%; barriers efficacy 5.3% to 6.2%; neighborhood safety 0.4% to 4.1%; equipment accessibility 1.4% to 4.6%).

Conclusions:  Motivation measured by RAI effectively mediates the relationship between PA and the five PA determinants tested. Results support prior recommendations that motivation may be an appropriate target for PA intervention among 7th grade youth.