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. 2024 Dec 10:15:1505710.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1505710. eCollection 2024.

Autonomy support, basic needs satisfaction, and involvement in physical education among Norwegian secondary school students

Amund Langøy  1   2 , Åge Diseth  3 , Bente Wold  2 , Ellen Haug  1   2
Affiliations

Autonomy support, basic needs satisfaction, and involvement in physical education among Norwegian secondary school students

Amund Langøy et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between teacher autonomy support, students' basic psychological needs satisfaction, and involvement in physical education (PE) with gender specific analyses. Additionally, the study examined the validity of a Norwegian version of the Basic Psychological Needs in PE (BPN-PE) scale.

Method: Survey data from the Norwegian 2017/2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study.

Results: A structural equation model showed that perceived autonomy support from teacher predicted students' basic needs satisfaction of competence, autonomy and relatedness. Furthermore, satisfaction of competence predicted weekly PE participation and physical activity during PE among boys. The analyses revealed mean level differences with boys scoring higher than girls on all the investigated variables. The findings also supported the validity and reliability of the BPN-PE scale across genders.

Discussion/conclusion: The study adds knowledge to the understanding of the relationship between autonomy support from teachers, students basic need satisfaction and students' involvement in PE.

Keywords: PE teacher; basic psychological needs in PE scale; gender differences; participation in physical education; physical activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structural equation model of autonomy support, basic psychological needs satisfaction, PE participation, and PA in PE with parameter values for total sample, boys, and girls. All paths significant p ≤ 0.01 except *p ≤ 0.05 and ns = not significant. Total effects (r2) are displayed. Covariances between variables were omitted for presentation clarity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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