Age- and sex-specific motives for physical activity in the Vojvodina region

Sports and physical activities are ubiquitous achievement contexts for children and adolescents worldwide. Motivation to initiate, continue, and sustain physical activity involvement is important for ensuring positive developmental and healthy outcomes. In this chapter we synthesize and consolidate theory-driven knowledge about determinants and outcomes of youth motivation and participation in sport and physical activity. First, we discuss relevant theoretical frameworks for understanding youth motivation in the physical activity domain. Second, we review empirical research on social-contextual factors and individual differences related to youths’ desire to continue physical activity and opportunities for accruing the many benefits from such participation. Finally, based on our review of literature, we offer several avenues for future research that address gaps in the knowledge base about mechanisms of influence on youths’ motivation and participation in physical activity.

BackgroundThere is increasing evidence for physical activity (PA) having a positive impact on physical and mental health as well as illness symptoms in individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). However, individuals with SMI experience several barriers that makes it difficult to take advantage of the benefits associated with PA. One barrier consistently reported to impede PA is motivational issues. Thus, the main aim of the present study was to examine associations between PA and motivation for PA, perceived competence for PA, functioning, apathy, and demographic variables among individuals with SMI. This was conducted within a larger study aiming at including all inhabitants with SMI in one particular small, rural municipality.MethodA total of 106 participants were recruited to the study. Questionnaire-based interviews conducted by two mental health nurses assessed self-reported PA, motivation and competence for PA, functioning, and apathy. Additionally, 71 participants accepted to wear an accelerometer-equipped wristwatch yielding an objective assessment of PA.ResultsThe participants engaged in little PA. However, they did not lack motivation, as over 90% stated that they would like to be more active, and participants across PA level displayed high scores of a motivation reflecting that they valued the benefits of PA. Results showed that higher self-reported PA level was associated with higher levels of integrated regulated motivation and perceived competence for PA while it was unrelated to functioning and apathy. In the subpopulation with objectively measured PA, integrated regulated motivation for PA remained significantly associated with PA level, whereas poor scores on functioning lowered the odds ratio for higher PA level.ConclusionThe results show that PA specific motivation is associated with PA even when controlling for functioning and apathy. This highlight the importance of facilitating context specific motivation (i.e., motivation for PA) and that health care practitioners should emphasise helping people with SMI develop more intrinsic forms of motivation.

BackgroundUnderstanding children’s physical activity motivation, its antecedents and associations with behavior is important and can be advanced by using self-determination theory. However, research among youth is largely restricted to adolescents and studies of motivation within certain contexts (e.g., physical education). There are no measures of self-determination theory constructs (physical activity motivation or psychological need satisfaction) for use among children and no previous studies have tested a self-determination theory-based model of children’s physical activity motivation. The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of scores derived from scales adapted to measure self-determination theory constructs among children and test a motivational model predicting accelerometer-derived physical activity.MethodsCross-sectional data from 462 children aged 7 to 11 years from 20 primary schools in Bristol, UK were analysed. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the construct validity of adapted behavioral regulation and psychological need satisfaction scales. Structural equation modelling was used to test cross-sectional associations between psychological need satisfaction, motivation types and physical activity assessed by accelerometer.ResultsThe construct validity and reliability of the motivation and psychological need satisfaction measures were supported. Structural equation modelling provided evidence for a motivational model in which psychological need satisfaction was positively associated with intrinsic and identified motivation types and intrinsic motivation was positively associated with children’s minutes in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.ConclusionsThe study provides evidence for the psychometric properties of measures of motivation aligned with self-determination theory among children. Children’s motivation that is based on enjoyment and inherent satisfaction of physical activity is associated with their objectively-assessed physical activity and such motivation is positively associated with perceptions of psychological need satisfaction. These psychological factors represent potential malleable targets for interventions to increase children’s physical activity.

ABSTRACTThe purpose of the current study was to examine relationships between physical activity levels and motivation among active Greek affiliated college students. Thousands of college students join the Greek system upon enrollment in college; however, limited literature exists examining physical activity motivation among sororities and fraternities. This study is based on the Self Determination Theory, encompassing motivation underlying the likelihood to partake in certain behaviors, such as physical activity. Study sample included eight different sororities (n = 4) and fraternities (n = 4) at the University of Nebraska-Kearney campus. Participants (n = 235; fraternity, n = 73; sorority, n = 162) examined physical activity motivation using the revised version of the Exercise Motivation Inventory (EMI-2) and self-reported physical activity levels (International Physical Activity Questionnaire - IPAQ). The study reports a significant correlation in physical activity motivation among the constructs of stress (r = 0.420; p = 0.000), weight management (r = 0.419; p = 0.000), and appearance (r = 0.302; p = 0.000) among Greek groups. Results indicate fraternities rate stress, weight management, and appearance higher than sororities. In addition, sororities present a stronger correlation between competition and physical activity motivation (r = 0.735), while fraternities had a stronger correlation between affiliation and physical activity motivation (r = 0.326). Greek affiliation can play an important role in college students’ lives. The importance of this study could offer insight into creating an effective plan or solution to change or improve health behaviors in the Greek community.

BackgroundUsing self-determination theory, the objective of this study was to examine, over a one-month period, how physical activity (PA) motivation would influence accelerometer-derived PA behavior, and ultimately, acute diabetes-related symptoms burden among adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D adults). Using both a person and variable-centered approach, this objective was attained by means of: 1) investigating the indirect effect of PA participation on the relationship between PA motivation and acute diabetes-related symptom burden and 2) examining whether participants who met PA recommendations (i.e., 150 min of moderate-to-vigorous PA per week) would experience less acute diabetes-related symptom burden over a one-month period.MethodsA two-wave prospective longitudinal design was used. At time 1, participants completed a questionnaire assessing their PA motivation and were asked to wear an ActiGraph GT3x accelerometer for four consecutive weeks. At time 2, they completed a short questionnaire assessing their acute diabetes-related symptoms (i.e., symptoms related to fatigue, cognitive distress, hyperglycemia, and hypoglycemia). The final sample includes 165 adults (89 or 53.61% women) aged from 26 to 75 years (M = 62.05, SD = 8.75) with T2D, which provided at least 21 valid days of accelerometer-derived data.ResultsFirst, results of a path analysis demonstrated that over a one-month period, the average number of minutes spent practicing moderate to vigorous PA per week mediated the relationship between intrinsic and external PA motivation and the level of burden associated with the following diabetes-related symptoms: fatigue, cognitive distress, and hyperglycemia. In addition, results of covariance analyses showed that participants meeting PA recommendations also reported significantly less burden associated with these three symptoms over a month period. Then, the existence of four motivational profiles (Self-Determined, High Introjected, Low Motivation, and Non-Self-Determined) was confirmed using a k-means analysis. Results of covariance and chi-square analyses further showed, respectively, that compared to other motivational profiles, the Self-Determined profile was associated with a higher score on weekly PA participation and meeting PA recommendations.ConclusionsThe results highlight the importance of promoting autonomous motives for PA participation among T2D adults. They also suggest that T2D adults meeting PA recommendations experience less acute diabetes-related symptoms burden, which further support the importance of their PA motivation.

Motives for school physical activity should be encouraged by fostering intrinsic motivation and educating students about its health benefits. However, participation decreases as students move, evolving global and national reports. This quantitative study aimed to explore a best-fit model that predicts PATH-Fit students' motives for physical activity in Region X using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The study employed PATH-Fit students in SUCs using systematic random sampling. The data were collected using an adapted and modified survey instrument. The result showed very high autonomy support, moderate exercise self-efficacy, moderate goal orientation, and high motivation for physical activity. The best-fit model, with acceptable goodness-of-fit indices, demonstrated the direct influence of exercise self-efficacy on motives for physical activity. Further, autonomy support and exercise self-efficacy are crucial in promoting PATH-Fit students' motives for physical activity. Clearly outline practical applications.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0731/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

What's in a Message? Effects of Mental Fatigue and Message Framing on Motivation for Physical Activity.

While motivation for physical activity (PA) and PA participation have been linked, research on the relationship between motivation for PA and mental health outcomes is scant, with studies involving children largely underrepresented. Grounded in self-determination theory, this cross-sectional study aimed to determine whether autonomous motivation versus external motivation (a form of controlled motivation) for PA is associated with fewer emotional and behavioural difficulties and higher levels of PA in children. A sample of 87 children (aged 8–12 years) were recruited from five primary schools in Victoria, Australia. An adapted version of the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ) was used to measure motivation for PA and structured parent-report questions were used to assess moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) levels. Parents also completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to measure children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties. Children’s autonomous motivation was associated with fewer emotional and behavioural difficulties (β = −0.25, p = 0.038) and higher levels of MVPA (β = 0.24, p = 0.014). These results indicate autonomous motivation is associated with improved mental health outcomes and higher levels of PA in children. Thus, PA interventions that promote autonomous motivation may enhance children’s mental health compared to interventions that promote mainly controlled forms of motivation.

Using a cross-sectional study design, we tested a structural equation model of hypothesized relationships among a group of variables: motivational climate in physical education (PE), students’ social competence in PE, out of-school physical activity (PA) motivation, PA intention and their moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). Based on the self-reports of 363 fourth to sixth grade elementary school students (172 girls, 191 boys), the model revealed that the task-involving motivational climate in PE was linked to higher MVPA via cooperation in PE, and also via extrinsic motivation and PA intention. Ego-involving motivational climate was related to higher extrinsic motivation and amotivation, further to higher PA intention and, finally, to higher MVPA. Task-involving motivational climate was positively linked to students’ social competence markers of cooperation and empathy, and negatively to disruptiveness. Ego-involving motivational climate was positively related to disruptiveness and impulsivity, the markers of low social competence. The study showed that the motivational climate and co-operational aspect of social competence both played significant roles in students’ PA motivation, PA intention and MVPA. A pedagogical model that brings the learning of social competence relevant skills to the fore is creative physical education (CPE). Analysis of CPE is provided which highlights teaching behaviors which contribute to the students’ MVPA through motivational climates, co-operation, PA motivation and PA intention.

Purpose: Health disparities for minority groups include a low rate of physical activity and underserved urban minority youth with chronic disease are among the least active population segments, as exemplified by sickle cell disease (SCD). “Exercise prescriptions” for youth with chronic diseases need to be evidence based and align with psychologic motivators and barriers. This scoping review sought evidence for psychosocial motivators or barriers to physical activity (PA) in youth with SCD and other chronic disease that could be relevant to SCD. Methods: Five databases were searched for studies on urban minority youth published between 2009 and 2022. Results: Keyword searching yielded no papers on SCD and PA motivation and barriers. Adding health-related quality of life (HRQL) in SCD found eleven relevant papers. Widening the search to chronic disease in minority youth resulted in a total of 49 papers. Three thematic categories and seven sub-themes emerged. PA barriers added by chronic disease include fear of triggering disease complications, negative relationships due to disease limitations on performance in sports, and lack of suitable environment for PA that accommodates the chronic disease. PA motivators are similar for youth without chronic disease: self-efficacy, autonomy, positive relationships with peers and parents and coach/teacher. Conclusion: Direct descriptions of PA motivations and barriers to PA in SCD are limited to fatigue and fear of sickle vaso-occlusive pain. The PA barriers and motivators found for urban youth with chronic disease overlap with themes in healthy adolescents from underserved minorities. Community-based interventions could strengthen PA motivators (self-efficacy, autonomy, positive relationships with peers and parents and coach/teacher) but need disease accommodations to overcome the barriers (fear of triggering disease complications, environmental limitations, and negative relationships). Evidence-based exercise prescriptions might incorporate educational modules to overcome disease stigma and misconceptions. Prospective studies of PA motivators and barriers could improve HRQL in SCD.

The main objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between motivation and readiness levels for physical activity and exercise behaviour among persons with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Participants were 211 U.S. adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain from online support groups as well as specialty and primary care clinics (females = 86.7%; mean age = 43.4 years, SD = 14.4 years). The participants completed an online survey on their engagement in physical activity and exercise behaviour. Multiple one-way analyses of variance with post-hoc comparisons using the Tukey HSD test revealed significant differences between the readiness stages of change groups of preintenders, intenders, and actors in their motivation for physical activity and exercise behaviour. Specifically, the actor group of behavioural change reported higher levels of motivation beliefs for physical activity and exercise behaviour compared to preintenders and intenders. These findings suggest that people with chronic musculoskeletal pain experiencing increased motivation for physical activity and exercise behaviour are more engaged in desired behaviours than the persons with chronic pain reporting varying degrees of behavioural intentions.

As the global population continues to age, there is a growing trend in the development of ageand health-specific adapted sports activities for older adults. Prior research indicated a surge in the demand for adapted sports activities among older individuals, and European Union (EU) countries have also been swift in implementing new policies in response to this growing demand. The European Week of Sports is a collaborative initiative of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Directorate for EU Affairs. It is celebrated concurrently in 81 provinces of Turkey with the motto #BeActive, which reflects the EU’s commitment to promoting physical activity among its citizens. The present study attempts to examine the motivational factors underlying the physical activity participation of individuals aged 65 years and older participating in the European Week of Sports activities. We administered the Motivation Scale for Physical Activity Participation, developed by Tekkurşun-Demir and Cicioğlu (2018), to 1,567 individuals, 605 females and 962 males, aged 65 years and older. In addition to descriptive statistics, we adopted inferential statistics independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to analyze the data. The findings indicated that participants’ physical activity motivation did not significantly differ by gender. However, participants’ respective motivational factors significantly differed by their body mass index values. We can assert that participants of the European Week of Sports exhibited high levels of motivation and positive perceptions of health. Besides, we found that the primary motive for physical activity engagement among our participants was individual (M = 4.15, SD = .41), followed by environmental (M = 3.78, SD = .77). Overall, we concluded that participants’ physical activity motivation was not affected by gender and that perceived health and income status emerged as the most significant parameters in physical activity motivation.

BackgroundInsufficient physical activity among university students remains a significant public health concern. Although physical education (PE) provides an important context for promoting active lifestyles, previous research has focused mainly on motivation and behavioral outcomes within PE itself, leaving it unclear whether autonomy-supportive experiences in PE are associated with students’ out-of-class motivation for physical activity and their physical activity. In addition, the motivation–behavior link may vary across contextual conditions, highlighting the need to identify conditions associated with this process. Drawing on self-determination theory and the capability–opportunity–motivation–behavior model, this study examined whether motivation for physical activity may help explain the association between perceived autonomy support in PE and university students’ physical activity, and whether the association between motivation and physical activity varies by levels of environmental support.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 1,024 undergraduate students taking general PE courses at five universities across three cities in China. Participants completed measures of perceived autonomy support in PE, motivation for physical activity, environmental support for physical activity, physical activity, and physical literacy.ResultsPerceived autonomy support in PE was positively associated with motivation for physical activity, which in turn was positively associated with physical activity. The direct association between autonomy support in PE and physical activity was not statistically supported after motivation for physical activity, environmental support, and their interaction were taken into account. Motivation may help explain the association between autonomy support in PE and physical activity, and environmental support was associated with a stronger link between motivation and physical activity. Accordingly, the indirect association between autonomy support in PE and physical activity via motivation was stronger under more supportive environmental conditions.ConclusionThese findings suggest that autonomy-supportive experiences in PE may be linked to students’ out-of-class motivation for physical activity and, indirectly, to their physical activity, while supportive environments may be associated with a stronger link between motivation and physical activity. Campus-based efforts to support physical activity among university students may therefore benefit from attention to autonomy-supportive teaching in PE and everyday environments in which motivation is more strongly associated with physical activity beyond the PE context.

Physical activity (PA) motives are associated with both moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) and mental health. Studies examining whether PA motives relate directly to mental health or indirectly through MVPA are lacking. This study examined the direct effect of five PA motives (i.e., enjoyment, competence, fitness, social, appearance) on mental health and their indirect effects through MVPA in adolescents. A total of 424 participants (57.1% females) ages 14-15 years from the longitudinal MATCH study were included. Mediation analyses, based on the counterfactual framework, assessed the natural direct effect of PA motives on mental health, and the natural indirect effects through MVPA. Separate models were conducted for each PA motive. Natural direct effects were observed for enjoyment ( [95%CI]=2.12 [0.34, 3.90]), competence ( [95%CI]=1.58[0.28, 2.88]), fitness ( [95%CI]=1.42[0.04, 2.80]), and social ( [95%CI]=2.32[1.03, 3.60]) motives. No natural direct effects were observed for appearance motives. A natural indirect effect through MVPA was observed for fitness motives, and no other natural indirect effects were found. Interventions and public health strategies in adolescents need to acknowledge the importance of enjoyment, competence social and fitness motives in PA to promote mental health, and integrate specific recommendations on the importance of the reasons why adolescents participate in PA.

BackgroundThe incorporation of narratives helps to enhance children’s engagement in active video games (AVGs), thus increasing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Specific narrative elements, such as the visual representation of the characters’ body shape, have been rarely manipulated to explore their role in modulating children’s narrative engagement (NE) and exercise motivation.ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of character body shape manipulation (overweight/obese, average, or athletic slim) on children’s narrative immersion (NI), NE, wishful identification (WI), as well as their mediating effect on AVG and PA motivation.MethodsChildren ages 8–12 years old (N = 87) were randomly assigned to watch a 15-min animated video (designed for an existing AVG) in which the main characters had an overweight/obese, or average∗, or athletic slim body shape (all other elements were identical). Children’s NI, NE, WI, and AVG and physical activity (PA) motivation were then assessed.ResultsControlling for social desirability, the analysis indicated that participants with a BMI of greater than the 75th percentile had a significantly higher NI, NE, WI, and PA motivation when video characters were set to the overweight/obese condition, than they did for video characters set to the average or athletic slim conditions. On the other hand, children of equal or less than the 75th percentile exposed to the average character body condition had a greater NE, WI, and PA motivation than overweight/obese or athletic slim conditions. A mediation analysis with structural equation modeling indicated that NE mediated the effect between character body shape and AVG and PA motivation.ConclusionNarrative cartoon characters that mirror the target participant’s body shape can increase NE, which in turn mediates AVG and PA motivation. Content producers should identify optimal strategies in character body shape design to encourage children of different weight status to participate in PA with engaging stories to maximize health narratives’ persuasive potentials.∗The term average in this sense is not in reference to the national average body weight, but rather an average of the body weights represented in conditions A and C.