Abstract
The goal of this study was to analyze the role of physical activity, enjoyment of physical activity, and school performance in the dimensions of learning motivation (Cognitive Domain, Affective Domain, Moral Domain, Adult Pressure). A total of 249 high school students were involved in this study, ranging in age from 14 to 19 years old. A self-administered questionnaire was filled out by the participants, including questions about sociodemographic background and school performance. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to assess physical activity. Learning motivation was measured by the School Motivation Inventory. The Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale was used to determine the enjoyment of physical activity. Path analyses were chosen as a statistical method to understand the associations between the variables. Our findings reveal that learning motivation was associated with school performance and enjoyment of physical activity. Physical activity did not show any direct relationship with learning motivation, but it was positively associated with school performance and enjoyment of physical activity, hence showing an indirect relationship with learning motivation. Another important finding was the role of physical activity enjoyment. It has a preventive role concerning pressure from adults since such enjoyment strengthens the intrinsic motivation of students. We believe our findings highlight the benefits of physical activity and enjoyment of physical activity in learning environments.
Highlights
It is well known that physical activity (PA) has a key role in preventing chronic disease and preserving mental health [1,2]
The hypothesized model was tested via path analysis, and the results indicate that enjoyment of physical activity and grade point average (GPA) are associated with learning motivation
PA only indirectly supports learning motivation, since there was no correlation with the learning motives, but it was positively correlated with the enjoyment of physical activity and GPA
Summary
It is well known that physical activity (PA) has a key role in preventing chronic disease and preserving mental health [1,2]. Several studies have been carried out in the past few years to provide empirical evidence of this phenomenon and have come to one conclusion: physical activity should start in childhood and adolescent age groups since individuals with more sport involvement and PA in this period have better mental health and the chance to decrease cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, and obesity later in life [3–5]. Physical education (PE) or other school-based PA would be a great opportunity to increase PA, but many schools and teachers sacrifice PE classes for other academic curricula [7]. There are other beneficial effects of PA that highlight the importance of PE and other school-based physical activities. Field and colleagues [10] found that higher GPA is associated with higher PA, and Lindner [11]
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