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Predicting change in middle school students’ leisure‐time physical activity participation: A prospective test of the trans‐contextual model

Polet, Juho; Lintunen, Taru; Schneider, Jekaterina; Hagger, Martin S.

Predicting change in middle school students’ leisure‐time physical activity participation: A prospective test of the trans‐contextual model Thumbnail


Authors

Juho Polet

Taru Lintunen

Jekaterina Schneider

Martin S. Hagger



Abstract

© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Applied Social Psychology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC We applied the trans-contextual model (TCM) to examine the effects of middle school students’ perceived autonomy support from their physical education (PE) teachers on autonomous motivation toward PE in school and, critically, autonomous motivation toward, and actual participation in, leisure-time physical activity (PA). The research adopted a three-wave prospective design enabling the modeling of change in the TCM constructs over time. Middle school students (N=248) aged from 12 to 16years reported their perceived autonomy support, autonomous motivation in PE, autonomous motivation toward leisure-time PA, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), intentions for PA in leisure-time, and leisure-time PA participation. The psychological constructs and leisure-time PA were measured at baseline (T0) and at a first follow-up occasion (T1) 5weeks later. Another measure of PA was taken at a second follow-up occasion (T2) a further 5weeks later. A single-indicator structural equation model using residualized change scores revealed that perceived autonomy support predicted autonomous motivation in PE (β=.345), and autonomous motivation in PE predicted autonomous motivation for leisure-time PA (β=.484). Autonomous motivation toward leisure-time PA predicted attitudes (β=.425), subjective norms (β=.264), and PBC (β=.517). Autonomous motivation toward leisure-time PA (β=.376), attitude (β=.231), and subjective norms (β=.185) predicted intentions toward leisure-time PA, and intentions predicted PA (β=.198). Findings extend research on the TCM by demonstrating its efficacy in predicting change in middle school students’ autonomous motivation across PE and leisure-time contexts, and accounting for change in intentions toward, and actual participation in, leisure-time PA.

Citation

Polet, J., Lintunen, T., Schneider, J., & Hagger, M. S. (2020). Predicting change in middle school students’ leisure‐time physical activity participation: A prospective test of the trans‐contextual model. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 50(9), 512-523. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12691

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 26, 2020
Online Publication Date Jun 26, 2020
Publication Date Sep 1, 2020
Deposit Date Jan 4, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Applied Social Psychology
Print ISSN 0021-9029
Electronic ISSN 1559-1816
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 50
Issue 9
Pages 512-523
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12691
Keywords Social Psychology
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6969440
Additional Information Received: 2020-03-06; Accepted: 2020-05-26; Published: 2020-06-26