Underserved Adolescent Girls’ Physical Activity Intentions and Behaviors: Relationships with the Motivational Climate and Perceived Competence in Physical Education

Alex C. Garn, Nate McCaughtry, Bo Shen, Jeffrey Martin, Mariane Fahlman

Division of Kinesiology, Health, and Sports Studies, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA.
School of Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ape.2013.32018                

Abstract

This study investigated underserved adolescent girls’ perceptions of the motivational climate in relationship to their perceptions of competence in urban physical education, self-reported physical activity, and future physical activity intentions. A total of two-hundred-seventy-six underserved (i.e., minority, urban, high poverty) adolescent girls completed questionnaires and a multi-step approach was used to test these relationships. First, a trichotomous model of the perceived motivational climate was tested using confirmatory factor analysis and results suggested a good fit of the data. Structural equation modeling analyses were then used to test both direct and indirect relationships between the perceived motivational climates in physical education, perceived competence in physical education, and physical activity outcomes. Findings revealed that the relationship between the perceived motivational climates and physical activity outcomes were best understood when perceived competence in physical education was accounted for as an intermediary factor.

Keywords

Perceived Competence; Urban Physical Education; Motivational Climate

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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