Abstract
Objective
Guided by self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1987), this study tested a trans-contextual model linking perceptions of the social environment created by the youth sport coach to levels of autonomous and controlled motivation, and objectively measured daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time (ST) in young football players.
Design
The study employed a cross-sectional design, assessing physical activity using accelerometers.
Results
Descriptive statistics
Descriptive statistics are shown in Table 1. The sample largely consisted of normal-weight participants (73.3%, N = 77), with 18.1% and 8.6% classified as overweight (BMI ≥ 85th percentile, N = 19) and obese (BMI ≥ 95th percentile, N = 9), respectively ( Cole et al., 1995). Mean scores for the targeted social psychological variables indicate high levels of autonomous motivation and perceptions of autonomy support across the sample. Perceptions of controlling coach behaviour and controlled motivation were comparatively lower than perceptions of coach-provided autonomy support and autonomous motivation. On average, participants engaged in MVPA for over 1 hour per day and spent between 8 and 9 hours per day engaged in sedentary behaviours.
Table 1.
Descriptive statistics.
Mean ± SD
(N = 105) Range (min – max)
Psychological variables
Autonomy support 3.98 ± 0.55 2.40–5.00
Controlling coach behaviour 2.19 ± 0.64 1.00–4.18
Autonomous motivation 6.24 ± 0.69 4.00–7.00
Controlled motivation 2.93 ± 1.55 1.00–6.83
Intrinsic motivation 6.55 ± 0.56 4.75–7.00
Identified regulation 5.75 ± 0.97 2.75–7.00
Introjected regulation 2.85 ± 1.50 1.00–6.65
External regulation 2.33 ± 1.45 1.00–6.75
Physical characteristics
Age (years) 12.77 ± 1.85 10–16
Height (m) 1.60 ± 0.13 1.31–1.90
Weight (kg) 51.81 ± 14.13 26.0–92.30
BMI (kg/m2) 20.01 ± 3.26 13.16–30.17
BMI-SDS .55 ± 1.05 −2.93–2.79
Physical activity
MVPA (min/day) 70.29 ± 24.58 20.54–143.11
ST (min/day) 486.66 ± 66.21 320.45–616.13
Valid-wear days 6.22 ± 0.90 4.00–7.00
Valid-wear time (hours/day) 12.83 ± 0.88 10.75–14.91
Table options
Pearson correlations
Table 2 reports the bivariate associations between all measured psychological variables2 and PA behaviours. Results indicate that perceived autonomy support was significantly and positively correlated with autonomous motivation, and was unrelated to controlled motivation. Perceived controlling coach behaviour was significantly and positively correlated with controlled motivation, and significantly negatively correlated with autonomous motivation. Autonomous motivation was also significantly positively associated with daily MVPA and negatively related to daily ST. No relationships were observed between controlled motivation and MVPA or ST.
Table 2.
Pearson correlations between psychological variables, daily MVPA and ST.
Variables 1 2 3 4 5
1. Autonomy support
2. Controlling coach behaviour −.32**
3. Autonomous motivation .58** −.23*
4. Controlled motivation −.12 .42** −.07
5. MVPA .14 −.11 .22* .13
6. ST −.01 .04 −.09 −.07 −.46**
Note: *p < .05, **p < .01.
MVPA = moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, ST = sedentary time.
Table options
BMI-SDS was not associated with MVPA (p = .46) or ST (p = .88) Further, age was not related to MVPA (p = .09). However, both age and valid-wear time were significantly positively correlated with ST (r = .51, p ≤ .01 and r = .52, p ≤ .01 respectively), and valid wear time was also significantly positively associated with MVPA (r = .23, p ≤ .05). The hypothesised model was therefore adjusted to control for these relationships in the subsequent path analysis (i.e., direct paths were stipulated between valid wear time and MVPA and ST, and between age and ST; see Fig. 2).
Path analysis
The hypothesised model demonstrated an excellent fit to the data (Fig. 2; χ2 (14) = 18.64, p = .18, CFI = .98, RMSEA = .06, SRMR = .07). Perceptions of coach-provided autonomy support positively predicted autonomous motivation, which in turn, positively predicted daily MVPA and negatively predicted ST. Perceptions of controlling coach behaviour positively predicted controlled motivation. Controlled motivation was unrelated to MVPA and ST. Perceptions of autonomy support and controlling coach behaviour were not associated with controlled motivation and autonomous motivation, respectively. The 95% bootstrap-generated bias-corrected confidence intervals revealed perceptions of coach-provided autonomy support had a significant positive indirect effect on MVPA (unstandardised β = 4.90 [95% CI = .11 to 9.75]), and a significant negative indirect effect on ST (unstandardised β = −9.90 [95% CI = −20.35 to −.27]), via autonomous motivation.
Squared multiple correlations indicated perceptions of coach-provided autonomy support accounted for 18.1% of the variance in autonomous motivation. Perceptions of coach-provided autonomy support and autonomous motivation together explained 4.9% of the variance in PA behaviours (MVPA = 3.3% ST = 1.6%). Significant path coefficients can be interpreted to indicate that every standard deviation unit increase in autonomous motivation (i.e., 0.65) is associated with an increase in daily MVPA by 4.82 min per day, and a reduction in daily ST of 9.87 min per day. Over a week, this equates to an extra 34 min of MVPA, and over 1 h (69 min) less ST.
