Declining Physical Activity and Motivation from Middle School to High School

Conclusions Consistent with Self-Determination Theory, the findings encourage interventions that target autonomous motivation among youths. The results extend prior evidence in three ways. First, the cohort was tracked for 3 yr using an objective measure of physical activity. Second, influences of intrinsic motivation and integrated regulation on changing physical activity were not direct. They interacted with changing goals, indicating that interventions should also focus on specific goals for physical activity as effect modifiers. Third, interventions focused on autonomous motivation should consider that controlled, introjected motivation may also interact with goals to influence physical activity during the transition between middle school and high school.
Source: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Epidemiology Source Type: research