Motivational predictors of physical education students' effort, exercise intentions, and leisure-time physical activity: a multilevel linear growth analysis

Grounded in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), the present study explored whether Physical Education (PE) students’ psychological needs and their motivational regulations towards PE, predicted mean differences and changes in effort in PE, exercise intentions and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) over the course of one UK school trimester. One-hundred and seventyeight students (69% male) aged between 11 and 16 years completed a multi-section questionnaire at the beginning, middle and end of a school trimester. Multilevel growth models revealed that students’ perceived competence and self-determined regulations were the most consistent predictors of the outcome variables at the within- and between-person levels. The results of this work add to the extant SDT-based literature by examining change in PE students’ motivational regulations and psychological needs, as well as underscoring the importance of disaggregating within- and between-student effects.