Psychological needs satisfaction in physical education predicts a positive development of motivation in early adolescence: A latent growth modeling study

Self-determination theory (SDT) is a compelling framework for understanding the psychological environment and explaining human motivation. This is especially crucial in school physical education (PE), given that the psychological environment within PE has been demonstrated to be closely related to the formation of physical activity motivation and behaviors. Advancing current knowledge and implementing a longitudinal approach, the aim of this study was, first, to investigate longitudinal changes in psychological needs and motivational regulation, and second, to examine the role of needs in the development of motivational regulation among PE students. A sample of 1148 Finnish adolescents (583 girls, 565 boys, M_age = 11.27 ± 0.32) participated in annual assessments three times. A latent growth model analysis was used to examine the longitudinal associations between the outcome variables, namely psychological needs and motivational regulation. The results indicated that needs satisfaction (α₂ range −0.20[0.03] to −0.06[0.02]), intrinsic motivation (α₂= −0.38[0.03]), and identified regulation (α₂= −0.19[0.03]) declined, whereas external regulation (α₂= 0.16[0.02]) and amotivation (α₂= 0.09[0.02]) increased. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that psychological needs significantly predicted autonomous forms of motivational regulation (intrinsic motivation R²= 0.72[0.13]; identified regulation R²= 0.69[0.20]). Conversely, positive changes in autonomy (β = −0.29[0.13]) and relatedness (β = −0.45[0.22]) accounted for the negative changes in amotivation (R²= 0.62[0.22]). In conclusion, the findings of the study corroborated the central postulations of SDT, providing empirical evidence of the importance of psychological needs in the development of motivation in PE.