Determining the emotional profile of high-school students: a key to improve physical engagement?

According to the World Health Organization, adults should practice at least 30 min.day-1 and children 1h.day-1 of physical activity (PA) to adopt a healthy lifestyle. But surveys from this organization show that about 80% of... [ view full abstract ]

According to the World Health Organization, adults should practice at least 30 min.day^-1 and children 1h.day^-1 of physical activity (PA) to adopt a healthy lifestyle. But surveys from this organization show that about 80% of school aged children declare not achieving this objective. Things get even worse during adulthood, when Physical Education (PE) stops being a compulsory subject. Research related to psychology have pointed out different key elements to explain engagement in PA. Amongst the various elements of motivation for the activity, the pleasure to practice PA is an important psychological factor. Sociological studies also point out that uses of the human body is socially oriented, therefore the modality of a PA also impacts one’s engagement in it. This study sought to determine to what extend the motivational profiles and the modality of practice impact the level of engagement in PE.

The motivational, preferred modality of practice and the level of engagement in different types of PA was recorded in 500 senior high-school students using a selection of questionnaires. Cluster analyses revealed the existence of 5 different motivational profiles, each of which could be linked to a modality of practice. A logistic regression suggested that motivational level for PA was the single best predictor of engagement in PA. However, at an individual’s level, a greater level of engagement was observed in the preferred modality of practice only, for which more pleasure during practice was recorded.

These results indicate that although the level of activity is mainly determined by the motivational level of pupils for PA, the pleasure of a session is an important variable to consider when trying to unravel the resistance to engagement in those practice sessions proposed by PE teachers in high-school pupils.