Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT), this study tested a model of motivational sequence in which perceived autonomy support from teachers in a physical education (PE) context predicted the perceived effort and physical self-esteem via self-determined motivation in school students. School students aged 12 to 16 years from Estonia (N = 816), Lithuania (N = 706), Hungary (N = 664), and Spain (N = 922) completed measures of perceived autonomy support from PE teachers, need satisfaction for autonomy, competence, relatedness, self-determined motivation, perceived effort and physical self-esteem. The results of the structural equation model (SEM) of each sample indicated that the students' perceived autonomy support from the teacher was directly related to effort and indirectly via autonomous motivation, whereas physical self-esteem was related indirectly. Confirmatory factor analyses and multi-sample structural equation revealed well-fitting models within each sample with the invariances of the measurement parameters across four nations. The findings support the generalizability of the measures in the motivational sequence model to predict perceived effort and physical self-esteem. KEY WORDS perceived autonomy support, physical self-esteem, effort, physical education ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC PAPER
This paper examines adolescent physical fitness and nutritional behaviours. It is a descriptive study of the analysis of healthrelated physical fitness nutritional behaviours based on a food consumption frequency questionnaire. A total of 194 male participants were divided into subsamples 1, 2, 3 and 4. Anthropometric and physical fitness and nutritional variables were measured. Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit, visual and analytical univariate analyses and Pearson's correlation coefficient were calculated to determine the inter-variable relationships, confirmed by multiple linear regressions. High fitness test scores were found in subsamples 1 and 2, low in subsample 3 and very low in subsample 4; above average protein and fat consumption, below average carbohydrate intake and total Kcal requirements were met in subsamples 1 and 2 only. The study reveals that the physical fitness score and nutritional behaviours are the highest in 14 and 15-year olds, which declines with increasing age.
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