Predicting students’ intention to continue physical activity and dropout intention in elementary school students

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Physical Education and Sports Science, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran

2 Department of Motor Behavior, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Urmia University, Iran

3 Department of Motor Behavior, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between basic psychological needs with intention to continue physical activity and dropout intention in students. Two hundred students (female = 105) in the fifth and sixth grade participated in this study. Basic psychological need satisfaction and need frustration scale, intention to continue physical activity and drop out intention were used. Findings showed that students’ intention to continue physical activity related positively to their general need satisfaction (r = 0.4, p<0.01), autonomy (r = 0.44, p<0.01), competence (r = 0.40, p<0.01), and relatedness (r = 0.26, p<0.01). Also, students’ intention to continue physical activity related negatively to their general need frustration (r = -0.30, p<0.01 ), autonomy (r = -0.34, p<0.01 ), competence (r = -0.24, p<0.01), and relatedness (r = -0.16, p<0.01). The results of structural equation modeling showed that only need satisfaction predicted positively intention to continue physical activity and negatively predicted dropout intention. Therefore, it can be concluded that students’ need satisfaction contribute to their intention to continue physical activity in future, and diminish their dropout intention in physical education programs.

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  • Receive Date 10 October 2021
  • Revise Date 26 January 2022
  • Accept Date 07 March 2022