No More Bricks in the Wall: Adopting Healthy Lifestyles through Physical Education Classes

Rubén Trigueros, Adolfo J. Cangas, José M. Aguilar-Parra, Joaquín F. Álvarez and Alexandre García-Más
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Rubén Trigueros: Department of Language and Education, University of Antonio de Nebrija, 28015 Madrid, Spain
Adolfo J. Cangas: Department of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
José M. Aguilar-Parra: Department of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Joaquín F. Álvarez: Department of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Alexandre García-Más: Faculty of Psychology, GICAFE research group, University of the Balearic Islands, 07122 Palma, Spain

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-16

Abstract: Despite the multiple benefits associated with practicing physical activity regularly, less than 20% of the population do it on a daily basis. Physical education classes could contribute, during childhood and adolescence, to consolidating adherence to healthy lifestyle habits. The present study involved 606 secondary school students between the ages of 13 and 19. We analysed the relationships between the perception of psychological control and support for autonomy, the satisfaction and frustration of psychological needs, mind-wandering and mindfulness, positive and negative emotions, motivation towards physical education classes, physical activity and the intention to be physically active—all through a structural equation model, which presented acceptable goodness-of-fit indices. The results showed that students who feel more autonomous see that their psychological needs are met and feel emotionally positive; this will result in the development of autonomous motivation towards physical education classes and physical activity that, in turn, could lead to a greater intention to be physically active.

Keywords: physical education; physical activity; psychological well-being; healthy habits; adolescents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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