Arab Educational Information Network

This study was to develop and validate an instrument titled, Determinants of Physical Activity Participation Inventory (DPAPI) that was used to assess elementary school students’ innate psychological needs, motivational types, and motivational consequences for physical activity participation outside of school. The DPAPI consisted of two parts: demographic information and the three main theoretical constructs tenets the SDT including psychological needs, motivational types, and motivational consequences. Elementary school-aged children (N=435, grades in 3rd-5th) voluntarily completed the DPAPI during their regular physical education classes. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and the composite reliability coefficients along with average variance extracted values (Raykov, 1998) Evaluation of the overall model fit of the 10-factor measurement model indicated excellent model fit results. The multigroup analysis revealed that the model was invariant across gender. The results indicated that each subscale of the DPAPI had acceptable reliability. Examination of relationships between the psychological needs and motivation types, between motivational types, and between motivational types and consequences supported the theoretical postulations of the self-determined theory. (Published abstract)