Using Expectancy-value Approach to Understand Adolescent's Leisure Time Physical Activity and Academic Outcomes

PURPOSE: The Expectancy Value Model (EVM) has been utilized to understand psychological reasons of physical activity (PA) participation among school-aged children (PA; Eccles & Wigfield, 2000). The EVM proposes that students’ expectancy-related beliefs and their subjective task values contribute to PA behaviors during physical education (PE). Guided by the EVM, this study aimed to investigate the relationship among adolescents’ expectancy-related beliefs, subjective task values, leisure time PA (LTPA), and academic outcomes including academic self-efficacy and academic achievement in reading and mathematics. METHODS: Participants were 276 middle school adolescents recruited from three middle schools in the southwestern United States. Using a prospective research design, participants completed previously validated questionnaires assessing their expectancy-related beliefs and subjective task values in PE at the beginning of school year. At the end of school year, students self-reported their LTPA and academic self-efficacy. Students’ reading and mathematics scores were provided by the school district representing their academic achievement. RESULTS: Correlation analysis revealed positive associations among the study variables (rs ranged from .17 to .59). Using the structural equation modeling (SEM; AMOS 25.0), the hypothesized model resulted with a good fit to the data (χ2/df = 46.98/24, p < .01; NFI = .90; IFI = .95; CFI = .94; RMSEA = .059; 90% CI [.033, .084]). The expectancy-related beliefs had a direct and significant association with LTPA (β = .74, p < .05), and LTPA had a direct and significant contribution to academic outcomes (β = .24, p < .05). The SEM model suggests that the LTPA fully mediated the relations between expectancy-value beliefs in PE and academic outcomes among adolescents. CONCLUSION: The findings indicated that adolescents who perceived higher expectancy-related beliefs in PE are more likely to engage in PA outside of the school settings. The results provide insights that promoting perceived confidence and PA may contribute to students’ academic outcomes. The findings supported the theoretical tenets of EVM in adolescents’ PA and academic outcomes. Enhancing adolescents’ motivation in PE is critical to promote their LTPA and academic success during adolescence.