Autonomy support in physical education and university students' physical activity: indirect and conditional associations through motivation and environmental support.

Background: Insufficient physical activity among university students remains a significant public health concern. Although physical education (PE) provides an important context for promoting active lifestyles, previous research has focused mainly on motivation and behavioral outcomes within PE itself, leaving it unclear whether autonomy-supportive experiences in PE are associated with students' out-of-class motivation for physical activity and their physical activity. In addition, the motivation-behavior link may vary across contextual conditions, highlighting the need to identify conditions associated with this process. Drawing on self-determination theory and the capability-opportunity-motivation-behavior model, this study examined whether motivation for physical activity may help explain the association between perceived autonomy support in PE and university students' physical activity, and whether the association between motivation and physical activity varies by levels of environmental support. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 1,024 undergraduate students taking general PE courses at five universities across three cities in China. Participants completed measures of perceived autonomy support in PE, motivation for physical activity, environmental support for physical activity, physical activity, and physical literacy. Results: Perceived autonomy support in PE was positively associated with motivation for physical activity, which in turn was positively associated with physical activity. The direct association between autonomy support in PE and physical activity was not statistically supported after motivation for physical activity, environmental support, and their interaction were taken into account. Motivation may help explain the association between autonomy support in PE and physical activity, and environmental support was associated with a stronger link between motivation and physical activity. Accordingly, the indirect association between autonomy support in PE and physical activity via motivation was stronger under more supportive environmental conditions. Conclusion: These findings suggest that autonomy-supportive experiences in PE may be linked to students' out-of-class motivation for physical activity and, indirectly, to their physical activity, while supportive environments may be associated with a stronger link between motivation and physical activity. Campus-based efforts to support physical activity among university students may therefore benefit from attention to autonomy-supportive teaching in PE and everyday environments in which motivation is more strongly associated with physical activity beyond the PE context.