Sex differences in perceived physical activity characteristics in 11-19 years old italian students

Purpose. This study aimed to investigate sex and age differences in selected physical characteristics assessed with questionnaires in a cohort of middle and high school students. Methods. 1051 students (497 girls and 654 boys) aged 11 to 19 years completed the following questionnaires: Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A), Task and Ego Orientation in Physical Education Questionnaire (TEOSQ), Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale Questionnaire (PACES), Teacher-Initiated Motivational Climate in Physical Education Questionnaire (TIMCPEQ), Physical Self Description Questionnaire (PSDQ), and Psychobiosocial states questionnaire (PBS). For all questionnaires, scores were compared by sex and age with two-way ANOVAs. Results. Overall, boys showed higher scores than girls in the PAQ-A, TEOSQ (ego orientation), TIMCPEQ, PBS (both pleasant and unpleasant descriptors), PACES (positive items), and PSDQ. Conversely, girls showed higher scores than boys in the PACES (negative items). A trend of questionnaires scores to decrease across ages was observed, both in boys and girls, in the PAQ-A, PBS (pleasant descriptors), and PACES (positive items). Furthermore, decreases across ages of TEOSQ (task orientation) and PACES (negative items) were observed only in boys, while the PSDQ score decreased only in girls. Finally, boys showed an increase across age of the TEOSQ (ego orientation) score. Conclusions. The present study confirms a decrease of motivation towards PA and PA enjoyment across adolescence and in particular in the transition between the middle and high school (at age 14). The study findings provide suggestions to PE teachers about the importance of using motivational strategies towards students, differentiated by sex and age groups.