Adaptation and Validation of the Multi-Dimensional Perceived Autonomy Support Scale for Physical Education to the Spanish Physical Exercise Context

The interaction between the teacher and the student is essential in order to encourage adherence to physical exercise or sports by young people. In this sense, the support of the autonomy of the teacher for the students has been analyzed in a one-dimensional way. Therefore, the aim of this study was to adapt and validate the Multidimensional Scale of Support for Autonomy Perceived for Physical Education the context of Spanish to physical exercise, in order to have a multidimensional scale. A total of 2329 young people from various educational centers in Andalusia (Spain) participated in the study. The factorial structure of the questionnaire was examined through an exploratory factorial analysis and two confirmatory factorial analyses. In addition, an analysis of invariability by sex and age was carried out. The results reflected that the validated questionnaire showed adequate psychometric properties, being invariable with respect to sex and age.