Translation, Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction in Active Commuting to and From School (BPNS-ACS) Scale in Polish Students

BACKGROUND: To promote active commuting to and from school, it is pertinent to understand the motivational factors that influence the choice of this form of transportation. OBJECTIVE: Translation, cultural adaptation and analysis of the factor structure as well as psychometric properties of the Basic Psychological Needs and Satisfaction in Active Commuting to and from School (BPNS-ACS) scale among Polish students and examination of the distribution of the scale scores according to gender, mode of commuting to and from school and the frequency of using bicycle for this purpose. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data from 475 Polish students aged 11–18, including 53.9% of girls were analysed. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Polish version of the BPNS-ACS, U Mann-Whitney and Kruskal Wallis H tests were performed. RESULTS: The BPNS-ACS consists of 12 items forming three dimensions: autonomy, competence and relatedness need satisfaction. The scale has acceptable psychometric properties: χ2(51)=195.424 (p ˂ 0.001); χ2/df=3.832; CFI=0.944, TLI=0.927, RMSEA=0.077 (90%CI 0.066-0.089), AIC=249.424, BIC=361.833, GFI=0.937, AGFI=0.904. BPNC-ACS scores on factors corresponding to the three basic psychological needs differ based on gender, mode of commuting to and from school and the frequency of cycling to or from school. CONCLUSIONS: Further exploration of the function of basic psychological needs in active commuting to and from school among Polish adolescents may be conducted using an adapted version of the BPNS-ACS scale.