MOTIVATION FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PRACTICE AND SATISFACTION WITH LIFE IN HEALTH SCIENCES FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS - RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENDER AND DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS

Abstract

Samuel Honório, Marco Batista, Maria-Raquel G. Silva

The practice of physical activity in all age groups is fundamental. The risk of many diseases and usual health problems decrease with regular physical activity. This study has as main objective to identify the motivations and satisfaction with the life of first-year students of health sciences bachelor’s degrees and compare them between gender and different geographic regions that students came from. A total of 177 students of both genders from 3 different country regions (North, Centre and Interior of Portugal), namely 31 (17.5%) were male and 146 (82.5%) were female, with a mean age of 20.20±3.04 years from 18 to 30 years. Data collection instrument used was a questionnaire of six scales that evaluate each of the variables: Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire, Basic Psychological Needs Exercise Scale and Life Satisfaction Scale. Descriptive statistics were presented and the Cronbach's alpha was calculated to evaluate the internal consistency of the questionnaires. A level of significance was adopted with a margin of error of 5% for a probability of at least 95% using the Levene and Mann-Whitney techniques for comparisons between genders and regions using SPSS version 20. The results show that the motivation for who maintains a constant practice of PA focuses on intrinsic motivation in both genders with significant differences. In Amotivation, external and introjected regulation women present higher levels for the practice of PA related to men. In the basic psychological needs the male gender presents higher values in all the variables with significant differences in relation and competence. In the satisfaction with life between genders, men present higher means and students who practice PA are the most satisfied with their life’s. According to the country region, this variable is more favourable to students from the north. We can conclude that the intrinsic motivation and the satisfaction with life appear as an extremely positive factor in these students that must be kept active for maintaining this satisfaction with life.