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Testing the Role of State Mindfulness in Facilitating Autonomous Physical Activity Motivation

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Abstract

Objectives

Consistent with early assertions of self-determination theory (SDT), researchers have provided initial evidence of the role of being more mindful in the autonomous regulation of physical activity behavior. The purpose of this study was to test whether change in need satisfaction mediates the relationship between trajectories of change in state mindfulness during yoga classes and change in autonomous physical activity motivation.

Methods

In this study, 315 students (Mage = 20.46, SDage = 2.15; 87% female) in university yoga classes completed measures of state and trait mindfulness, perceived competence and autonomy (i.e., need satisfaction), and autonomous physical activity motivation multiple times over 16 weeks. A latent growth curve was modeled for state mindfulness with four time points and used to predict change in need satisfaction and autonomous motivation.

Results

Bayes estimation results showed that change in need satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between the slope of state mindfulness and change in autonomous motivation for physical activity over 16 weeks of yoga participation (DIC = 2526.382, PPP = .344). The model explained 47% of the variance in need satisfaction and 65% of the variance in autonomous physical activity motivation.

Conclusions

These results illustrate the potential for growth in mindfulness within the context of yoga to support autonomous motivation for physical activity more generally.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Washington State University, Smith Gym 213C, Pullman, WA, 99164–1410, USA

    Anne E. Cox, Sarah Ullrich-French & Bruce Austin

Authors
  1. Anne E. Cox
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  2. Sarah Ullrich-French
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  3. Bruce Austin
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Contributions

AEC: designed and executed the study, assisted with the data analyses and wrote the paper. SUF: collaborated on the conceptualization and execution of the study and writing of the paper. BA: conducted the main data analyses and collaborated on the writing of the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anne E. Cox.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at Washington State University. All procedures have been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to inclusion in the study.

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Cox, A.E., Ullrich-French, S. & Austin, B. Testing the Role of State Mindfulness in Facilitating Autonomous Physical Activity Motivation. Mindfulness 11, 1018–1027 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01311-y

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