Perceived benefits of physical education in university students and their effects on adjustment to university life

Nishida Jun-ichi, Hashimoto Kimio, Kiuchi Atsushi, Tsutsumi Toshihiko, Yamamoto Koji, Tanimoto Hideaki

doi:10.5432/jjpehss.16016

Maladaptation to university life by undergraduates has often been reported in recent years. Therefore, improvements in the provision of support for students is urgently required. Previous studies have indicated that physical education (PE) classes might provide effective opportunities for improving students' adjustment to university. The purposes of this study were to develop a scale for quantitatively evaluating the perceived benefits of PE in university students and to verify its reliability and validity. The effects of perceived benefits of PE on adjustment to university life were then examined using this scale. A questionnaire survey was conducted with university freshmen (n=2,412) who were enrolled in four-year universities and were taking PE classes. The survey questions consisted of items for developing the assessment scale, and a school adjustment scale. The “Perceived Benefits Scale in university First-Year PE classes (PBS-FYPE)” were developed resulted in exploratory factor analysis. The scale consisted of the following sub-scales: “Acquisition of exercise skills and training methods,” “Understanding the importance of cooperative play and improvement in communication skills,” “Stress coping and arousal of positive feelings,” “Improvements in physical strength and physical activities,” and “Establishment of regular lifestyles.” Subsequent analyses confirmed the adequate internal consistency and criterion-related validity of the scale, as well as its reliability and validity. Next, the effects of the perceived benefits of PE on adjustment to university life were examined by multiple group structural equation modeling for students taking part in individual and team sporting events. The results indicated that “sense of comfort” was relatively well explained in both groups by the value of the explanatory variables. Moreover, higher scores for “Understanding the importance of cooperative play and improvement in communication skills” were associated with a higher scores for “sense of comfort”. This effect was stronger for team events than for individual events. Finally, the limits of this study and future issues including the investigation of factors related to the scale and the necessity for longitudinal research were discussed.<br>

Perceived benefits of physical education in university students and their effects on adjustment to university life

Bibliographic Information

Search this article

Description

Journal

Citations (6)*help

References(2)*help

Related Projects

Keywords

Details 詳細情報について

Export

Report a problem