The relationship between commitment to physical activity, perceived motor competence, and generalized anxiety disorder in adolescents

Studies have shown that physical activity levels and motor competency are associated with psychological variables such as anxiety. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between commitments to physical activity, perceived motor competence and generalized anxiety disorder in adolescents.

The method of this study was descriptive-correlational and the statistical population consisted of all female students of guidance school in Markazi province. The statistical sample consisted of 150 female students of guidance schools in Arak who were selected by the convenience sampling method. Participants completed the adolescent motor competence questionnaire, commitment to physical activity scale, and generalized anxiety disorder questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate regression.

Pearson correlation results showed that there was a direct and significant relationship between commitment to physical activity and perceived motor competence (P <0.05). However, there was a significant negative correlation between these variables and generalized anxiety disorder in adolescents (P <0.05). Also, the results of the multivariate regression showed that based on the variables of commitment to physical activity and perceived motor competency, anxiety disorder in adolescents can be significantly predicted.

Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that an increase in commitment to physical activity and motor competence is associated with a decrease in generalized anxiety disorder in adolescents. Therefore, encouraging and planning for performing and maintaining physical activity and increasing motor competency is necessary to prevent generalized anxiety disorder.