Pedagogical models application in physical education on motivational variables, intention to be physically active and basic psychological needs satisfaction: a systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regression

In recent years, pedagogical models (PMs) have gained increasing attention in physical education (PE) due to their potential to enhance students' motivational outcomes. This study aimed to systematically synthesize the available evidence on the effects of pedagogical models on autonomous motivation, a motivation, basic psychological needs satisfaction, and intention to be physically active among children and adolescents. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted following PRISMA guidelines. Searches were performed in Scopus, Web of Sciences, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, ERIC and PsychARTICLES. A total of 20 studies were included in the analysis. Exploratory meta-regression analyses were performed to examine whether content area, pedagogical approach, intervention duration, educational stage, and participants‘ age were associated with the observed effects. The pooled analyses suggested that pedagogical models were associated with higher autonomous motivation ( g = 0.652; 95% CI [0.373, 0.932]; p < 0.001), competence satisfaction ( g = 0.435; 95% CI [0.252, 0.618]; p < 0.001), autonomy satisfaction ( g = 0.313; 95% CI [0.089, 0.536]; p = 0.006), intention to be physically active ( g = 0.745; 95% CI [0.359, 1.131]; p < 0.001) together with lower amotivation ( g = −0.431; 95% CI [−0.700, −0.162]; p = 0.006). Meta-regression analyses indicated that individual sports (β = −1.78; p = 0.01) and health-related content (β = −1.68; p = 0.02) were associated with lower autonomous motivation compared to team sports. Pedagogical models may promote more favorable motivational outcomes in physical education, particularly autonomous motivation, competence satisfaction, autonomy satisfaction and intention to be physically active. The low certainty of the evidence, substantial between-study heterogeneity and the exploratory nature of the moderator analyses limit confidence in the magnitude of these pooled effects. These findings should be interpreted with caution, and further high-quality randomized controlled trials using more standardized intervention protocols are needed to confirm these associations.