Adaptation of the Multidimensional Perceived Autonomy Support Scale in Physical Education to Seventh–Tenth Grade Turkish Students: A Validity and Reliability Study

Feeling autonomous is a fundamental psychological need for personal growth, integration, development, mental health, and overall well-being. This need is closely linked to the level of support perceived by the environment. This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Perceived Multidimensional Autonomy Support in Physical Education Scale (MD-PAS-PE) for Turkish seventh-tenth grade students. The participants comprised a total of 1092 students (606 girls and 486 boys). For obtaining data, the Multi-Dimensional Perceived Autonomy Support Scale for Physical Education, the Basic Psychological Needs Scale in Physical Education, and the Personal Information Form to identify the participants were used. In this study, internal consistency, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), criterion validity, and measurement invariance for gender and age groups statistical analyses were used for data analysis. The extracted factors explained 54.47% of the variance among the 15 items. A fifteen-item, three-factor structure was implemented, as in the original language. In addition, the structural equation model results indicated that cognitive, procedural, and organizational autonomy support sub-dimension scores significantly predicted basic psychological need satisfaction scores. Measurement invariance was examined with gender and age variables, and invariance was observed according to these two factors. It was concluded that the data obtained from the form adapted into Turkish were similar to the original scale, explained by the theoretical structure, and was a valid and reliable scale for measuring autonomy perceptions of seventh-tenth grade students.