Psychological Differences Across Physical Activity Profiles: A Cluster Analysis of Rural Middle Schoolers

This study explored how rural youth cluster into physical activity (PA) profiles and whether psychological characteristics differ across these clusters. The primary objective was to identify PA-based profiles, and the secondary objective was to examine the differences in basic psychological needs across profiles. A 1-year exploratory prospective cohort study was conducted with 83 6th–8th grade students from an under-resourced rural middle school, with 48 participants having complete PA data for analyses. The sport-based PA intervention was implemented by college students in an undergraduate service-learning course. PA was assessed using Axivity AX3 accelerometers, and included light, moderate, vigorous, and total PA minutes/week. Psychological measures included the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration. K-means cluster analysis identified PA profiles based on light, moderate, and vigorous PA levels (minutes/week). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Linear Mixed Models assessed profile differences based on (a) needs satisfaction, (b) needs frustration, (c) autonomy, (d) competence, (e) relatedness. Three PA profiles emerged: a low activity (n = 21), medium activity (n = 22), and high activity cluster (n = 5). These clusters differed significantly in PA levels (p < 0.001). Need satisfaction and frustration did not significantly differ across PA profiles; however, relatedness frustration differed significantly across timepoints (p = 0.036) and needs satisfaction showed descriptive trends across PA profiles. These findings demonstrate heterogeneity in PA engagement among rural youth and provide preliminary descriptive evidence of psychological patterns across these emerging PA profiles. Such differences may generate hypotheses for future research examining whether PA and psychological characteristics can meaningfully inform intervention tailoring.