Does motivational regulation affect physical activity patterns among Norwegian Police University College students?

Abstract

Physical readiness is important for operative police officers to cope with occupational tasks. Despite this, physical activity and physical fitness among police officers decrease throughout their occupational career. Self-determination theory (SDT) is a major theoretical approach in motivation research for sports and physical activity. SDT describes types of motivation and motivational regulation and how they are related to physical activity and physical activity adherence. This study aims to explore whether there is a relationship between motivation and the physical activity level of future police officers. The study was based on a survey design, including two questionnaires: Motives for Physical Activities Measure – Revised, measuring motivational regulation; and International Physical Activity Questionnaire – short form, measuring physical activity. Two hundred and fifty-eight students at the Norwegian Police University College (NPUC) participated in the study. Our results revealed that motivational regulation, especially intrinsic and integrated regulation, significantly predicted physical activity among NPUC students. Our findings support the basics of SDT, and how it is related to physical activity patterns and physical activity adherence. When discussing physical training and physical readiness, and to understand the reduction in physical activity and fitness among police officers, one cannot neglect the importance of exploring and understanding the motivation for physical activity among police officers. Educational institutions like the NPUC have an important role in securing minimum levels of physical fitness when graduating students, but even more importantly they can have a central part in nurturing intrinsic motivation for physical activity for the future police officers, which facilitates physical activity adherence throughout their policing career.

Fit (and Healthy) for Duty: Blood Lipid Profiles and Physical Fitness Test Relationships from Police Officers in a Health and Wellness Program

“…It should be noted that although dietary interventions can be beneficial for improving factors that relate to CVD risk (e.g., blood lipid profiles, weight management) [39,86,87], these interventions should be made within the context of occupational challenges and motivations experienced by police officers [13]. This is also true for physical activity [8,88]. Indeed, the potential benefit of health and wellness programs designed for police departments is that they can cater to specific needs and constraints of officers.…”

A Self-Determination Theory and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based intervention aimed at increasing adherence to physical activity

“…Although this population is perceived as healthy, <27% of students described their lifestyle to be active (Yahia et al, 2016), and reduced PA levels were observed among this population due to the Covid-19 pandemic (Gallo et al, 2020). Previous studies showed that SDT improved PA rates among students (Jenssen and Dillern, 2021) likewise ACT (Wang et al, 2020). Specifically, young adults may gain mental and physical advantages by assimilating the protocol of the SDT and ACT-based intervention group and facilitates PA adherence throughout their professional career.…”

Physical exercise behavior characteristics and influencing factors of police officers

“…The literature review revealed that physical activity patterns in policing work time [11], motivational regulation of police college students [12], physical activity levels in police o cers and cadets [13], and if self-e cacy for exercise predictive of leisure-time physical activity [14]. Previous studies about physical exercise mainly focused on teenagers or ordinary adult population, and the results of these researches contained nding out their motivation, exercise programs and in uencing factors [15,16].…”