Validity and Reliability of the Interpersonal Behaviors Questionnaire in Physical Education With Spanish Secondary School Students

Abstract

Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, the objective of this study was to adapt the Interpersonal Behaviors Questionnaire (IBQ) to the Spanish physical education (PE) context and to examine its psychometric properties using a sample of Spanish secondary school students. The participants were 478 secondary school students (220 boys and 258 girls; Mage = 14.56, SDage = 1.06) who received two 60-minute compulsory PE classes per week. A confirmatory factor analysis psychometrically underpinned a 24-item six-factor correlated model (i.e. autonomy, competence and relatedness supportive and autonomy, competence and relatedness thwarting behaviors) that was invariant across gender and age. A reliability examination found appropriate levels of internal consistency and temporal stability for the instrument’s six factors. A partial correlation analysis showed that while the three types of need-supportive behaviors from PE teachers were positively correlated with need satisfaction and autonomous motivation; the three types of need-thwarting behaviors from PE teachers were positively correlated with need frustration, controlled motivation and amotivation. Thus, this study showed that the Spanish version of the IBQ is valid and reliable for assessing PE students’ perceptions of the six specific types of interpersonal behavior that may be adopted by PE teachers.