Motivations for adolescent participation in leisure-time physical activity: international differences.

Background: Although there are substantial international differences in adolescent physical activity (PA), cross-country motivational differences have received limited attention, perhaps due to the lack of measures applicable internationally.

Methods: Identical self-report measures assessing PA and motivations for PA were used to survey students ages 11, 13, and 15 from 7 countries participating in the 2005-2006 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study representing 3 regions: Eastern Europe, Western Europe and North America. Multigroup comparisons with Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling examined the stability of factors across regions and regional differences in relations between PA and motives for PA.