We tested a model of the associations between students' perceptions of their physical education teacher's controlling behaviour, perceptions of basic psychological need thwarting, anger and bullying behaviour. School students (N = 602; M age = 12.88, SD = 1.37) from 10 schools completed measures of perceived teachers' controlling behaviour and perceived thwarting of the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness in physical education context and self‐reported bullying and anger. A well‐fitting structural equation model demonstrated that students' perceptions of the negative conditional regard and intimidation exhibited by the teacher had significant indirect effect on students' feelings of anger and bullying behaviour through the perceived psychological need thwarting in physical education. Findings suggest that physical education teachers who avoid the use of negative conditional regard and intimidation in their classes have students who perceive less need thwarting and report less bullying behaviour.

Students’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) may depend on the extent to which the school environment fostered by their teacher is perceived as autonomy-supportive. We tested a conditional process model in a physical education context in which students’ perception of their teachers’ autonomy-supportive behaviour moderated the relationship between perceived controlling behaviour and HRQoL via need frustration. School students (N = 1042) completed self-report measures of perceived teachers’ autonomy support, perceived controlling behaviour, need frustration, and HRQoL. As predicted, the effect of perceived teachers’ controlling behaviour on HRQoL was mediated by need frustration. Perceived autonomy support did not moderate this indirect effect. Specifically, higher levels of autonomy support did not attenuate the indirect effect of perceived controlling behaviour on HRQoL through need frustration. Findings highlight the importance of minimizing controlling behaviour, rather than an exclusive focus on enhancing autonomy-supportive behaviour, to enhance students’ HRQoL.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a brief integrated theory-based intervention to increase physical activity (PA) among adolescents over a three-month follow-up period. A 2 (mental simulation: present vs. absent) × 2 (action planning: present vs. absent) × 4 (time: baseline vs. one-month vs. two-month vs. three-month follow-up) mixed-model randomized controlled design was adopted. Adolescents aged 14-15 years (N = 267) completed baseline psychological measures and self-reported PA followed by the relevant intervention manipulation, if appropriate, with follow-up measures collected one, two, and three months later. Results revealed no significant effects for the mental simulation and action planning strategies nor the interaction of the two strategies. However, among participants with low levels of baseline PA, participants in both mental simulation alone and action planning alone groups reported significantly higher levels of PA at one-month follow up than other groups, suggesting that individual intervention components may be effective in low-active adolescents.