The present study
Need-Supportive
SECONDARY
In light of the empirical finding above, we developed an entirely web-based intervention program for parents, considering that self-paced online learning might be convenient for parents. The aim of the pilot study was to test the effectiveness of an online need-supportive study program to help parents interact with their children in a such way as to support their basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, relatedness) and thereby support their intrinsic motivation towards out-of-school PA. The online study program for parents consisted of short educational videos to teach them effective communication techniques to use with their children. It also featured multiple choice tests about the videos and provided a discussion forum for exchanging experiences in implementing the techniques in real life situations. A more detailed description of the intervention program can be found in the methodology chapter in the Web-Based Need-Supportive Parenting Program subsection.We expect that, at follow-up, children whose parents participate in the program demonstrate (1) significantly higher perceptions of parents’ need-supportive behaviours towards autonomy, competence, and relatedness; (2) higher perceptions of basic psychological need satisfaction; (3) lower perceptions of basic psychological need frustration; (4) higher perceptions of autonomous motivation; (5) lower perceptions of controlled forms of motivation; and (6) higher actual self-reported participation in out-of-school PA compared to the children whose parents were assigned to the control group.We also expect increase in perceptions of the secondary outcome variables such as attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, intention, and effort towards PA at follow-up for children whose parents participate in the program relative to children whose parents are assigned to the control condition.