Validation of the behavioral regulation in cycling to and from school scale among students from Germany

The prevalence of total physical activity among children and adolescents in Germany is reported to be low (D-) according to the country-specific Report Card from 2022. One potential strategy to increase physical activity is the promotion of cycling to and from school. To foster a more self-determined form of motivation among students, we developed a promising intervention grounded in the self-determination theory, as demonstrated in previous research. Here, we aimed to validate the “German behavioral regulation in cycling to and from school scale” focusing on construct and criterion validity as well as reliability to create a robust measurement instrument. Conducted in Southern Germany in 2021, this study involved 112 girls, 124 boys, and three students identifying as diverse (13.5 ± 1.1 years) who attended a (sub)urban secondary school that provided an intermediate and/or high educational level. We were unable to validate the original first-order six-factor model. Instead, we successfully validated a newly developed first-order three-factor model, which demonstrated a good global model fit (GFI: 0.997, SRMR: 0.0313), measurement model invariance across gender (GFI: 0.986–0.994, SRMR: 0.0426–0.0596), and internal consistency ( α : 0.846–0.927). For this new scale, both convergent (AVE: 0.582–0.762) and discriminant validity ( R < AVE ) were established. Concurrent criterion validity was found acceptable by the correlation between the mean value for each of the three newly developed factors and the frequency of cycling to school ( R = 0.616) as well as the increased likelihood of cycling to school based on mean levels of autonomous ( p < 0.001; OR = 2.5 [CI 95 for OR: 1.9, 3.3]) and controlled ( p < 0.001; OR = 1.7 [CI 95 for OR: 1.3, 2.4]) motivation. Consequently, we concluded that our study provides a valid and reliable scale measuring behavioral regulation in cycling to and from school, by applying a first-order three-factor model. Furthermore, researchers and practitioners, such as (physical education) teachers, could use this scale to assess the motivation for cycling to and from school in order to implement and evaluate contextual and tailored interventions.