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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1401801
This article is part of the Research Topic Physical Education, Health and Education Innovation-Vol II View all 5 articles

Motor Self-efficacy and Physical Education in School Bullying

Provisionally accepted
Carmen Galán-Arroyo Carmen Galán-Arroyo 1Elizabeth Flores-Ferro Elizabeth Flores-Ferro 2Franklin Castillo-Retamal Franklin Castillo-Retamal 3*Jorge Rojo-Ramos Jorge Rojo-Ramos 4*
  • 1 Faculty of Sports Sciences, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain
  • 2 Universidad Católica Silva Henríquez, Santiago, Metropolitan Region, Chile
  • 3 Catholic University of the Maule, Talca, Chile
  • 4 Facultad de Ciencias del Deporte, Universidad de Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In recent years, there has been a notable increase in bullying rates in school. Bullying is characterized as a repeated set of malicious actions by an individual or group towards another individual in an imbalanced power dynamic, resulting in physical, psychological, social, or material harm to the victim, with the intention of causing social exclusion. The scientific literature has investigated the factors that influence this type of behavior, environmental factors, such as school location and student age, as well as other factors, such as gender and level of physical fitness, also play an important role. This study examined the correlation between motor self-efficacy and bullying, considering that physical activity acts as a regulator in these cases. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was employed to assess the normality of the data distribution, and Spearman's Rho test was used to analyze the relationship between each dimension of the EBIPQ and E-AEM scores. The Cronbach's alpha was used to evaluate the reliability of each instrument.The results indicated a significant inverse correlation between the EBIP-Q and E-AEM in the variables of sex, educational stage and school environment. In conclusion, an inverse correlation was observed between motor self-efficacy and bullying, indicating that higher levels of motor self-efficacy are related to lower levels of bullying victimization. Motor self-efficacy could be used as a tool to reduce bullying situations at school. It would be important for government policies to encourage the practice of physical activity in all areas of life in order to improve motor self-efficacy and end bullying.

    Keywords: Bullying, Motor self-efficacy, adolescents, School, Health

    Received: 16 Mar 2024; Accepted: 12 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Galán-Arroyo, Flores-Ferro, Castillo-Retamal and Rojo-Ramos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Franklin Castillo-Retamal, Catholic University of the Maule, Talca, Chile
    Jorge Rojo-Ramos, Facultad de Ciencias del Deporte, Universidad de Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.