Motivational profiles of leisure participation among university students living under prolonged wartime conditions: implications for inclusive physical culture
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15561/health.2026.0301Keywords:
inclusive physical culture, LMS-28, leisure motivation, motivational profiles, prolonged wartime conditions, university studentsAbstract
Background and Study Aim. Prolonged wartime conditions expose university students to persistent environmental, psychological, and social barriers that may restrict participation in leisure and physical activity. From the perspective of inclusive physical culture, these students represent a population requiring equitable opportunities and targeted support to maintain active lifestyles under conditions of chronic stress. The aim of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of motivational profiles of participation in leisure activities among university students in Ukraine under prolonged wartime conditions, considering the role of physical activity as a behavioural context.
Materials and Methods. The study involved 89 university students in Ukraine from eastern (n = 53) and western (n = 36) regions. The Leisure Motivation Scale (LMS-28) was used to assess motivation. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, nonparametric tests, and correlation analysis. Normality was assessed using the Shapiro–Wilk test. Intergroup comparisons by region and sex were conducted using the Mann–Whitney U test. Relationships between subscales were evaluated using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient with a significance level of p < 0.05.
Results. The results indicate that students’ motivational profiles of participation in leisure activities demonstrate a similar multidimensional structure across all LMS-28 subscales. No statistically significant differences were observed between students from eastern and western regions of Ukraine or between men and women (p > 0.05). Median values were comparable across groups, and effect sizes were small (r ≤ 0.16). Structural analysis showed a predominance of intrinsic motivation and identified regulation, with lower levels of external regulation and amotivation. Correlation analysis revealed statistically significant positive relationships between LMS-28 subscales, indicating structural consistency of motivational components.
Conclusions. The findings indicate homogeneous and structurally consistent motivational profiles among students exposed to prolonged wartime conditions. These findings support the development of inclusive physical culture programmes designed to preserve equitable participation in physical activity among students living under chronic environmental and psychosocial constraints.
References
Deci EL, Ryan RM. Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior. Boston, MA: Springer US; 1985. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7
Ryan RM, Deci EL. Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 2000;55(1): 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
Beard JG, Ragheb MG. Measuring Leisure Motivation. Journal of Leisure Research, 1983;15(3): 219–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.1983.11969557
Yüzgenç A. Investigation of university students participation in leisure activities and th. International Journal of Education Technology and Scientific Researches, 2022; 19. https://doi.org/10.35826/ijetsar.519
Coşkun G, Dilmaç E. Leisure behavior through the life span: Leisure constraints, motivation, and self-efficacy among Gen Z and Millennials. Loisir et Société / Society and Leisure, 2024;47(3): 439–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/07053436.2024.2423303
Ti Y, Yi C, Chan S, Wei J, Liu Y. Transitions in academic motivation and engagement profiles among middle school students: Basic psychological needs satisfaction as predictors. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 2025;35(4): e70101. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.70101
Nie Y, Sun B, Xiong F. Motivation and self-regulated learning profiles: A person-centered perspective of English learning and achievement in an Asia context. System, 2024;125: 103448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2024.103448
Wei D, Wang P. Understanding motivation, behaviors, and boredom in L2 learning: Variable-centered and person-centered approaches. Language Teaching Research, 2025; 13621688251324693. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688251324693
Ramos A, Vansteenkiste M, Lavrijsen J, Soenens B, Verschueren K. Motivational profiles among high-ability students from a self-determination perspective: Stability, antecedents, and comparisons with average-ability students. Learning and Individual Differences, 2025;118: 102620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2024.102620
Adamczak D, Bronikowski M. Comparison of Motivation Types, Self-Assessment of Sport Skills, and Fitness Among Young Adolescents Regarding Additional Physical Activity. Applied Sciences, 2025;15(13): 7043. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15137043
Oviedo L, Seryczyńska B, Torralba J, Roszak P, Del Angel J, Vyshynska O, et al. Coping and Resilience Strategies among Ukraine War Refugees. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022;19(20): 13094. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013094
Stodolska M. The Roles of Leisure in Trauma Coping Among Ukrainian War Refugees in Poland. Leisure Sciences, 2025; 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2025.2487070
Ali M, Van Berkel N, Tag B, Paananen V, Oppenlaender J, Yatani K, et al. Investigating mental wellbeing self-care in higher education using BERTopic modeling. Discover Mental Health, 2025;5(1): 204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44192-025-00323-1
Efrat-Treister D, Fuchs G. Resilience-building leisure activities during war. Tourism Recreation Research, 2025; 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2025.2559251
Díaz-Martínez F, Sánchez-Sauco MF, Cabrera-Rivera LT, Sánchez CO, Hidalgo-Albadalejo MD, Claudio L, et al. Systematic Review: Neurodevelopmental Benefits of Active/Passive School Exposure to Green and/or Blue Spaces in Children and Adolescents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023;20(5): 3958. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20053958
Byshevets N, Andrеieva O, Goncharova N, Shynkaruk O, Hakman A, Usuchenko V, Synihovets I. General regression modeling of the impact of physical activity on stress-related states in higher education students during military conflict. Journal of Physical Education and Sport. 2024;24(9):1147–1158. https://doi.org/10.7752/jpes.2024.09239
Byshevets N, Andrieieva O, Dutchak M, Shynkaruk O, Dmytriv R, Zakharina I, et al. The Influence of Physical Activity on Stress-associated Conditions in Higher Education Students. Physical Education Theory and Methodology, 2024;24(2): 245–253. https://doi.org/10.17309/tmfv.2024.2.08
Abrahamovych KhYa, Bevz OV, Haiduk AB, Ivasivka RS, Novosad AB, Bazylevych AYa. Physical activity, sleep quality, and mental health among university students during wartime: findings from a mediation study. Zaporozhye Medical Journal, 2026;28(1): 58–64. https://doi.org/10.14739/2310-1210.2026.1.338520
Hozak SV, Yelizarova OT, Stankevych TV, Chorna VV, Tovkun LP, Lebedynets NV, et al. Mental health and lifestyles of students during the war. Reports of Vinnytsia National Medical University, 2023;27(4): 628–634. https://doi.org/10.31393/reports-vnmedical-2023-27(4)-17
Andrieieva O, Byshevets N, Hakman A, Grygus I. Changes in physical activity indicators of Ukrainian students in the conditions of distance education. Physical Rehabilitation and Recreational Health Technologies, 2023;8(2): 75–81. https://doi.org/10.15391/prrht.2023-8(2).01
Zhang X yu, Zhang YS, Han S shan, Kuan G, Lou H, Mu F zheng, et al. The impact of physical activity on self-emotion management among university students in Western China: the mediating roles of self-rated health and life satisfaction. Frontiers in Psychology, 2025;16: 1567576. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1567576
Mustafa TAZE, Sermin AĞRALI ERMİŞ. The mediating role of motivation in the effect of leisure barriers on life satisfaction in campus recreation participation. Cuest.fisioter. 2024.53(3):2253-2276.
Liang Y, Li J, Wang Z. From leisure motivation to recreation specialization: a study on the psychological mechanism of sustainable participation of ice and snow sports participants. Frontiers in Psychology, 2025;16: 1484550. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1484550
Talagala TS. Relationship Between Leisure Activities, Stress Management Methods, Study Methods, and Methods of Learning New Things Among First-Year Statistics Students. 2025. https://doi.org/10.48550/ARXIV.2508.11726
Ntovoli A, Stavropoulou G, Karagiorgos T, Lianopoulos Y, Anagnostou G, Alexandris K. Motivation for recreational sport participation and leisure constraints: a segmentation perspective. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2026;7: 1697603. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2025.1697603
Nairun Z, Yanli Y, Jiajing L. Physical Activity and College Students’ Subjective Well-being: The Mediating Roles of Basic Psychological Needs and Self-Efficacy. SAGE Open, 2025;15(3): 21582440251365997. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251365997
Sun Y, Zhao Y, Yang J. The impact of sports preferences on physical activity participation among college students: the mediating role of sports achievement emotions and exercise motivation. Frontiers in Psychology, 2025;16: 1565998. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1565998
Wang Y, Wang Y, Lv M, Cheng Z, Tao Y. The influence of interpersonal relationships on college students’ physical activity: chain-mediated effects of social support and exercise motivation. Frontiers in Psychology, 2025;16: 1567122. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1567122
Wang P, Han L, Ai F. What Drives Visitors’ Use of Bins in Urban Parks? An Application of the Stimulus-Organism-Response Model. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022;19(21): 14170. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114170
Ntoumanis N, Moller AC. Self-determination theory informed research for promoting physical activity: Contributions, debates, and future directions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2025;80: 102879. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102879
Polyvianaia M, Yachnik Y, Fegert JM, Sitarski E, Stepanova N, Pinchuk I. Mental health of university students twenty months after the beginning of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war. BMC Psychiatry, 2025;25(1): 236. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-06654-1
Potop V, Vypasniak I, Ivanyshyn I, Lutskyi V, Kryventsova I, Shesterova L, Prusik K. Assessment of stress and health conditions among students in the context of the war in Ukraine. Physical Culture, Recreation and Rehabilitation. 2024;3(2):58-69. https://doi.org/10.15561/physcult.2024.0203
Pelletier LG, Vallerand RJ, Brière NM, Blais MR. Construction et validation de l’Échelle de motivation vis-à-vis les loisirs [Construction and validation of the Leisure Motivation Scale]. In: Résumés des communications du congrès annuel de la Société québécoise pour la recherche en psychologie (SQRP) [Abstracts of the Annual Conference of the Quebec Society for Research in Psychology]; 1989 Oct 28; Ottawa, ON, Canada. p. 146. (In French). Available from: https://www.lrcs.uqam.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/eml28_en.pdf
Vallerand RJ, Blais MR, Brière NM, Pelletier LG. Construction et validation de l’échelle de motivation en éducation (EME). Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 1989;21(3): 323–349. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0079855
Gungormus HA. The study of validity and reliability of Turkish version of leisure motivation scale. Energy Educ Sci Technol Part B Soc Educ Stud. 2012;4(3):1209–1216.
Calik F. Examination of leisure motivation and students’ participation in leisure activities in terms of various variables. Int Online J Educ Sci. 2014;6(2):361–372.
Kaya A, Aksu HS. The relationship between leisure motivation and psychological well-being among young adults (university students). In: Africa 8th International Conference on Scientific Researches; 2025 Aug 8–10; Cairo, Egypt. Proceedings. Cairo; 2025. p. 87–95.
Van Lankveld W, Linskens F, Stolwijk N. Motivation for Physical Activity: Validation of the Dutch Version of the Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale (PALMS). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021;18(10): 5328. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105328
Ruiz MC, Hassandra M, Aypar E, Knittle K, Tolvanen A, Robazza C. Validation of the 21-item Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale (PALMS) among Finnish late adolescents. Psychology & Health, 2025; 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2025.2476625
World Medical Association. Declaration of Helsinki: ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects [Internet]. Ferney-Voltaire (FR): World Medical Association; 2013 [cited 2026 Feb 09]. Available from: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki/
Pavlova I. Ukrainian translation, culture adaptation and validation of Fair Play questionnaire in physical education for assessing social skills of children and adolescents. In: Conference: 2nd World Scientific Congress „Quality of Life in Interdisciplinary Approach». Kochcice, Poland; 2019.
Yukhymenko-Lescroart MA, Voiedilova O. Development and validation of the Ukrainian version of the Academic and Athletic Identity Scale (AAIS-UA). MethodsX, 2023;11: 102447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2023.102447
Aran S. A Case Study on Defining Leisure Time Motivation of Recreation Students. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014;152: 734–739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.09.312
Çalik F, Gülle M, Sertbaş K, Sarı İ, Kaya E. Analysis and examination of the relationship between leisure motivation and academic motivation of students of schools of physical education and sports. Journal of Physical Education and Sport. 2014;14(1):127–133.
Skrypchenko I, Dorofieieva O, Yarymbash K, Strykalenko Y, Tyshchenko V. Dynamics of physical activity and lifestyle of students during the war period in Ukraine. Journal of Applied Sports Sciences, 2025;9(1): 137–152. https://doi.org/10.37393/JASS.2025.09.01.11
Guay F. Applying Self-Determination Theory to Education: Regulations Types, Psychological Needs, and Autonomy Supporting Behaviors. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 2022;37(1): 75–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/08295735211055355
Korda M, Shulhai A, Shevchuk O, Shulhai O, Shulhai AM. Psychological well-being and academic performance of Ukrainian medical students under the burden of war: a cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Public Health, 2025;12: 1457026. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1457026
Yang Y, Chen J, Zhuang X. Self-determination theory and the influence of social support, self-regulated learning, and flow experience on student learning engagement in self-directed e-learning. Frontiers in Psychology, 2025;16: 1545980. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1545980
Frankova I, Senyk O, Avramchuk O, Leshchuk I, Rudys A, Kurapov A, et al. Psychometric properties of the revised Ukrainian version of the Continuous Traumatic Stress Response scale (CTSR) in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian war. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2025;16(1): 2463186. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2025.2463186
Korobeinikova L, Yermakova T, Korobeynikov G, Vitenko D. Recreational and rehabilitation aspects of psychological health and well-being of students: a systematic review. Physical Culture, Recreation and Rehabilitation, 2024;3(2):70–85. https://doi.org/10.15561/physcult.2024.0204
Makotchenko O. Pedagogical Conditions for the Effective Training of Future Specialists in Physical Culture and Sports for the Organization of Health and Recreational Activities under Martial Law. Scientific Journal of National Pedagogical Dragomanov University. Series 15. Scientific and pedagogical problems of physical culture (physical culture and sports), 2025;(9(196)): 133–137. https://doi.org/10.31392/UDU-nc.series15.2025.09(196).26
Farooq M, Hafeez U, Ahmad A, Waller S, Andrade G, Cevik AA, et al. Academic workload and lifestyle predict emotional well-being among university students in the United Arab Emirates: A cross-sectional study. Sudzina F (ed.) PLOS One, 2026;21(4): e0347553. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0347553
Majerová N, Sokolová L. Well-being and academic stress in higher education students: interview and diary study. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 2025;20(1): 2602369. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2025.2602369
Downloads
Received
Accepted
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sergii Iermakov
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Holder - Author(s). more
Abstract views: 58 / PDF downloads: 21
