Motivation for physical activity participation and mindful eating in university students: a cross-sectional study using variable-centered regression and latent profile analysis

Abstract

Background Physical activity and eating behaviors are co-occurring and often disrupted during the transition to university. Self-determination theory links motivational quality in one health behavior with self-regulation in other health behaviors. This study examined whether motivation for physical activity is associated with mindful eating among Turkish university students, whether this association differs between the awareness- and disinhibition-based facets of mindful eating, and whether motivational profiles derived from latent profile analysis differ in their associations with these facets. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 638 Turkish university students (aged 21.84 ± 3.27 years; 50% female) assessed motivation for participation in physical activity using the Scale of Motivation for Participation in Physical Activity (MSPPA) and mindful eating using the 18-item Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ-18). Multiple linear regression models with heteroscedasticity-consistent (type 3) (HC3) robust standard errors were used to adjust for age, sex, and body mass index category; Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate control was applied across subgroup contrasts. Common method bias was evaluated using Harman’s test and a single-factor confirmatory factor analysis. Latent profile analysis of the MSPPA subscales yielded motivational profiles, which were compared across profiles using Welch’s analysis of variance. Results In covariate-adjusted models, MSPPA total scores were associated with MEQ-18 total scores (B = 0.145, 95% CI [0.102, 0.188], p < 0.001; R2 = 0.190) and with the Awareness facet (B = 0.243, 95% CI [0.167, 0.319], p < 0.001; R2 = 0.143) but not with the Disinhibition facet (B = −0.004, 95% CI [−0.069, 0.061], p = 0.916; R2 = 0.129). Low Disinhibition reliability (α = 0.568) constrains inference on this null finding. Harman’s test and the single-factor confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) did not support the common method bias. Coefficients were comparable across three age strata (age × motivation interaction, p = 0.618). Three motivational profiles differed in awareness-based (η2 = 0.049) and overall (η2 = 0.049) mindful eating but not in disinhibition-based eating (η2 = 0.001). Conclusion Higher motivation to participate in physical activity was associated with greater overall mindful eating, with the association appearing to be concentrated in the Awareness facet. Given the cross-sectional design and low Disinhibition reliability, this pattern is descriptive rather than evidence that the Awareness facet drives the overall association. The profile solution was derived within a single sample and was not externally validated. Longitudinal and mediation designs could help clarify explanatory pathways underlying these associations.