Author(s): WANG, M.Q., LIU, X.T., ZHANG, S.G., ZHOU, Y.T., Institution: HUNAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, CHINA, Country: CHINA, Abstract-ID: 1861

Introduction
Physical Education provides a critical context for fostering children's interpersonal communication. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, supportive teacher behaviours are theorised to enhance outcomes through satisfying students' basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. However, the specific pathways linking perceived teacher support to interpersonal communication remain underspecified, particularly whether the three needs operate as parallel mediators and whether these indirect effects vary by gender. This study examined: (1) whether autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfaction concurrently mediate the association between perceived PE teacher support and interpersonal communication; and (2) whether student gender moderates these indirect pathways.
Methods
Participants were 281 senior primary school students (M_age = 10.94 years, SD = 0.70; 53.8% boys) recruited from eleven Grade 5–6 classes across four public schools in Changsha, China. Validated Perceived Need-Supportive Teaching in PE Scale, Basic Psychological Needs in PE Scale, and Interpersonal Communication Scale were administered. A moderated parallel mediation analysis was conducted to test the conditional indirect effects of perceived teacher support on interpersonal communication, mediated by the three needs, with gender as a moderator.
Results
Perceived PE teacher support was positively associated with interpersonal communication. In the parallel mediation model, competence needs and relatedness needs significantly mediated this relationship, whereas autonomy needs did not. Gender significantly moderated the paths from teacher support to all three needs. Conditional indirect effects revealed that the mediating role of competence needs was significant for both genders, but substantially stronger for boys. Notably, mediation via relatedness needs was significant only for boys, not for girls, indicating a gender-specific psychological pathway.
Conclusions
Perceived PE teacher support enhances children's interpersonal communication primarily through competence and relatedness needs, with autonomy needs not significant in this context. Gender critically moderates these pathways: boys benefit more strongly from both competence- and relatedness-based mechanisms, while the relatedness pathway is absent for girls. Findings advance Self-Determination Theory by demonstrating differentiated, parallel mediating roles of psychological needs and identifying for whom specific pathways operate. Practically, PE teachers require gender-sensitive strategies—prioritising competence-building for boys whilst developing alternative pathways (e.g., emotional belonging, relational safety) to support girls' psychological need satisfaction and interpersonal skill development. Without such tailoring, universal need-supportive practices risk perpetuating gendered disparities in PE's social benefits.