High school students' attitudes towards physical education classes and their levels of physical literacy: Relationships and demographic differences

The primary aim of this research is to examine the reciprocal interaction between high school students' attitudes toward physical education and their levels of physical literacy, as well as how these two variables differ based on demographic factors. The research, designed within the scope of screening models, was conducted with 422 high school students selected through convenience sampling method from Anatolian high schools, Vocational High Schools, Science High Schools and İmam Hatip High Schools in Antalya during the 2024– 2025 academic year. The demographic information form created by the researcher, the "Physical Education Course Attitude Scale for Secondary School Students" (35 items; 5-point Likert) developed by Güllü and Güçlü (2009) and the "Perceived Physical Literacy Scale for Adolescents" (9 items; 5-point Likert) adapted by Yılmaz and Kabak (2021) were used as data collection tools. The data were collected through the online Google-forms between March and May 2025. Within the scope of statistical analysis, first the Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Shapiro–Wilk normality tests, then variance homogeneity was tested using the Levene test; after the descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation and simple linear regression analyzes were applied. In terms of attitude scores according to the gender variable, the average of male students was 3.42 (SD = 0.67) and that of female students was 3.27 (SD = 0.65); t(400)= –2.386; p = 0.017, a significant difference was found (Cohen's d = –0.24). On the other hand, the difference due to gender in physical literacy levels was not significant (t(400)= –1.005; p = 0.315; d = –0.10). The difference in attitudes according to doing regular sports status was not statistically significant (t(420)= 1.415; p = 0.158; d ≈ 0.14), however, physical literacy scores were found to be 4.12 (Sd = 0.94) in those who do sports and 3.82 (Sd = 0.98) in those who do not; t(420)= –3.075; p = 0.002; d ≈ 0.31, a significant difference was found. The analysis of physical education attitudes by grade level showed significant differences (F(3,416) = 5.775, p < .001), as did physical education literacy levels (F(3,418) = 7.105, p < .001). Post-hoc comparisons showed that 10th graders had the highest scores in both attitudes and physical literacy. The predictive effect of physical literacy on attitude was found to be strong and significant, with the values: R = 0.607, R² = 0.369, F(1, 420) = 245.422, *p* < .001, B = 0.414, β = 0.607. In the context of family members' sports history, the mother's active sports history significantly increased the attitude scores (Yes: X̄ = 3.51; No: X̄ = 3.31; t(420)= 2.318; p = 0.021; d = 0.32) and physical literacy levels (Yes: X̄ = 4.32; No: X̄ = 3.87; t(104.25)= 4.120; p < 0.001; d = 0.47), while the father's sports history did not have a statistically significant effect on either attitudes or literacy (t < |1.215|; p > 0.22). These findings show that high school students' motivation and perception levels towards physical education lessons are shaped by individual characteristics (gender, grade), behavioral habits (doing sports) and especially family role modeling (mother's sports history); and physical literacy is the main determinant of both affective and cognitive dimensions.