The Impact of Perceived Teacher-Student Relationship and Friendship Quality on Adolescents'Interest in Physical Education: A Latent Profile Analysis

Xinyi Chen^*Wenying Huang^*Chang Hu^*

• Physical Education College, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China

Objective: This study employed a person-centered Latent Profile Analysis(LPA) to explore adolescents' perceived teacher-student and peer relationships in the school environment and to examine their association with interest in physical education(interest in PE). Methods: A survey was conducted among 3,613 adolescents from September 10 to October 25, 2023, using the Teacher-student relationship(TSR) Scale, the friendship quality(FQ) Scale, and the interest in PE Scale. LPA was applied to identify relationship quality profiles, and multinomial logistic regression was used to test gender differences and associations with interest in PE. Results: LPA classified adolescents into three profiles: Low relationship quality (23%, n=855), High relationship quality (17%, n=602), and Moderate relationship quality (60%, n=2156). Significant differences were found across profiles on all dimensions of teacher-student and peer relationships (all p < 0.001). Adolescents with lower levels of PE interest were substantially more likely to belong to the Low profile rather than the Moderate profile (OR = 0.01, 95% CI [0.01, 0.02]); Males had higher odds of being classified into the High profile compared with females(OR = 1.93, 95% CI [1.59, 2.35]). Adolescents with stronger PE interest were also significantly more likely to belong to the High profile(OR = 4.29, 95% CI [3.44, 5.35]). Conclusion: Adolescents exhibit heterogeneous experiences of teacher-student and peer relationships, which are systematically linked to differences in interest in PE. These findings underscore the importance of school-based efforts to strengthen autonomy-supportive teacher-student interactions and foster cooperative peer environments, thereby sustaining students' engagement and promoting a broader appreciation of physical education as a meaningful subject.