# Relationship between physical activity and latent profiles of regulatory emotional self-efficacy among high school students: a latent profile analysis

## TL;DR

This study identifies four distinct emotional self-efficacy profiles among high school students and finds that physical activity and gender influence these profiles.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel use of latent profile analysis to categorize regulatory emotional self-efficacy and links it to physical activity and gender.

## Key findings

- Four distinct RESE profiles were identified in high school students.
- Females were more likely to belong to the low negative RESE group.
- Lower physical activity levels correlate with lower RESE profiles.

## Abstract

Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy (RESE) is defined as an individual’s confidence and self-assessment of his or her ability to regulate emotions, and is inextricably linked to daily life. To overcome the limitations of traditional dimensional analyses in revealing the overall combination of characteristics, the present study used latent profile analysis to explore the latent profile structure of RESE and to analyze its relationship with physical activity level and key demographic characteristics.

Using latent profile analysis to explore the latent profiles of RESE. R3STEP analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used, respectively, to explore the associations of physical activity and demographic variables with the latent profiles of RESE.

RESE can be categorized into four latent profiles: Low Negative Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy (8.9%), Low Positive Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy (40.9%), Moderate Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy (30.0%), and Proficient Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy (20.2%). Follow-up analyses revealed that physical activity and gender were associated with RESE.

(1) RESE identified four potential profiles in a population of high school students. (2) Gender was a significant predictor of the attribution of latent profiles of RESE. Females were more likely than males to fall into the Low Negative Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy group. (3) Physical activity is a significant predictor of RESE profiles. The lower the level of physical activity, the higher the likelihood of being classified into the two low Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy groups.