How young people’s perceptions of their physical education lessons and social skills varied in terms of sociodemographic features. The case of a rural area of China Primo, Laura González Hernández, Juan Yang, Yin López de Subijana, Cristina Physical education Physical activity engagement Sport The aim of this study was to examine whether motivation, support, basic-needs satisfaction, and social skills in physical education lessons differed among Chinese secondary students from rural areas depending on their sociodemographic profiles. Two hundred and seven students enrolled in a camp organized by a non-profit organization in Chengdu province (15.8 ± 0.8 years, 74% female and 26% male) completed validated Chinese versions of the pertinent questionnaires. Appropriate social skills were perceived higher by women that by men (z = 2.2; p = 0.014; r = 0.16). Inappropriate social skills (z = 2.9; p = 0.021; r = 0.22) were perceived higher among those students with lower annual home income (50,000 yuan or less). Perceived autonomy support (z = 2.9; p = 0.002; r = 0.20), basicneeds satisfaction (z = 2.9; p = 0.002; r = 0.20), and physical-education motivation (z = 4.2; p < 0.001; r = 0.30) were higher among students who practiced physical activity or sport outside school. Students who practiced during their physicaleducation team-sports lessons reported higher motivation for physical education (z = 2.9; p = 0.002; r = 0.20) than those who practiced individual sports. The findings from this study are relevant to practitioners who work with students from these underprivileged rural areas. 2024-04-22T07:04:50Z 2024-04-22T07:04:50Z 2023-12-04 journal article Primo L, González-Hernández J, Yang Y and Lopez de Subijana C (2023) How young people’s perceptions of their physical education lessons and social skills varied in terms of sociodemographic features. The case of a rural area of China. Front. Educ. 8:1265793. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.1265793 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/90965 10.3389/feduc.2023.1265793 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional Frontiers Media