AI Article Synopsis
- The study looked at social-cognitive factors affecting physical activity in multi-ethnic girls from six U.S. regions during 6th and 8th grades.
- In 8th grade, self-efficacy and perceived social support influenced physical activity indirectly through perceived barriers, which negatively impacted activity levels, while self-efficacy also had a direct positive effect.
- Findings indicate lower correlation rates than previous self-reported studies, suggesting earlier estimates might have been exaggerated; hence, interventions should focus on enhancing self-efficacy to help girls overcome obstacles to being active.
Article Abstract
Objective: The study examined social-cognitive correlates of physical activity in a multi-ethnic cohort of girls from six regions of the United States who participated in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls during their 6th and 8th grade school years.
Methods: Girls completed validated questionnaires and wore accelerometers that measured weekly physical activity in the spring of 2002 and 2005.
Results: In 8th grade, self-efficacy and perceived social support had indirect relations with physical activity mediated through perceived barriers, which was inversely related to physical activity. Self-efficacy also had a direct relation with physical activity.
Conclusions: Correlations were smaller than those obtained in studies that measured physical activity by self-reports, suggesting that previous estimates were inflated by common method artifact. Nonetheless, physical activity trials among girls during early adolescence might focus on increasing self-efficacy for overcoming barriers to physical activity and on ways by which perceived barriers can otherwise be reduced.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2902830 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsp042 | DOI Listing |
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