Physical activity social support, self -efficacy, and self-definition in adolescents: A correlational cross-sectional comparative study.

Abstract

The incidence of adolescent overweight in the United States is growing at epidemic proportions contributing to increased mortality and morbidity. Lack of physical activity (PA) is identified as one of the primary causes of overweight in adolescents. Efforts have begun to identify what determines PA in youth, and how this information can be used to develop effective interventions. Self-efficacy (SE), as well as physical activity self-definition (PA SD), has been consistently related to PA participation, but the role of PA social support (SS) among youth is unclear. This correlational cross-sectional comparative study examined sources of PA SS reported by adolescents, as well as the role that SS in conjunction with SE and PA self-definition play in PA participation of two cohorts of Caucasian and African American adolescents (N = 109) in the last grade of elementary school (grade 5) and the first grade of middle school (grade 6). Adolescents ranked mother, father, and brother most frequently as the three most important sources of PA SS. No adolescent reported nurses or doctors as important sources of PA SS. PA SS was correlated with PA SE (r = .37, p < .01). PA SE was significantly correlated PA SD (r = .39, p < .01). These findings support previous reports. When the relationships were examined among SS and PA, SS and SE, and SE and PA, only the relationship between SS and SE was statistically significant (p < .01). Therefore, the assumptions to examine if self-efficacy mediated the relationship between SS and PA were not met. The path analysis for the model, showed a statistically significant relationship between SS and SE for boys and girls (p < .05 and p < .01, respectively), between SS and SD for girls only (p < .05). The results of this study indicate that research needs to understand interactions among SS, SE, SD, and PA to be able to develop strategies to enhance physical activity in adolescents. However, these findings are limited by a number of factors, including a relatively small sample size, unequal racial and grade distribution, as well as, measures that may not be relevant for boys and girls from the inner city, as well as poor reliability for the SE measure.