scholarly journals Does Activity-Related Social Support Differ by Characteristics of the Adolescent?

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 574-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Louise Edwardson ◽  
Trish Gorely ◽  
Hayley Musson ◽  
Rebecca Duncombe ◽  
Rachel Sandford

Background:Previous research has shown a positive relationship between activity-related social support provided by parents and peers and adolescents’ physical activity. However, more information is needed on whether activity-related social support differs by sociodemographic characteristics. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in activity-related social support in a sample of adolescents, by characteristics such as age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, and physical activity level and to determine which characteristics are the most important predictors of activity-related social support.Methods:Information was provided by 578 boys and 588 girls (11–14 years) on demographic factors, physical activity, and activity-related support. ANOVA, correlations, and multiple regression were performed to address the purposes of the study.Results:Boys, White British, younger, more physically active, and high-SES adolescents perceived more support for physical activity. Age predicted all types of support excluding peer support; ethnicity predicted mother logistic support and sibling support; gender predicted peer support, father explicit modeling, and father logistic support; and SES predicted mother and father logistic support.Conclusions:Families and peers of adolescents who are female, from Black and minority ethnic groups, older, of low-SES, and less active should be targeted for intervention.

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1153-1158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Louise Edwardson ◽  
Trish Gorely ◽  
Natalie Pearson ◽  
Andrew Atkin

Background:To progress physical activity (PA) social support research using objective measures of PA, attention should be turned to specific segments of the day (eg, after school or weekends) in which young people spend the majority of their time with parents or friends. Furthermore, the majority of previous research has focused on the influence of parents and peers. The current study examined gender and age differences in 5 sources of activity-related social support and their relationship with objectively measured after-school and weekend PA among adolescents.Methods:328 adolescents aged 12–16 years (57% boys) wore an accelerometer for 7 days and completed a questionnaire assessing support for PA. After-school and weekend PA were extracted.Results:Adolescents perceived more support from their peers compared with other sources and boys perceived more peer support than girls. Younger adolescents perceived greater amounts of family support and explicit modeling from both mother and father; however, logistic support appeared constant throughout adolescence. After controlling for gender and age, peer support was a significant influence on after-school MVPA.Conclusions:Findings suggest that there may be benefit in encouraging adolescents to participate in PA in the after-school period with their peers.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Sadat Rezai ◽  
Catherine Marie Burns

BACKGROUND There have been challenges in designing effective behaviour-change interventions, including those that promote physical activity. One of the key reasons is that many of those systems do not account for individuals’ characteristics and their psychological differences, which affect their approach toward adopting target behaviour. For decades, tailoring has been used as a common technique to effectively communicate health-related information to persuade people to follow a healthier living. However, its use in the design of persuasive technologies has not been adequately investigated. OBJECTIVE The objective of this research is to explore the effects of tailoring when it is grounded in Higgins’ regulatory focus theory. METHODS A combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies has been proposed to examine how individuals’ intention to become more physically active would be affected by receiving health messages that may or may not match their self-regulatory orientation. The research would also subjectively, as well as objectively, measures the changes in individuals’ physical activity level. RESULTS The anticipated completion date for the consequent studies is December 2016. CONCLUSIONS In this article, the importance of refining message-framing research questions and a stepwise approach to develop an efficient experimental design to examine a new tailoring strategy is discussed. A set of small studies is proposed that would inform the best approach to design the principal experiment. The findings of principal experiment will provide a deeper insight into the relationship between regulatory-focus theory, persuasive message construction, and individuals’ physical activity behaviour.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaoluwa Samson Agbaje ◽  
Prince Iheanachor Christian Umoke ◽  
Charity Chika Attama ◽  
Fabian Chibunine Ugwueze ◽  
Benedicta Ndidi Agu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Physical inactivity (PA) is a modifiable risk factor for many chronic illnesses. Studies on physical activity in adolescent populationshave reported associations between PA and demographic and psychosocial factors. However, there is a limited evidence on PA level and associated factors among adolescents in south-east Nigeria. Thus, the study examined adolescents’ PA level and its demographic and psychosocial correlates among school-going adolescents in Obollo-Afor Education Zone, Enugu State, South-East Nigeria.Methods: A total of 365 randomly selected adolescents aged 12-19 years in Obollo-Afor, Enugu State, south-East Nigeria participated in the study. The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A), the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire-Short Form (PSDQ-S), the Social Support and Peer Norms Scales for Physical Activity (SSPNS)were used to measure PA level, physical self-concept, social support and peer norms for PA.Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t -test, fixed effects ANOVA, and multiple linear regression.Results: The mean age of the participants was 15.76 ± 1.78 years for boys and 15.65 ± 1.83 years for girls. One-third (33.3%) had low PA level, more than half of the participants had moderate PA level(58.1%) whilevery few (8.5%) had high PA level. School-going adolescents had high mean physical self-concept(16.6 ± 40), social support(2.48 ± 1.04) and peer norms(2.19 ± 1.049). Adolescents’ PA level was positively related to self-concept ( r = .06, p > 0.05), social support ( r = .26, p < 0.01), peer norms ( r = .27, p < 0.01). Social support (beta = .22, p < .001), peer norms received for PA (beta = .23, p < .003), and class of study (beta = -.047, p < 0.05) were significantly associated with PA level among adolescents.Conclusions: One third of school-going adolescents had low level of PA, and low proportion had high level of PA. Also, Social support, peer norms received for PA and class of study were significantly associated with PA among adolescents. Future studies are needed to design interventions that promote PA among adolescents in Nigeria.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Söğüt ◽  
Kaya ◽  
Altunsoy ◽  
Clark ◽  
Clemente ◽  
...  

The purposes of this study were to determine whether moderately physically active (MPA) and highly physically active (HPA) male (n = 96, age = 22.5 ± 1.7 years) and female (n = 85, age = 21.3 ± 1.6 years) young adults differed in their anthropometric obesity indices (AOIs), body fat percentage (BF%), and muscular strength, and also to examine the associations between physical activity level (PAL) and the abovementioned variables. Participants were measured for body height and weight, BF%, waist and hip circumferences, and maximal isometric grip strength. According to their PAL, estimated by the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, they were assigned to MPA and HPA subgroups. Regardless of gender, results indicated that participants in the MPA groups had significantly higher values of body weight, waist and hip circumference, BF%, and BMI than participants in the HPA groups. No significant differences were found between physical activity groups in terms of grip strength. The AOIs and BF% were found to be significantly and negatively correlated with the PAL in both genders. In conclusion, the findings of the study suggest that high habitual physical activity is associated with lower adiposity markers. However, the differences in the hand grip strength of the contrasting activity groups were negligible.


Author(s):  
Dorthe Dalstrup Jakobsen ◽  
Jasper Schipperijn ◽  
Jens Meldgaard Bruun

Background: In Denmark, most children are not sufficiently physically active and only a few interventions have been found to increase long-term physical activity among overweight and obese children. The aim of our study was to investigate if children are physically active in correspondence to Danish recommendations after attending a multicomponent-overnight camp. Methods: A questionnaire was developed to estimate children’s physical activity level and behavior and investigate how transport, economy, availability, time, motivation, and knowledge about physical activity affect children’s physical activity level and behavior. Results: In this study, 60.9% of the children did vigorous physical activity (VPA) minimum 30 minutes 3 times per week up to 3 years after camp. Most children were physically active at a sports club (44.3%) and only 5.7% of the children did not participate in physical activity. Parental physical activity and child motivation toward physical activity were significantly (P < .05) associated with children doing VPA. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that 60.9% of children who attended camp engage in VPA after camp, which compared with a recent Danish study, is more frequent than children who did not attend camp. Further investigations are needed to determine the long-term health effects in children attending interventions such as multicomponent-overnight camps.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
L. Jayne Beselt ◽  
Michelle C. Patterson ◽  
Meghan H. McDonough ◽  
Jennifer Hewson ◽  
Scott MacKay

Physical activity (PA) and social support have known benefits for the well-being and health of older adults, and social support is associated with PA behavior and positive affective experiences in PA contexts. The aim of this study was to synthesize qualitative research conducted on the experiences of social support related to PA among older adults (age ≥55 years). Following meta-study methodology, the authors searched nine databases and extracted information from 31 studies. Results were synthesized in terms of common themes and in light of theoretical and methodological perspectives used. The qualitative literature identifies supportive behaviors and social network outcomes which may be useful for informing how best to support older adults to be physically active. This literature rarely reflected the experiences of vulnerable populations, and future research should aim to further understand supportive behaviors which enable older adults to overcome barriers and challenges to being physically active.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1378-1384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delphine De Smedt ◽  
Els Clays ◽  
Christof Prugger ◽  
Johan De Sutter ◽  
Zlatko Fras ◽  
...  

Background:The study aim was to assess the physical activity levels as well as the intention to become physically active in patients with stable coronary heart disease (CHD) with a special focus on the association with their risk profile.Methods:Analyses are based on the cross-sectional EUROASPIRE IV surveys. Information was available on 8966 patients in EUROASPIRE III and on 7998 patients in EUROASPIRE IV. Physical activity level according to patients risk profile and their medical management was assessed, the intention to become physically active was investigated and a time trend analysis was performed.Results:A better cardiovascular risk profile as well as receiving physical activity advice or weight loss advice was associated with better physical activity levels. The physical activity status improved significantly over time, the proportion of patients reporting vigorous physical activity for at least 20 minutes ≥ 3 times/week increased from 14.1% to 20.2% (P < .001). Similarly, a significantly greater proportion of patients are in the maintenance stage (36.6% vs. 27.4%) and a smaller proportion in the precontemplation stage (43.2% vs. 52.3%).Conclusion:Although an increase was seen in the proportion of patients being adequately physical active, physical activity levels remain suboptimal in many CHD patients.


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