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- Title
Social influence and physical activity in adolescents: does level of physical activity matter?
- Authors
Wilson, Kathleen S.; Spink, Kevin S.; Chad, Karen E.; Humbert, Louise; Muhajarine, Nazeem; Odnokon, Pat A.
- Abstract
It has been suggested that social influence affects adolescent activity (Tergerson & King, 2002). With this positive relationship and the call for basic research identifying moderating factors (Baranowski et al., 1998), it may be useful to determine in what situations social influences relate more to adolescent activity than others. Given that intrapersonal correlates (Spink et al., 2005) have differentiated adolescents active enough for health benefits from those not active enough, it is possible that health-related activity level could moderate the social influence-physical activity relationship. The purpose was to examine whether level of health-related activity would moderate the social influence-physical activity relationship. We hypothesized that active individuals will show a stronger social influence-activity relationship than inactive. Activity (MAQ-A; Kriska et al., 1990) and social influences were assessed 5 times in 547 adolescents. To control for between-person variability across occasions, social influences were ranked from lowest to highest for each individual. Using established cut points (CFLRI, 1999), activity levels were classified as inactive (<2KKD), active but insufficient (2-6KKD), or active enough for health benefits ( >6KKD). Individuals were placed into the activity levels based on their scores averaged across all MAQ-A assessments. Mixed-model ANOVAs using Activity Level (between: 3 levels) x Social Influence (within: lowest to highest) were used to examine differences in physical activity for each type of total, family and peer influence. Results revealed main effects for each influence type (all 3 ps < .05). Physical activity increased with greater social influence. However, an interaction emerged (p < .05) for peer influence. Higher activity and higher social influence was only observed among those active enough for health benefits. This latter finding suggests that level of activity may moderate the social influence-physical activity relationship for peer influence.
- Subjects
HEALTH behavior in adolescence; TEENAGERS; INFLUENCE; CONFORMITY; SOCIALIZATION; PEER pressure; SPORTS participation; EXERCISE
- Publication
Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 2007, Vol 29, pS218
- ISSN
0895-2779
- Publication type
Article