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Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access published online on May 15, 2009
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsp040
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Negative Attitudes Toward Physical Activity: Measurement and Role in Predicting Physical Activity Levels Among Preadolescents

Timothy D. Nelson, PhD*, Eric R. Benson, MA and Chad D. Jensen, MA

University of Kansas, Clinical Child Psychology Program

All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Timothy D. Nelson, PhD, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. E-mail: tdnelson{at}stanford.edu


  Abstract

Objectives To describe the development and validation of a measure of negative attitudes toward physical activity and examine the association between these attitudes and self-reported physical activity among preadolescents. Method A school-based sample of 382 fifth and sixth graders (mean age = 10.8) completed measures of attitudes toward physical activity and self-reported physical activity. Body mass index data for the participants was collected as a part of a standard school health assessment. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were utilized to test the factor structure and predictive value of attitudes toward physical activity. Results Results supported the reliability and concurrent validity of the negative attitudes measure and found a significant association between negative attitudes and physical activity. Negative attitudes was found to be a stronger predictor of physical activity than positive attitudes, which have been the focus of previous research in this area. Conclusions The results suggest that negative attitudes toward physical activity can be reliably measured and may be an important target for intervention efforts to increase physical activity among children and adolescents.

Key words: negative attitudes; pediatric obesity; physical activity; positive attitudes.

*Present address: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305.

Received September 30, 2008; revision received April 4, 2009; accepted April 11, 2009


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