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Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access published online on May 25, 2009
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsp042
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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

Social-Cognitive Correlates of Physical Activity in a Multi-Ethnic Cohort of Middle-School Girls: Two-year Prospective Study

Rod K. Dishman, PhD1, Andrea L. Dunn, PhD2, James F. Sallis, PhD3, Robert J. Vandenberg, PhD1 and Charlotte A. Pratt, PhD4

1University of Georgia, 2Klein Buendel, Inc., 3San Diego State University and 4National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rod K. Dishman, Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Ramsey Student Center, 330 River Road, Athens, GA 30602-6554, USA. E-mail: rdishman{at}uga.edu


  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.

Key words: accelerometry; African American; Hispanic/Latina; self-efficacy; social support; perceived barriers.

Received November 19, 2008; revision received April 14, 2009; accepted April 16, 2009


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