Abstract
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1980-0037.2016v18n6p667 Intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects have been widely correlated to variations on the physical activity (PA) levels. The aim of this study was to examine the moderating effect of intention for PA practice on the association between social support and leisure PA levels in a sample of college students from Curitiba, Brazil. A questionnaire was administered in a sample of 349 college students from a Physical Education undergraduate program. The variables intention to PA practice, social support (family and friends) and leisure-time PA were obtained through interviews. Poisson regression was used to test the moderating effect of intention to PA practice on the association between social support and leisure-time PA levels. The intention for PA practice showed no moderating effects on leisure PA. Social support from friends was associated with achieving recommended PA levels (≥150min/week), regardless of intention for PA practice (PR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.09-1.93). In this study, moderating effect of intention for PA practice on the association between social support and leisure-time PA has not been found.
Highlights
Physical activity (PA) is a complex behavior influenced by personal, social, environmental and community aspects[1,2]
The female gender had a marginal and inverse association with performing ≥150min / week of PA (PR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.54-1.00 p = 0.054).In addition, for those with low intention for physical activity practice (IPAP), the high social support (SS) from friends presented a marginal and positive association with adequate PA levels (PR: 1.61; 95% CI: 0.96-2.67 p = 0.066), but regardless of IPAP, SS from friends was positively associated with performing ≥150min / of PA (PR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.11-1.96 p = 0.007)
It was identified that 45.3% of university students do not meet the minimum recommendation of PA, a result similar to a study carried out with Physical Education undergraduate students of Sergipe[26], but lower than that found among students from three major areas (Humanities, Exact and Health Sciences) of Curitiba-PR (54.5%), reinforcing that low PA levels are prevalent in university students[15]
Summary
Physical activity (PA) is a complex behavior influenced by personal, social, environmental and community aspects[1,2]. There has been a growing interest in identifying variables that may explain adherence and maintenance of physical activity in order to promote more effective interventions that contemplate multiple levels of influence 1. Intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects have been widely analyzed and are those that best have explained variations in PA levels[1]. Social support (SS) is described as the action that helps the person to adopt and / or maintain a particular PA practice and may occur in different ways, such as: instrumental or direct, psychological or emotional, and instructional or informational support[4,5,6,7]. The moderating role of intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects has been little explored
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