Bewegungsbezogene Gesundheitskompetenz als integrative Zielgröße in Bewegungstherapie und Gesundheitssport – Konzeption und Validierung eines Erhebungsverfahrens

Abstract

Health literacy represents an increasingly important subject in health sciences. This article initially illustrates a domain-specific model of physical activity-related health competence. Movement competence, control competence, and PA-specific self-regulation competence are described as sub-competencies. This article further aims to develop and validate a questionnaire for certain aspects of physical activity-related health competence, especially to record control competencies, which have yet to be operationalized. The questionnaire was tested after a pilot study in two study groups: In study A, 1028 persons were interviewed in written form at the beginning of a medical rehabilitation program (female: 44.0 %; Mean (M) age = 53.8 years; Standard Deviation (SD) age = 9.2 years). In study B, 1331 participants in fitness- and health-related programs of the university sports were interviewed via an online questionnaire (female: 83.0 %; Mage = 53.8 years; SDage = 9.7 years). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses show that domain-specific facets can be differentiated for physical activity-related health competence. Furthermore, the results of structural equation modeling analyses provide evidence that control competence is associated not only with the amount of physical activity, but also with motor function. These findings support the assumption that physical activity-related health competence contributes to the health benefits of physical activity. The questionnaire developed in this study thus enhances the possibilities of competence-orientated research within sport-scientific applications in the area of exercise therapy and health sports.