Eliciting Salient Beliefs About Physical Activity Among Female Adolescent in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

The present study aimed to explore the salient beliefs of female adolescent in Saudi Arabia that may influence their intentions with regards to engagement in physical activity. The three constructs of Theory of Planned Behaviour were used to identify the behavioural, normative and control beliefs that influence the decision to engage in physical activity. Open-ended interviews were conducted by Skype with 25 students during June 2016. Twenty-one modal salient beliefs were identified that influenced whether or not participants decided to engage in physical activity. These included behavioural beliefs (e.g. physical activity relieves stress) normative beliefs (derived, e.g., from social media) and control beliefs (e.g. weather and lack of suitable female facilities are obstacles to physical activity). The Saudi government’s new roadmap for economic and social development that targets improving female access to sport, health interventions should target the salient beliefs explored in this study. Additionally, its findings should guide further theory-based quantitative research in this area when structuring closed-ended questionnaire items.