The Influence of Friends and Psychosocial Factors on Physical Activity and Screen Time in Healthy and Overweight Adolescents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To determine if weight status alters the relationship between individual and nominated friends’ moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and screen time behavior. METHODS: Twenty-one overweight (OW; BMI percentile ≥ 85%) and 21 normal weight (NW) adolescents were matched by gender (67% male), race (62% Caucasian), and school level (52% in high school), with a mean age of 15 years. MVPA was assessed by the Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometer and questionnaires were administered to assess reported screen time, and psychosocial variables (physical activity (PA) self-efficacy, PA enjoyment, sedentary behavior (SB) self-efficacy, SB enjoyment). Each participant nominated up to 5 friends whose MVPA and screen time were assessed using questionnaires. T-tests and multiple regression models were conducted separately for NW and OW adolescents with MVPA (min/day) and screen time (hours/week) as the dependent variables. RESULTS: There were no differences in MVPA min/day between NW and OW adolescents (52.8 vs 45.86 min/day, respectively, p=.28). Among NW adolescents, PA self-efficacy (p=.02) and nominated friends’ MVPA (p=.02) were associated with an increase in MVPA levels, whereas there were no significant associations with MVPA levels among OW participants. OW participants had greater amounts of screen time than NW adolescents (13.1 vs 8.9 hours/week, respectively, p=.04). Among OW adolescents, nominated friends’ screen times were positively associated (p=.02) with reported screen time; no similar association was observed for NW adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: Different correlates for MVPA were observed for NW and OW adolescents, despite similar MVPA levels. Future studies should focus on increasing PA self-efficacy and friends’ MVPA in NW adolescents, while interventions to reduce screen time in OW adolescents may need to incorporate additional focus on friends’ screen time.