Abstract
Social-ecological models suggest that influences on physical activity should be examined on multiple levels, but most of the empirical studies in this area have investigated the different levels separately. To integrate the different levels, we examined self-efficacy with respect to physical exercise as a mediator of the relation between environmental characteristics and physical activity. In a cross-sectional German study, 1,292 college students completed a questionnaire that included measures of their perceived residential environment, self-efficacy, and physical activity. Structural equation modeling was used to assess direct and indirect effects on physical activity. The cycling and walking network was directly positively associated with moderately intense physical activity. The network and trust in neighbors were indirectly positively associated with both moderately and vigorously intense physical activity mediated by self-efficacy. Our results support the importance of environmental influences on physical activity and emphasize the need to consider different levels of social-ecological models. It is likely that the environment stimulates residents’ self-efficacy such that they will use their environmental opportunities for physical activity more effectively. Evidence of such environmental influences can be used to improve community-based interventions.
Sozialökologische Modelle zur Untersuchung von körperlicher Aktivität legen eine gleichzeitige Einbeziehung von individuellen und umweltbezogenen Einflussfaktoren nahe, doch empirische Untersuchungen hierzu sind rar. Zur Integration beider Ebenen untersucht die vorliegende Studie die Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung als Mediator im Zusammenhang von Wohnumgebung und körperlicher Aktivität. 1 292 Leipziger Studierende wurden mittels Fragebogen bezüglich ihrer Wohnumgebung, ihrer körperlichen Aktivität und ihrer Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung befragt. Direkte und indirekte Zusammenhänge wurden im Strukturgleichungsmodell analysiert. Das Straßennetz und moderate körperliche Aktivität korrelieren direkt positiv miteinander. Zwischen Straßennetz sowie Vertrauen in Nachbarn und intensiver sowie moderater körperlicher Aktivität gibt es indirekte positive Zusammenhänge; mediiert durch die Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen die Bedeutung der Verhältnisebene für körperliche Aktivität und unterstreichen die Notwendigkeit der gleichzeitigen Betrachtung von Individual- und Umweltebene. Merkmale der Wohnumgebung scheinen Einfluss auf die Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung auszuüben, so dass Bewohnerinnen und Bewohner die gegebenen Möglichkeiten zu körperlicher Aktivität effektiver nutzen können. Das Verständnis derartiger Umwelt-Verhalten-Zusammenhänge kann zur Verbesserung von kommunalen Interventionen beitragen.
References
1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179 – 211.
(2006). Multivariate Analysemethoden: Eine anwendungsorientierte Einführung [Multivariate methods of analysis: An application-oriented introduction] (11th ed.). Berlin [u. a.]: Springer.
(2010). Love thy neighbour? Associations of social capital and crime with physical activity amongst women. Social Science & Medicine, 71, 807 – 814.
(1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191 – 215.
(1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
(2012). Correlates of physical activity: Why are some people physically active and others not? The Lancet, 380, 258 – 271.
(2011). Sports participation, perceived neighborhood safety, and individual cognitions: How do they interact? International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 8, 76 – 83.
(2000). Physical activity and psychological well-being. London: Routledge.
(2012). Interactions between psychosocial and built environment factors in explaining older adults physical activity. Preventive Medicine, 54, 68 – 73.
(2008). Recreational facilities and leisure-time physical activity: An analysis of moderators and self-efficacy as a mediator. Health Psychology, 27, 126 – 135.
(2011). Determinants of change in physical activity in children and adolescents. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 40, 645 – 658.
(2012). Interactive effects of built environment and psychosocial attributes on physical activity: A test of ecological models. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 44, 365 – 374.
(2008). The built environment, neighborhood crime and constrained physical activity: An exploration of inconsistent findings. Preventive Medicine, 47, 241 – 251.
(1994). Self-efficacy towards physical exercise: Reliability and validity of a new instrument. Zeitschrift für Differentielle und Diagnostische Psychologie, 15, 141 – 154.
(2005). Guidelines for data processing and analysis of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ): Short and long forms. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/theipaq/scoring-protocol
(2012). Manual: ALPHA environmental questionnaire. Retrieved from http://www.ipenproject.org/methods_surveys.html
(2004). Prevalence of university students sufficient physical activity: A systematic review. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 98, 927 – 943.
(2005). Urban area disadvantage and physical activity: A multilevel study in Melbourne, Australia. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 59, 934 – 940.
(2005). A meta-analysis of college students physical activity behaviors. The Journal of American College Health, 54, 116 – 125.
(2002). Theoretical approaches to the promotion of physical activity: Forging a transdisciplinary paradigm. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 23, 15 – 25.
(2013). Körperliche Aktivität: Ergebnisse der Studie zur Gesundheit Erwachsener in Deutschland (DEGS1) [Physical activity: Results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS1)]. Bundesgesundheitsblatt, 56, 765 – 771.
(2012). Erste Ergebnisse aus der “Studie zur Gesundheit Erwachsener in Deutschland” (DEGS) [First results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS)]. Bundesgesundheitsblatt, 55, 980 – 990.
(2008). Using self-efficacy theory to develop interventions that help older people overcome psychological barriers to physical activity: A discussion paper. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 45, 1690 – 1699.
(2011). Social capital, desire to increase physical activity and leisure-time physical activity: A population-based study. Public Health, 125, 442 – 447.
(2002). To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the question, weighing the merits. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 9, 151 – 173.
(2007). Crime and social capital in residential neighborhoods: A multilevel analysis of individual and contextual predictors of victimization. Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 36, 25 – 42.
(2005). Prevalence of physical activity in the United States: Behavioral risk factor surveillance system, 2001. Preventing Chronic Disease, 2, 17.
(2001). Self-efficacy as a determinant and an outcome of exercise. In , Advances in motivation in sport and exercise (pp. 235 – 261). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
(2004). An update of recent evidence of the relationship between objective and self-report measures of the physical environment and physical activity behaviours. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 7, 81 – 92.
(2011). In search of causality: A systematic review of the relationship between the built environment and physical activity among adults. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 8, 125 – 135.
(2007). Neighborhood walkability and the walking behavior of Australian adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 33, 387 – 395.
(2009). Individual, social, environmental, and physical environmental correlates with physical activity among Canadians: A cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 9, 21. [Author: please advise: 1-page article? If not, please give full range of page numbers.]
(2006). Individual, social environmental, and physical environmental influences on physical activity among black and white adults: A structural equation analysis. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 31, 36 – 44.
(2007). Perceptions of physical and social environment variables and self-efficacy as correlates of self-reported physical activity among adolescent girls. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 32, 6 – 12.
(2005). Perceived physical environment and physical activity across one year among adolescent girls: Self-efficacy as a possible mediator? Journal of Adolescent Health, 37, 403 – 408.
(1997). The transtheoretical model of health behavior change. American Journal of Health Promotion, 12, 38 – 48.
(2007). Prediction of leisure-time walking: An integration of social cognitive, perceived environmental, and personality factors. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 4, 51 – 61.
(2005). Körperliche Aktivität: Gesundheitsberichterstattung des Bundes [Physical Activity: Federal Health Monitoring]. Berlin: Robert-Koch-Institut.
(2003). Physical activity monitoring in Europe: The European Physical Activity Surveillance System (EUPASS) approach and indicator testing. Public Health Nutrition, 6, 377 – 384.
(2008). Built environment correlates of walking: A review. Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise, 40, 550 – 566.
(2012). Neighborhood environment and psychosocial correlates of adults’ physical activity. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 44, 637 – 646.
(2008). Ecological models of health behavior. In , Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice (4th ed., pp. 465 – 485). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
(2009). Multilevel theories of behavior change: A social ecological framework. In S. A. Shumaker, J. K. Ockene, & K. A. Riekert (Eds.), The handbook of health behavior change (3rd ed., pp. 85 – 105). New York: Springer.
(2012). Contextual and individual predictors of physical activity: Interactions between environmental factors and health cognitions. Health Psychology, 31, 714 – 723.
(2000). The behavioral determinants of exercise: Implications for physical activity interventions. Annual Review of Nutrition, 20, 21 – 44.
(2003). Toward a comprehensive model of physical activity. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 4, 7 – 24.
(2010). Measuring physical activity-related environmental factors: Reliability and predictive validity of the European environmental questionnaire ALPHA. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 7, 48 – 66.
(2009). Kommunale Bürgerumfrage 2009: Ergebnisbericht [Municipal survey of residents, 2009: Result report]. Leipzig. Retrieved from http://www.leipzig.de/imperia/md/content/12_statistik-und-wahlen/lz_bumfr09.pdf
(2012). Ortsteilkatalog 2012: Strukturdaten der Ortsteile und Stadtbezirke [Index of districts 2012: Structural data of administrative units]. Leipzig. Retrieved from http://www.leipzig.de/imperia/md/content/12_statistik-und-wahlen/lz_otk2012.pdf
(2002). Correlates of adults participation in physical activity: Review and update. Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise, 34, 1996 – 2001.
(2012). Relationship between the physical environment and different domains of physical activity in European adults: A systematic review. BMC Public Health, 12, 807 – 823.
(2012). The association between physical activity and perceived environment in German adults. European Journal of Public Health, 22, 502 – 508.
(2006). Health benefits of physical activity: The evidence. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 174, 801 – 809.
(2007). Potential environmental determinants of physical activity in adults: A systematic review. Obesity Reviews, 8, 425 – 440.
(2009). Global health risks: Mortality and burden of disease attributable to selected major risks. Geneva: Author.
(2010). Global recommendations on physical activity for health. Geneva: Author.
(