Social Support for Physical Activity of Middle School Students

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Social Support for Physical Activity of Middle
School Students

• Lauren M. Hamel, MA
• Lorraine B. Robbins, DNSc, RN, CFNP
• Manfred Sommel, PhD
• Michigan State University

Department of Communication College of Nursing
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Statement of Problem

• Regular physical activity has important health
  benefits and can reduce overweight problems among
  youth
• A sharp decrease in physical activity occurs for
  many children between early and late adolescence,
  resulting in many adolescents not getting enough
  exercise

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Statement of Problem

• This decline in physical activity is a major
  factor for weight gain among adolescents
• Weight gain tends to carry over into adulthood
  adding to the risks for certain diseases and
  early death

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Purpose of Current Study

• It is imperative to understand what factors in
  the social environment of youth help them
  maintain a sufficient level of physical activity
• Social support has been identified as a major
  factor influencing physical activity in middle
  school students (ages 10-14)

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Sources and Forms of Support

• Parents
• Role models
• Providers of emotional and logistic support
• Peers
• Playmates
• More powerful predictor of physical activity
  across gender and age groups than parents

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Gender Differences

• Boys
• Are more active
• Receive more explicit modeling from fathers
• Girls
• Receive more logistical support from parents

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Age Differences

• Younger adolescents
• Perceive greater social support from parents and
  siblings
• Physical activity with friends was the most
  significant predictor for both younger and older
  adolescent girls

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Purpose of Current Study

• To explore the effects of social support on
  physical activity in context of
• Age differences
• Gender differences
• Source differences
• Type differences

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Method

• Sample 206 boys and girls enrolled in a racially
  diverse public middle school
• Procedure Subjects completed questionnaires to
  obtain information on
• Sources of social support
• Forms of social support
• Amount of physical activity
• Two time points, two weeks apart.

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Results

• Most important support persons for physical
  activity
• 1. Parents
• 2. Coaches/gym teachers
• 3. Peers

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Most Important Support Persons for Physical
Activity

• Supportive Person Girls Boys Total
• Father/Step-Father 44.6 64.8 54.9
• Mother/Step-Mother 56.4 49.5 53.9
• Coach/Gym Teacher 55.4 49.5 52.4
• Peers 62.4 52.4 57.3

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Results Gender Differences

• Boys, more than girls

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Results Gender Differences

• Boys, more than girls
• Identified their father as a support person (p
  .003)

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Results Gender Differences

• Boys, more than girls
• Identified their father as a support person (p
  .003)
• Less likely to identify a sister as a support
  person (p

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Results Age X Gender Differences

• Older boys were more likely to identify fathers
  as supporting them in physical activities than
  younger boys
• Younger girls were more likely to identify
  fathers as supporting them in physical activity
  than older girls
• Interaction (p

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Results Age X Gender Differences

• Younger boys reported more time spent being
  physically active than older boys
• Older girls reported more time spent being
  physically active than younger girls
• Interaction (p

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Source of Social Support Effects on Physical
Activity

• Students who identified their father and peers as
  support persons reported more minutes of physical
  activity (p

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Type of Social Support Effects on Physical
Activity

• Parental encouragement and transportation emerged
  as stronger predictors of physical activity than
  actual participation (p

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Practitioner Application

• This information can be used by health
  professionals to guide public health efforts to
  increase youth physical activity.
• Gender differences regarding social support are
  not uniform across age groups.
• Health professionals must become aware of
  different developmental trajectories of support
  patterns for boys and girls in order to target
  efforts to increase physical activity.

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Application

• Perhaps most importantly..
• Inform parents of the importance of continuing to
  support their adolescents physical activity
• encouraging regular physical activity
• assisting with transportation