Does Motivation Mediate The Effect Of Parental Influence On Urban, Minority Adolescents’ Physically Active Leisure?
Open Access
- Author:
- Scott, Jason Lovejoy
- Graduate Program:
- Recreation and Parks
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- August 12, 2014
- Committee Members:
- Linda L Caldwell, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Garry Chick, Committee Member
Benjamin Daniel Hickerson, Committee Member
Edward A Smith, Committee Member - Keywords:
- physical activity
leisure
adolescents
minority
urban
parental support - Abstract:
- Physical inactivity remains a concern for public health due to the low levels of physical activity reported by adolescents. Of particular concern are low levels of physical activity among minority adolescents, particular those of African American and Hispanic descent. Many researchers and practitioners have tried a variety of strategies in recent years to combat the physical inactivity problem with varying results, yet physical activity levels remain low. One promising strategy involves parental support as an avenue to increase physical activity. The purposes of this dissertation are (a) to examine the effect that adolescent perceptions of parental support may have on adolescent physical activity, and if there is a relationship, (b) to examine if two types of motivation, intrinsic and identified/task oriented, mediate the effects of parental support on adolescent physical activity. This study also examined gender differences, the time of week in which physical activity occurs, and the varying types of physical activity participation such as walking, running, and other physical activity among urban, minority youth. Gender differences found girls reported significantly lower amounts of physical activity compared to boys. Using Social Cognitive Theory and Self Determination Theory as the theoretical frameworks, perceptions of parental support and individual motivation significantly predicted adolescent physical activity. The results indicated that perceptions of parental encouragement and engagement significantly predicted total physical activity, time of week physical activity and type of physical activity. Structural equation modeling was used to test the direct and indirect paths that perceptions of parental support and motivation on total physical activity, time of week physical activity, and type of physical activity. The results indicated that both intrinsic and identified/task oriented motivation mediated the effects of perceptions of parental encouragement across each model tested. The findings of the this study provide a link between perceptions of parental support and motivation that may be useful in designing physical activity prevention and intervention programs targeted to urban, minority adolescents.