ERIC Number: EJ1172903
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0744-8481
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
What Older Adolescents Expect from Physical Activity: Implicit Cognitions Regarding Health and Appearance Outcomes
McFadden, K.; Berry, T. R.; McHugh, T. F.; Rodgers, W. M.
Journal of American College Health, v66 n3 p202-208 2018
Objective: To explore older adolescents' reflective and impulsive thoughts about health- and social/appearance-related physical activity (PA) outcomes and investigate how those thoughts relate to their PA behavior. Participants: One hundred and forty-four undergraduate students (109 women; 35 men) aged 17-19 years (M = 18.11, SD = 0.65) participated in this study in October 2015. Methods: Participants completed a Go/No-go Association Task that assessed automaticity of associations between PA words and either health outcomes or social/appearance outcomes. Questionnaires assessing PA behavior, attitudes, outcome expectations, and body image were also completed. Results: Participants demonstrated a positive automatic association between PA and social/appearance outcomes, F(1, 136) = 4.403, p <0.05, ?[superscript 2] = 0.031, but they showed no difference in their associations between PA and desirable or undesirable health outcomes, F(1, 136) = 2.405, p = 0.123, ?[superscript 2] = 0.017. Conclusions: Older adolescents implicitly attend to the social/appearance outcomes of PA more than potential health outcomes, indicating that social recognition and a desirable physique may be the key PA motivators for adolescents.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Undergraduate Students, Student Attitudes, Late Adolescents, Adolescent Attitudes, Expectation, Physical Activities, Self Concept, Human Body, Physical Characteristics, Health, Social Cognition, Association Measures, Questionnaires, Preferences, Statistical Analysis, Health Behavior, Multivariate Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A