JPASPEX (2014) 2(2), 17-23 http://www.jpaspex.com e-ISSN 2289-5817

Psychosocial predictors of physical activity among adolescents in a Nothern state of Malaysia Elyn Seah, Hairul Anuar Hashim

Sports Science Unit, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Abstract The present study examined the level of physical activity (PA) and the associations between PA, intention to exercise, exercise habit strength, PE enjoyment and sources of motivation and PA behavior among adolescents aged 13, 14, and 16 years old. Secondary school students (N = 503; Mean age 14.35 ± 1.26) completed self-report measures of physical activity (PA), behavioral regulation in exercise, and exercise habit The data were analyzed using descriptive statistic, t-test, and regression analysis.Significantly higher PA levels was found in boys and younger adolescents. PE enjoyment and relative autonomy index (RAI) were significant PA predictors in both genders. Intention and RAI were significant in 13 and 16 years old groups, while habit was significant in 14 years old group. Identified motivation was a common reason to exercise across sample. The findings underscore importance of considering age and gender in PA promotion interventions.

Keywords: Adolescents; Physical activity; Motivation

Introduction The benefits of regular physical activity (PA) are widely accepted. Indeed, extensive documentation exists for its benefits on multiple levels, including physical (Imperatore, Cheng, Williams, Fulton, & Gregg, 2006), psychological (Parfitt & Eston, 2005) and social (Biddle & Faulkner, 2002) benefits. Despite these acknowledged benefits, increased physical inactivity in children and adolescents is particularly worrying. Indeed, a number of studies have shown that PA level is decreasing during the adolescents years, especially in girls (Biddle & Wang, 2003; Booth et al., 1997). Studies in Malaysia have indicated low to moderate level of PA for majority of adolescents. For instance, Dan et al. (2007) observed that the majority of adolescents in their study had low (35%) and moderate (62%) levels of PA. A recent study conducted by Hashim, Rosmatunisah, Freddy (2011) revealed a similar pattern of findings, with 32%, 48%, and 20% of adolescents aged 13 and 14 in low, moderate, and high PA levels, respectively.

Understanding the factors that influence young people’s likelihood of being physically active, including gender and age, is important in order to guide PA

promotion strategies (Sallis, Prochaska, & Taylor, 2000; Wang, Chia, Quek, & Liu, 2006). In fact, this has long ben been viewed as a research priority (Sallis et al., 2000). Although previous studies have identified a number of consistent predictors of PA in children and adolescents (e.g., Sallis et al., 2000; Sallis, Prochaska, Taylor, & Hill, 1999) further studies are important for at least two reasons. Firstly, the declining pattern of PA in adolescents, especially among girls, have been extensively reported. Nevertheless, a similar pattern of low PA can still be observed in more recent studies. This clearly indicates the need for further research examining such pattern. Secondly, it has been acknowledged that individual psychological characteristics are cultural specific (Duda & Allison, 1990). Understanding psychological predictors of PA among adolescents from different cultures will give a better understanding if these predictors are universal of culture specific. In this regard, limited studies exist in relation to the pattern of exercise behavior and its predictors among southeast asian adolescents, especially Malaysia. It is therefore interesting to see whether studies in adolescents from this specific region will exhibit similar pattern of findings as in western-based studies. Intention to exercise and exercise habit Intention is a central construct in the theory of planned behavior (TpB) (Ajzen, 1991). According to this theory, intention is the function of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Although previous studies have shown that intention can predict behavior for up to 20-50% (Godin & Kok, 1996; Hagger, Chatzisarantis, & Biddle, 2002), the intention-action relationship is not always symmetrical (Aarts, Paulussen, & Schaalma, 1997b). Recent findings suggest intention-behavior relationship is moderated by habit strength. In fact, evidence exists that some people exercise without positive exercise intention and vice versa (de Bruijn & Rhodes, 2010). It was reasoned that once an exercise habit is formed, it minimizes the deliberation processes associated with behavioral engagement. In other words, it reduces the functional significance of intention on behavior (Verplanken & Aarts, 1999). Besides these two predictors, physical education (PE) enjoyment also warrants further research for at least one important reason. A number of PA promotion programs that utilized PE have been successful in increasing levels of PA among children and adolescents (Fairclough, 2003; McKenzie, Sallis, Kolody, & Faucette, 1997). Interestingly, programs with a pedagogical framework that emphasize

Research article

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Elyn Seah, Hairul Anuar Hashim Psychosocial predictors of physical activity

student enjoyment tend to be more successful in increasing levels of PA both within the school environment and out-of-school (McKenzie et al., 1997). Exercise motivation Self-determination theory (SDT) is a useful framework in understanding human motivation. (Richard M Ryan & Deci, 2000) Central to SDT is different types of behavioral regulation including intrinsic, (when the behavior is performed for the inherent interest in the activity) extrinsic (when the behavior is performed in order to attain a separable outcome), and amotivation (lack of motivation to act) (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Extrinsic motivation can be further distinguished into external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, and integrated regulation. A combination of these multiple motivational processes provides a measure of the degree of motivation of an individual and often referred to as self-determination index (Ryan & Connell, 1989). In PA and exercise settings, a higher level of self-determination was found to promote higher PA participation, enhancing self-initiated PA behaviors and consequently promoting well being among adolescents (Biddle & Wang, 2003; Wang & Biddle, 2001; Wang et al., 2006).

The objective of this study is to examine the predictors of PA among Malaysian adolescents according to age and gender. It is hypothesized that male will exhibit higher levels of PA compared to female. It is also hypothesized that younger adolescents will exhibit higher levels of PA compared with the older age groups. Furthermore, positive associations are expected between the selected determinants and levels of PA especially in the more active participants. Lastly, a positive motivational pattern is expected to predict PA levels especially in the more active groups. Methods Participants

A total of 503 secondary school students (229 males and 274 females) were randomly selected from six conveniently sampled schools in one of the northern states of Malaysia. Participants aged 13, 14 and 16 years with a mean age of 14.35 ± 1.26. The percentage of each age group were 33.2%, 32.6%, and 34.2%, respectively. In terms of ethnic backgrounds, majority of the participants were Malays (61%) followed by Chinese (39%).

Instruments Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C) (Kowalski, Crocker, & Faulkner, 1997). PAQ-C is a self-administered, 7-day recall questionnaire that measures general moderate to vigorous physical activity levels during the school year. It has exhibited strong correlation coefficients with other physical activity measures PAQ-C provides a summary physical activity scores derived from nine items, each scored on a 5-point scale. Previous validation studies provide support for the psychometric properties of PAQ-C.(Kowalski et al., 1997)

Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2 (BREQ-2; Markland & Tobin, 2004). BREQ-2 was used to measure motivation towards exercise. It consists of 19-items relating to the 5 types of regulation identified by SDT (Amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, and intrinsic motivation). Responses were attached to a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0, (“not true for me”), to 4, (“very true for me”). The BREQ-2 can be scored by either compiling separate subscale scores or calculating the overall Relative Autonomy Index (RAI) scores (Ryan & Connell, 1989). RAI is a single score that reflect the degree to which an individual is more or less self-determined in the regulation of his/her behavior. The score for each subscale is multiplied by its specific weightage [amotivation = -3, external regulation = -2, introjected regulation = -1, identified regulation = +2, and intrinsic regulation = +3]. followed by the summing of these weighted scores. Higher scores represent higher levels of self-determined motivation. In Malaysian adolescent samples, previous findings revealed acceptable factorial validity and reliability of this measure (Hashim et al., 2011). For the present sample, CFA results revealed acceptable model fit indices (χ2 = 304.04; df = 142; p = 0.000, χ2/df = 2.14; RMR =0.17; GFI = 0.93; RMSEA = 0.05) indicating acceptable factorial validity. In term of its internal consistency, alpha coefficients for all subscales are; (External motivation = 0.67; Introjected regulation = 0.66; Identified regulation = 0.72; Intrinsic regulation = 0.79) except for amotivation, which is slightly low at 0.50. Exercise habit strength Questionnaire (Grove & Ortega, 2005). Exercise habit was measured using exercise habit strength question. This questionnaire consists of 18 items representing four subscales (Automatically, Negative onsequences when behavior is not performed, Stimulus ue and Patterned action) associated with habit strength. Evidence of good internal consistency for the subscales and evidence for criterion-related validity via correlation with objective fitness measure have been reported.(Grove & Ortega, 2005) For the present sample, CFA results revealed acceptable fit indices (χ2 = 366.79; df = 129; p = 0.000, χ2/df = 2.84; RMR =0.09; GFI = 0.92; RMSEA = 0.06) indicating acceptable factorial validity. In term of its internal consistency, the results revealed acceptable alpha coefficients for all subscales (Patterned action = 0.70; Automaticity = 0.70; Negative affects when exercise not performed = 0.86; Stimulus cue = 0.82). Intention to exercise. Intention was measured using four items constructed based on the TpB questionnaire (Ajzen, 2002). The four items consist of two items of intention to do moderate activity and two item for vigorous activity (e.g., I intend to engage in heavy physical activity for at least 20 minutes for three times in the next four weeks). Each question was attached to a 7-point Likert scale. Scores for each subscale were derived by averaging the subscale-specific items. The internal consistency of this measure in the present sample is 0.89.

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JPASPEX (2014) 2(2), 17-23 http://www.jpaspex.com e-ISSN 2289-5817

Physical Education Enjoyment Processes Questionnaire. A 26-item questionnaire developed by Hashim, Grove and Whipp (2008b) was used to measure six PE enjoyment processes previously shown to predict enjoyment in PE. The processes were self-referent competency (SRC), other-referent competency (ORC), teacher-generated excitement (TGE), activity-generated excitement (AGE), peer interaction (PI), and parental encouragement (PE). In general, alpha coefficients ranging from .70 to .90 for all the subscales were obtained and adequate evidence of factorial validity (Hashim, Grove, & Whipp, 2008a) For the present sample, CFA results revealed acceptable model fit indices indicating adequate factorial validity (χ2

= 631.33; df = 284; p = 0.000, χ2/df = 2.22; RMR =0.09; GFI = 0.90; RMSEA = 0.05). Alpha coefficients for each subscale were also acceptable (SRC = 0.80; ORC = 0.76; AGE = 0.85; TGE = 0.79; PI = 0.79; and Parent = 0.77) Procedures Approval to conduct the study was obtained from the relevant human ethics committees and the Ministry of Education. Following approval from the principles of the schools involved, a short briefing about the study was given to the students. Students who were interested to take part were given a consent form for themselves and their parent or guardians. During the follow-up meeting, students who consented and permitted to participate in the study by their parent/guardian were given a set of questionnaires to be completed. Students were guided to ensure correct understanding and they spent about 30 minutes to complete the questionnaires. Statistical Analysis Data analysis were performed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and regression analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha were also used to establish factorial validity and internal consistency of the questionnaires. SPSS 18 and AMOS 18 were used for data computation.

Results The results revealed that most adolescents were in low activity levels (57%), followed by moderate (46%) and high (3%). Within gender, more females in low activity compared to males. Furthermore, more 16 years old were in low activity level compared with 14 and 13 years old groups. Details results are presented in Table 1. In terms of the most preferred activities, five top most preferred activities for the whole sample were walking, badminton, cycling and skipping. For males, five most preferred activities were walking, badminton, jogging, football and cycling. For females, five most preferred activities were walking, badminton, jogging, dancing and cycling. Details of the results by gender are presented in Table 2. The mean and SD of all primary measures by gender and age groups are presented in Table 3. Using t-test, significant gender differences were observed in PA and all other primary measures except for amotivation and external regulation. In term of age groups, one way ANOVA results revealed significant differences between

age groups in introjected motivation, identified motivation, intrinsic motivation, PA, and PE enjoyment. Table 1: Percentage of physical activity level by gender

and age Physical activity levels Gender Total N Low Moderate High Male 213 19% 24% 2% Female 262 38 % 16% 1% Total 57% 40% 3% Age groups 13 157 15 % 17% 1% 14 154 19 % 13% - 16 164 22% 11% 2% Total 475 56% 41% 3%

Table 2: Ten Most Preferred Physical Activity by Gender

Types of physical activity

Overall (%)(Mean+

SD)

Gender

Male Female

Walking for health

76

(M=2.81±1.21)

41

(M=2.84±1.19)

59

(M=2.79±1.23)

Badminton 56

(M=1.74±0.98)

51

(M=1.88±1.01)

49

(M=1.59±0.93)

Jogging 49

(M=1.85±1.01)

51

(M=2.06±1.10)

49

(M=1.63±0.86)

Cycling 35

(M=1.84±1.01)

57

(M=1.85±1.02)

43

(M=1.82±1.01)

Skipping 27

(M=1.45±0.82)

48

(M=1.56±0.86)

52

(M=1.35±0.78)

Football 23

(M=1.90±1.12)

90

(M=1.92±1.11)

10

(M=1.73±1.27)

Swimming 21

(M=1.54±0.84)

55

(M=1.61±0.74)

45

(M=1.44±0.94)

Dancing 20

(M=1.72±1.04)

17

(M=1.88±1.09)

83

(M=1.69±1.04)

Basketball 13

(M=1.54±0.94)

74

(M=1.67±1.02)

26

(M=1.19±0.54)

Netball 10

(M=1.36±0.75)

14

(M=1.14±0.38)

86

(M=1.40±0.79)

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Elyn Seah, Hairul Anuar Hashim Psychosocial predictors of physical activity

Table 3. Descriptive statistics for primary measure by gender and age groups

Physical activity

Exercise habit

Intent Enjoy RAI AMOT External Introject Identified Intrinsic

Gender Male Mean 2.51 3.79 4.89 3.58 7.17 0.96 0.76 1.30 2.25 2.79 SD 0.65 0.86 1.25 0.67 5.49 0.81 0.876 1.08 1.025 1.05 Female Mean 2.10 3.55 4.38 3.43 5.95 0.93 0.74 1.08 1.89 2.51 SD 0.57 0.79 1.33 0.67 6.05 0.88 0.80 1.06 1.06 1.11

Age Groups 13 Mean 2.46 3.76 4.71 3.63 7.17 0.98 0.78 1.35 2.22 2.86 SD 0.65 0.86 1.29 0.73 5.67 0.85 0.91 1.10 1.08 1.09 14 Mean 2.22 3.59 4.57 3.47 6.08 0.87 0.78 1.15 1.95 2.50 SD 0.55 0.80 1.28 0.59 5.51 0.79 0.79 1.06 1.01 1.02 16 Mean 2.19 3.63 4.56 3.40 6.25 1.00 0.67 1.03 1.99 2.55 SD 0.69 0.82 1.39 0.68 6.23 0.90 0.80 1.02 1.08 1.13 TOTAL Mean 2.29 3.66 4.61 3.49 6.50 0.95 0.74 1.18 2.05 2.64 SD 0.64 0.83 1.32 0.67 5.82 0.84 0.83 1.06 1.06 1.09

NOTE: Intent: Intention, Enjoy: Enjoyment of PE, RAI: Relative Autonomy Index, AMOT: Amotivation, External: External Motivation, Introject: Introjected motivation, Identified: Identified motivation, Instrinsic: Intrinsic motivation. Table 4: Results of Regression Analysis for male and female samples

Male Female Overall model fit R=0.57; F=25.80; p=0.000 R=0.52; F=24.371; P=0.000 β t p β t p Exercise Habit 0.18 2.65 0.009 -0.00 -0.063 0.950 Enjoyment of PE 0.23 3.24 0.001 0.26 3.60 0.000 Intention 0.16 2.28 0.024 0.13 1.972 0.050 RAI 0.23 3.69 0.000 0.25 3.846 0.000 Overall model fit R=0.534; F=16.80; P=0.00 R=0.546; F=21.87;P=0.00 β t p β t p Amotivation 0.06 1.04 0.296 -0.14 -2.48 0.014 External Motivation -0.11 -1.80 0.073 -0.00 -0.103 0.918 Introjected Motivation -0.04 -0.606 0.545 0.20 3.312 0.001 Identified Motivation 0.38 4.96 0.000 0.15 1.98 0.048 Intrinsic Motivation 0.25 3.838 0.000 0.28 3.98 0.000

Table 5: Results of Regression Analysis for separate age groups 13 years old 14 years old 16 years old Overall model fit R=0.63; F=25.44; p=0.000 R=0.46; F=10.35; p=0.00 R=0.57; F=19.16; p=0.00 β t P β T P β T P Exercise Habit 0.06 0.81 0.42 0.25 2.64 0.009 0.08 1.05 0.29 Enjoyment of PE 0.34 3.80 0.00 0.15 1.52 0.13 0.12 1.54 0.126 Intention 0.19 2.23 0.02 0.08 0.89 0.37 0.21 2.72 0.007 RAI 0.18 2.46 0.01 0.10 1.25 0.21 0.34 4.56 0.000 Overall model fit R=0.62; F=18.69; P=0.00 R=0.439; F=7.15; P=0.000 R=0.56; F=14.56; P=0.00 β t P β T P β T P Amotivation 0.13 1.94 0.054 -0.06 -0.82 0.415 -0.12 -1.75 0.08 External Motivation -0.17 -2.648 0.009 0.06 0.73 0.466 -0.07 -0.922 0.358 Introjected Motivation

0.08 1.043 0.299 0.12 1.32 0.188 0.05 0.65 0.511

Identified Motivation 0.37 4.23 0.000 0.28 2.62 0.010 0.22 2.45 0.015 Intrinsic Motivation 0.23 2.88 0.005 0.11 1.16 0.248 0.35 0.35 0.000 NOTE: Predictor = Physical Activity Regression analysis revealed a variation in the predictors of PA between gender and age groups. Enjoyment of PA and RAI were two common predictors of PA for both gender genders. In terms of the age groups, Intention and

RAI were significant predictors of PA for 13 and 16 years old. For 14 years old, only habit appeared to have

significant association with PA. Regression analysis for behavioral regulation revealed identified regulation is a significant predictors for both genders and all age groups. Details results are presented in Table 4 and 5. .

Discussion This study examined the level of PA and their motivation pattern of a sample of adolescents living in a Northern

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state of Malaysia. The finding from the present study confirmed the findings of previous studies in relation to the levels of PA in Malaysian adolescents (Aniza & Fairuz, 2009; Dan, Mohd Nasir, & Zalilah, 2011; Hashim et al., 2011). Specifically, a greater percentage of Malaysian adolescents were in low and moderate levels of PA. Moreover, males adolescents were more physically active than females and they exhibited a greater percentage in the low activity levels.

Within Malaysian population, the difference in the levels of PA between males and females has been attributed to the difference in sport socialization (Dan et al., 2007). As a consequence of this socialization pattern, certain activities are deemed culturally inappropriate for girls. In turn, this inherently limits their opportunities to be physically active. An important consideration in enhancing girls level of PA is this understanding their choice of activities and providing them with opportunities to be involved in those activities. This in turn may have the potential to foster student enjoyment in the activity (Hashim et al., 2008b; McKenzie et al., 1997). In fact, unexciting and inappropriate activities have been highlighted as reason for nonparticipating in non-active adolescents (Wankel, 1993). The variation in the preferred activities in males and females reinforce the need to consider different activities for males and females in order to promote PA.

A significant age related decline in physical activity was also observed in this study. Younger participants tend to have significantly higher level of PA compared to the older adolescents. In this regards, understanding adolescents motivation pattern may provide a starting guideline of how the PA intervention should proceed (Sallis et al., 2000; Wang et al., 2006). Parallel to previous studies, the finding suggests that PE enjoyment, exercise habit strength, intention to exercise, and RAI were significantly associated with adolescents activity levels (Sallis et al., 2000). However, it is important to note that there is a significant variation in the importance of these predictors between genders and age groups. Between genders, only RAI and PE enjoyment seemed to be significantly associated with PA level of both gender.

PE enjoyment is only significantly associated with PA level of the youngest group (13 years old). In fact, there is a decline in the level of PE enjoyment as the adolescents get older. This finding warrants closer attention for at least one important reason. Specifically, school is a platform where virtually all adolescents can be reached (Sallis et al., 1992). With the existing school PE infrastructure, the effort to promote PA on this platform is procedural in nature and most certainly cost effective (Hashim et al., 2008a). In order to achieve this, it has been suggested that PE must be perceived as enjoyable (Fairclough, 2003; Garn & Cothran, 2006). Indeed, it was shown that students who are more active enjoy their PE more than their less physically active counterparts (Fairclough, 2003). Researchers have proposed that PE enjoyment can be enhanced by emphasizing on gender-

and skill-matched activities, highlighting personal improvement rather than peer related comparison, enhancing peer interaction, and engaging parental involvement in student pe activities such as newsletter, and activities report (Hashim et al., 2008b).

RAI is also found to be a significant predictor of PA for both males and females, as well as for 16 and 13 years old adolescents. RAI reflects the degree of autonomy one perceives in their regulation of behavior. It was observed that a higher degree of autonomy is associated with higher level of physical activity in adolescents. Furthermore, studies have also shown the motivational benefits of more self-determined behavioral regulation in exercise context with youths (Biddle, 2001; Wang & Biddle, 2001). While we view that our prior suggestions are important to enhance adolescents enjoyment of school PE, we also believe that these suggestions are also important in enhancing the psychological needs related to self-determination. Specifically, we believe that these suggestions may also cater the needs for relatedness, autonomy, and the need to feel competence.

The results revealed a variation in the motives to exercise between genders and age groups. A common finding in relation the specific behavioral regulation is that in all age groups and genders, identified regulation is significantly associated with adolescents levels of PA. In exception of 14 years old, intrinsic motivation was also related to adolescents PA. Both of these forms of motivation have been associated with positive behavioral outcomes. Identified regulation represents a moderate level of self-determination and reflects adolescents’ value of the activity, and characterized by feeling of wanting to exercise to achieve certain goals (Gillison, Osborn, & Skevington, 2009). It should be noted that introjected regulation is also significantly associated with PA in girls. This externally oriented regulation is characterized by internal pressure to perform the behavior, such as avoiding guilt feeling. Although this form of motivation is considered a controlling form, some researchers have suggested that it represents a crucial precursor in behavioral internalization (Gillison et al., 2009).

The results also showed a variation in the role of intention and exercise habit on adolescents PA. The present finding suggested positive association between intention and PA participation only in males, and in 13 and 16 years old group. A limitation in this construct is that it is contingent upon deliberate decision making process (Aarts, Paulussen, & Schaalma, 1997a). However, such cognitive process is minimized when a behavior is habituated (de Bruijn et al., 2007; de Bruijn & Rhodes, 2010). In fact, it was previously found that when habit strength is high, the association between intention and exercise is significantly reduced. Recent advancement in habit literature suggest that habit is facilitated by a number of processes, such as automaticity, stability, negative affect when behavior is not performed and stimulus prompted (Ajzen, 2002; Grove & Zillich, 2003). Specifically, in a stair usage study, it was found that the

use of stairs in shopping mall significantly increased when visual prompt was put up. More

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Elyn Seah, Hairul Anuar Hashim Psychosocial predictors of physical activity

importantly, the researchers observed that the stair usage was maintained even when the prompt was removed (Kerr, Eves, & Carroll, 2001).

In summary, the present findings reinforce previous research in relation to the level of PA in children and adolescents and the need to further emphasize PA promotion especially in girls. This study highlighted the importance of age and gender specific understanding of exercise motivation. While we believe these findings have considerable practical value, we must, of course, acknowledge the potential limitations surrounding our research. Firstly, as in other self-reported measures, these measures may be influenced by recall errors and social References 1. Aarts, H., Paulussen, T., & Schaalma, H. (1997a).

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Acknowledgement This study was partially funded by Ministry of Higher Education Grant #203/PPSP/6171123 Hairul Anuar Hashim

Sports Science Unit School of Medical Sciences Universiti Sains Malaysia

Email: hairulkb@usm.my

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