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Changes in Individual and Social Environmental Characteristics in Relation to Changes in Physical Activity: a Longitudinal Study from Primary to Secondary School

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Abstract

Purpose

Physical activity (PA) strongly decreases when children make the transition from primary to secondary school. The study aimed to investigate how individual and social environmental factors toward PA changed when children (11–12 years) made the transition from primary to secondary school (13–14 years) and how changes in these factors were related to changes in different PA domains.

Methods

In total, 321 children (48.9 % girls) and one of their parents both filled out a questionnaire concerning individual (i.e., attitude, self-efficacy, perceived benefits, and barriers of PA) and social environmental factors related to PA (parental support, friend’s co-participation, parental trust in child’s ability to be physically active, and social norm) in the last grade of primary school and 2 years later. Children wore an activity monitor for 7 days and self-reported different domains of PA.

Results

Most individual and social factors became less positive toward PA after the transition to secondary school.

Among girls, a more positive attitude and an increase in self-efficacy were related to an increase in average daily steps and sports during leisure, respectively.

Among boys, a decrease in perceived barriers (lack of time and parental reported lack of transportation to sport activities) was related to a decrease in average daily steps. An increase in parental support and a decrease in the parental perceived barrier of not liking sports were related to an increase in sports during leisure.

Conclusions

The prevention of adverse changes in individual and social factors toward physical activity may lead to a smaller decrease or an increase in physical activity.

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Acknowledgments

SDH and DVD were supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of Evelyne Coppin, Bieke Moerman, Elien Moerman, Ann-Sofie De Backer, Fauve Vandendorpe, Marlies Delrue, Marloes Everaert, Tine Vanden Bergh, and Yana De Bevere in the data collection. This work was supported by a Ghent University Special Research Fund (BOF).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Watersportlaan 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Sara D’Haese, Greet Cardon, Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, Femke De Meester & Delfien Van Dyck

  2. Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Egmontstraat 5, Brussels, 1000, Belgium

    Sara D’Haese & Delfien Van Dyck

  3. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Public Health, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Benedicte Deforche

  4. Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Department of Human Biomechanics and Biometry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussel, Belgium

    Benedicte Deforche

  5. Flemish Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (VIGeZ), Gustave Schildknechtstraat 9, 1020, Brussels (Laken), Belgium

    Femke De Meester

Authors
  1. Sara D’Haese
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  2. Greet Cardon
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  3. Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij
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  4. Benedicte Deforche
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  5. Femke De Meester
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  6. Delfien Van Dyck
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Greet Cardon.

Ethics declarations

The authors confirm that all procedures were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Parental informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

Sara D’Haese, Greet Cardon, Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, Benedicte Deforche, Femke De Meester, and Delfien Van Dyck declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author’s Contributions

All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript. FDM coordinated the data collection. SDH conducted the statistical analyses and drafted the manuscript. FDM, GC, DVD, BD, and IDB participated in the interpretation of the data, revised the draft versions of the manuscript, and provided critical comments during the process.

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D’Haese, S., Cardon, G., De Bourdeaudhuij, I. et al. Changes in Individual and Social Environmental Characteristics in Relation to Changes in Physical Activity: a Longitudinal Study from Primary to Secondary School. Int.J. Behav. Med. 23, 539–552 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9545-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9545-z

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