Background/Purpose University administrator's physical activity (PA) attitudes and actions may play an important role in student fitness promotion on campus but have been given little attention. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study explored the relationships of factors that influence Chinese university administrator PA behaviors.
Method Administrators from diverse universities across China (n=443, age=47.83±5.32) participated in the study with 16.7% females. Data were collected concerning PA behaviors, beliefs about PA, subjective norms of PA, self-efficacy, intentions to PA participation, satisfaction of accessible exercise facilities, perceived health and body mass index (BMI).
Analysis/Results Path analysis was used to test the predictive and mediational role of above variables on total PA. Results revealed a good model fit with normed fit index (NFI) of .97, comparative fit index (CFI) of .933 and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) of .04. Attitudes, BMI and perceived health affected total PA directly and indirectly (p<.05). Attitudes mediated the effects of BMI and perceived health on total PA. Subjective norms and self-efficacy had significantly direct effects (p<.05) and mediated the effects (p<.05) of satisfaction and attitudes on total PA (p<.05). The effects of intentions on total PA were not significant.
Conclusions Chinese university administrator PA behaviors were significantly influenced by attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy, BMI, perceived health and satisfaction of exercise facilities. The non-significant effects of intention to PA participation were not expected. More studies on the topic are needed in the future.
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