An Integrative Framework: Physical Activity Predictors in Inclusive Physical Education

Background/Purpose: Physical education is considered to be critical in promoting students' physical activity (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2012), but many adolescents with and without disabilities are inactive during physical education (Pan et al., 2011). The mechanism of physical activity behavior should be thoroughly understood to effectively promote students' physical activity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of an integrative theoretical framework to predict intentions and physical activity behavior of adolescents with and without disabilities in middle school inclusive physical education settings.

Method: A total of 577 participants, including 24 adolescents with disabilities, were recruited from 8 middle schools in Korea. In a prospective design, the participants' psychosocial constructs (attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, barrier-efficacy, task-efficacy, goal intention, and implementation intention) and physical activity data were collected by survey questionnaires and electronic pedometers, respectively.

Analysis/Results: A multilevel structural equation modeling using maximum likelihood estimation with robust standard error correction found that students' attitudes, subjective norms, and barrier-efficacy significantly predict students' goal intentions (R2=.68, P<.001). Students' implementation intentions and task-efficacy were significant predictors of physical activity behavior (R2=.13, P<.001). In addition, implementation intentions completely mediated the relationship between goal intentions and physical activity behavior (beta=.12, P<.001).

Conclusions: Findings suggest that the integrative framework provides a systematic account in the understanding of students' physical activity behavior in physical education settings. Future studies should consider the psychosocial factors to effectively develop instructional strategies that promote physical activity of adolescents' with and without disabilities in physical education classes.