Scheduled for Research Consortium Free Communication: Facilitating an Understanding of College Students' Physical Activity Behavior, Thursday, March 15, 2007, 8:45 AM - 10:00 AM, Convention Center: 328


Racial Differences in the Effects of Barriers on Physical Activity Participation

George B. Cunningham, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

The influence of race is seen throughout society, and the exercise and physical activity context is no different. Research has shown that race influences, among other things, (a) people's attitudes toward sport and exercise, (b) the sport and exercise in which people participate, and (c) the access people have to various activities, equipment, and venues. With respect to the latter, research has illustrated that racial minorities are more likely to face barriers to their participation in sport and exercise than are Whites. While the extant research has provided considerable insights, there is also room for further advances. In particular, implicit in much of the extant research is the assumption that barriers influence racial minorities and Whites the same. Clearly, such an assumption might not be valid. Rather, because of social and economic forces in place, the effects of barriers might be more deleterious to racial minorities' future physical activity participation than it is for the participation of Whites. The purpose of this study was to examine this issue in greater depth. Data were collected via questionnaire from 175 students participating in physical activity classes at a major university. Among other things, participants were asked to provide their race and to respond to items related to their barriers to participating in the physical activity and their intentions to participate in the activity over the following year. Moderated regression analysis was used to test the study predictions. Intentions to participate in the activity over the following year served as the dependent variable. The first order effects (race, barriers to participation) accounted for 27% (p < .001) of the variance. The second step, which contained the race-by-barriers interaction term, accounted for an additional 3% (p < .01) unique variance. The interaction plot suggests that the effects of having barriers to participation more negatively influenced racial minorities' intentions to participate in the activity for the next year than it did Whites' intentions. This research illustrates the need to remove barriers to exercise for all persons, but especially racial minorities. If such barriers, in this case a lack of equipment needed to participate, can be alleviated, then participation rates are likely to increase. Further, such steps will be one way to begin to reduce the racial disparities in sport and exercise participation.
Keyword(s): exercise/fitness/physical activity, multiculturalism/cultural diversity

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