Gordon C1, Jagbir Y1, McCartney J1, Thaxter S1, Lynch J1
1The University of the West Indies, Basic Medical Sciences- Physical Therapy, Kingston, Jamaica
Background: There has been an increase in the prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases in low and middle income countries like Jamaica. Physical activity and exercise are important in their prevention and management. Despite this, physical activity level is generally low. In Jamaica, physical activity is low in the age group 15-34 years and more evident among women compared to men. Obesity is a growing public health concern globally with a high economic burden partly due to the risk it poses for the development of many chronic diseases. The prevalence of obesity is higher in women than men and physical activity level in lower in persons with high body mass index. Increasing physical activity can reduce the risk of obesity. Self-efficacy is a person's confidence in their ability to organize and execute actions needed to perform an activity and it has been shown to mediate exercise participation. For women, a lack of confidence to initiate and maintain regular exercise may be affected by their weight, self- perception and how they believe others see them. Better self-image and lower body mass index have been show to influence exercise participation positively but how body image and body mass index impact self-efficacy for exercise among Jamaican women has not been investigated. It is important to understand the factors that influence exercise self-efficacy and by extension exercise participation in women. This would help in determining appropriate health promotion strategies and interventions to increase exercise participation in this population.
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine exercise self-efficacy of female university students, and how this may be influenced by body mass index and body image.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was done. Three questionnaires were administered to 200 students in the age group 18-34 years: Exercise-Self Efficacy Questionnaire was used to assess the participants' belief in their ability to begin or continue exercising, the Body Area Satisfaction Scale to examine the degree of satisfaction-dissatisfaction with body features and the Social Physique Anxiety Scale to measure the affective component of body image. Height and weight were measured to determine Body Mass Index. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used in the data analysis.
Results: The mean age of the sample was 21.47 (1.77) years. Mean exercise self-efficacy was 43.7% (31.7); Mean BMI was 23.89 (4.7); Body Area Satisfaction 1.8 (.62) and Social Physique Anxiety 31.9 (8.9). Lower exercise self-efficacy was significantly associated with more Social Physique Anxiety (higher scores) and less (higher scores) body area satisfaction (r = -.15, p =.029 and r = -.14, p= .042 respectively). Body mass index was not significantly related to exercise self-efficacy.
Conclusion(s): Exercise self-efficacy is low in female university students in Jamaica and is influenced by negative perception of self and dissatisfaction with physical appearance. More research is needed to confirm the findings.
Implications: Efforts to improve the confidence of young women to initiate and maintain regular exercise should include strategies to overcome negative perception of self and anxiety about how they are perceived by others.
Keywords: Exercise Self-efficacy, Body Area Satisfaction, Social Physique Anxiety
Funding acknowledgements: None
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine exercise self-efficacy of female university students, and how this may be influenced by body mass index and body image.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was done. Three questionnaires were administered to 200 students in the age group 18-34 years: Exercise-Self Efficacy Questionnaire was used to assess the participants' belief in their ability to begin or continue exercising, the Body Area Satisfaction Scale to examine the degree of satisfaction-dissatisfaction with body features and the Social Physique Anxiety Scale to measure the affective component of body image. Height and weight were measured to determine Body Mass Index. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used in the data analysis.
Results: The mean age of the sample was 21.47 (1.77) years. Mean exercise self-efficacy was 43.7% (31.7); Mean BMI was 23.89 (4.7); Body Area Satisfaction 1.8 (.62) and Social Physique Anxiety 31.9 (8.9). Lower exercise self-efficacy was significantly associated with more Social Physique Anxiety (higher scores) and less (higher scores) body area satisfaction (r = -.15, p =.029 and r = -.14, p= .042 respectively). Body mass index was not significantly related to exercise self-efficacy.
Conclusion(s): Exercise self-efficacy is low in female university students in Jamaica and is influenced by negative perception of self and dissatisfaction with physical appearance. More research is needed to confirm the findings.
Implications: Efforts to improve the confidence of young women to initiate and maintain regular exercise should include strategies to overcome negative perception of self and anxiety about how they are perceived by others.
Keywords: Exercise Self-efficacy, Body Area Satisfaction, Social Physique Anxiety
Funding acknowledgements: None
Topic: Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: The University of the West Indies
Ethics committee: Ethics Committee
Ethics number: ECP- 167, 14/15
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
