Dejan Magoc, Department of Health Studies, Eastern Illinois University, Joe Tomaka, Department of Public Health
University of Texas at El Paso
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the general level of physical activity (PA) among
predominantly Hispanic college population. In addition, the study examined the relationships
between the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) constructs and PA. One hundred participants
completed the questionnaire in regard to PA and SCT. The results of this study showed that 59%
of the sample met recommendations for PA. Furthermore, self-efficacy was the only significant
predictor of PA METS, β = .35, p < .01. This study helps understand the relationship between the
SCT constructs and PA, suggesting that maintaining the SCT processes will lead to regular PA.
Thus, encouraging and targeting PA together with cognitive changes might be of great interest
for future research.
Key words: physical activity, SCT, college students, Hispanics
References
Allison, K. R., Dwyer, J. J. M., & Makin, S. (1999). Self-Efficacy and participation in vigorous
physical activity by high school students. Health Education and Behavior, 26(1), 12-24.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2004). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance
Summary Prevalence Report.
American College of Sports Medicine. (2000). ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and
Prescription. 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lipincott Williams & Wilkins.
Armstrong, C. A., Sallis, J. F., Hovell, M. F., & Hofstetter, C. R. (1993). Stages of change, selfefficacy,
and the adoption of vigorous exercise: A prospective analysis. Journal of Sport
and Exercise Psychology, 15, 390-402.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: Freeman.
Bandura, A. (2004). Health promotion by social cognitive means. Health Education
and Behavior, 31(2): 143-164.
Baranowski, T., Anderson, C., & Carmack, C. (1998). Mediating variable framework in physical
activity interventions: How are we doing? How might we do better? American Journal of
Preventive Medicine, 15, 266-297.
Baranowski, T., Perry, C.L., & Parcel, G.S. (2004). How individuals, environments, and health
behavior interact: Social Cognitive Theory. IN: Health Behavior and Health Education:
Theory, Research, and Practice (3rd Ed). Karen Glanz, Barbara K. Rimer, Frances
Marcus Lewis (Eds.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass: 165-184.
Booth, M. L. (2000). Assessment of physical activity: An international perspective. Research
Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 71(2), s114-120.
Bradley, C., McMurray, R., Harrell, J., & Deng, S. (2000). Changes in common activities of 3rd
through 10th graders: the CHIC study. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise,
32(Dec), 2071-2078.
Caspersen, C., Pereira, M. A., & Curran, K. M. (2000). Changes in physical activity patterns in
the United States, by sex and cross-sectional age. Medicine and Science in Sports and
Exercise, 32(Sep), 1601-1609.
CDC. (2001). Physical activity trends: United States, 1990-1998. Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report, 50, 166-168.
Crespo, C. H., Keteyian, S. J., Heath, G. W & Sempos, C. T. (1996). Leisure-time physical
activity among US adults: Results from the third national health and nutrition
examinations survey. Archives of Internal Medicine, 156, 93-98.
Douglas, K. A., Douglas, K., & Collins, J. L. (1997). Results from the 1995 National College
Health Risk Behavior Survey. Journal of American College Health, 46(Sep), 55-66.
Social Cognitive Determinants of Physical Activity
Dunn, M. S., & Wang, M. Q. (2003). Effects of physical activity on substance use among college
students. American Journal of Health Studies, 18(2/3), 126-132.
Glanz, K., Lewis, R. M., & Rimer, B. K. (2002). Health Behavior and Health Education. 3rd ed.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Haberman, S. & Luffey, D. (1998). Weighing in college students’ diet and exercise behaviors.
Journal of American College Health, 46(Jan), 189-191.
Haskell, W., Lee, I-M., Pate. R. R., Powel, K. E., Blair, S. N., Franklin, B. A., et al. (2007).
Physical activity and public health: Updated recommendations for adults from the
American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. Journal of
the American Heart Association, 116, 1081-1093.
Heath, E. M., & Coleman, K. J. (2003). Adoption and institutionalization of the child and
adolescent trial for cardiovascular health (CATCH) in El Paso, Texas. Health Promotion
Practice, 2(4), 157-164.
Hoerr, S. L., Bokram, R., Lugo, B., Bivins, T, & Keast, D. R. (2002). Risk for disordered eating
relates to both gender and ethnicity for college students. Journal of the American College
of Nutrition, 21(4), 307-314.
Hovell, M., Sallis, J., Hofstetter, R., Barrington, E., Hackley, M., Elder, J., et al. (1991).
Identification of correlates of physical activity among Latino adults. Journal of
Community Health, 16, 23-36.
Insel, P. M. & Roth, W. T. (2002). Core Concepts in Health (brief ninth edition ed.). Boston:
McGraw Hill.
Kujala, U. M., Kaprio, J., Sarna, S., & Koskenvuo, M. (1998). Relationship of leisure-time
physical activity and mortality: The Finish Twin Cohort. Journal of the American
Medical Association, 279, 440-444.
Leslie, E., Owen, N., Salmon, J., Bauman, A. E., Sallis, J. F., & Kai Lo, S. (1999). Insufficiently
active Australian college students: perceived personal, social, and environmental
influences. Preventive Medicine, 28, 20-27.
Magoc, D. & Tomaka, J. (2006). Predictors of exercise frequency in a predominantly Hispanic
population. Paper presented at the American Public Health Association 134th Annual
Meeting, Boston, MA.
McAuley, E. (1992). The role of efficacy cognitions in the prediction of exercise behavior in
middle-aged adults. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15(1), 65-88.
McMurray, R., Harrell, J., Deng, S., Bradley, C., Cox, L., & Bangdiwala, S. (2000). The
influence of physical activity, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity on the weight status of
adolescents. Obesity Research, 8(Mar), 130-139.
Mouton, C. P., Calmbach, W. L., Dhanda, R., Espino, D. V., & Hazuda, H. (2000). Barriers and
benefits to leisure-time physical activity among older Mexican Americans. Archives of
Family Medicine, 9.
Patrick, K., Covin, J. R., & Fulop, M. (1997). Health risk behaviors among California college
students. Journal of American College Health, 45(May), 265-272.
Petosa, R. L., Suminski, R. R., & Hortz, B. (2003). Predicting vigorous physical activity using
social cognitive theory. American Journal of Health Behavior, 27 (4), 301-310.
Pratt, M., Macera, C. A., & Blanton, C. (1999). Levels of physical activity and inactivity in
children and adults in the United States: current evidence and research issues. Medicine
and Science in Sports and Exercise, 31(Nov), S526-533.
D. Magoc and J. Tomaka
Rovniak, L. S., Eileen, S. A., & Winett, R. A. (2002). Social cognitive determinants of physical
activity in young adults: a prospective structural equation analysis. Annals of Behavioral
Medicine, 24(2), 149-156.
Ryan, G. J., & Dzewaltowski, D. A. (2002). Comparing the relationships between different types
of self-efficacy and physical activity in youth. Health Education and Behavior, 29(4),
491-504.
Sallis, J. F., Hovell, M. F., & Hofstetter, C. R. (1992). Predictors of adoption and maintenance of
vigorous physical activity in men and women. Preventive Medicine, 21, 237-251.
Sallis, J. F., Grossman, R. M., Pinski, R. B., Patterson, T. L., & Nader, P. R. (1987). The
development of scales to measure social support for diet and exercise behaviors.
Preventive Medicine, 16, 825-836.
Sallis, J. F., Pinski, R. B., Grossman, R. M., Patterson, T. L., & Nader, P. R. (1988). The
development of self-efficacy scales for health-related diet and exercise behaviors. Health
Education Research, 3, 283-292.
Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and Quasi-Experimental
Designs for Generalized Causal Inference. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Steinhardt, M., & Dishman, R. (1989). Reliability and validity of expected outcomes and barriers
for habitual physical activity. Journal of Occupational Medicine, 31, 536-546.
Suminski, R. R., Petosa, R., Utter, A. C., & Zhang, J. J. (2002). Physical activity among
ethnically diverse college students. Journal of American College Health, 51(2), 75-80.
U.S. Depatament of Health and Human Services. (1996). A report of the Surgeon General:
Physical Activity and Health. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Wallace, L. S., Buckworth, J., Kirby, T. E., & Sherman, W. M. (2000). Characteristics of
exercise behavior among college students: Application of social cognitive theory to
predicting stage of change. Preventive Medicine, 31, 494-505.
Wyse, J., Mercer, T., Ashford, B., Buxton, K, & Gleeson, N. (1995). Evidence for the validity
and utility of the stages of exercise behavior change scale in young adults. Health
Education Research, 10, 365-377.