Measuring Perceived Barriers to Physical Activity in Adolescents

Area of Science:

• Adolescent Health
• Behavioral Science
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Low rates of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (PA) in adolescents are a public health concern.
• Perceived barriers are potential contributors to insufficient PA levels among adolescents.
• The psychometric properties of the perceived barriers to moderate-to-vigorous PA scale (PB-MVPA) require examination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reliability and validity of the PB-MVPA scale.
• To investigate the internal structure of perceived barriers to PA in adolescents.
• To examine the relationship between perceived barriers and actual PA levels.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional analysis of self-report data from 507 adolescents (mean age 12.40 years).
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine the scale's structure.
• Multiple regression and analysis of variance were employed to assess relationships with PA and group differences.

Main Results:

• Perceived barriers to PA were best represented by two distinct factors: internal and external.
• The PB-MVPA scale demonstrated strong composite reliability (over .80).
• Internal barriers were significantly and inversely associated with moderate-to-vigorous PA (β = -.32, p < .05), while no sex differences were found for either barrier type.

Conclusions:

• The PB-MVPA scale is a reliable and valid measure for assessing perceived barriers to PA in adolescents.
• Differentiating between internal and external barriers is crucial for understanding their impact on adolescent PA.
• Future research should consider these distinct barrier types to develop targeted interventions for increasing youth PA.