Physical Activity Behavior from a Transdisciplinary Biopsychosocial Perspective: a Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Health Behavior Research
• Transdisciplinary Science
• Biopsychosocial Models

Background:

• Physical activity behavior is complex and multidimensional.
• Transdisciplinary biopsychosocial approaches offer significant potential for analysis.
• The biopsychosocial model is increasingly used to understand the interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors in health research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the conceptualization of the 'biopsychosocial' in scientific literature related to physical activity behavior.
• To synthesize existing research on the application of biopsychosocial perspectives to physical activity.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review guided by PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines.
• Systematic literature search across major databases (Web of Science, SportDiscus, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, PubMed).
• Inclusion of peer-reviewed articles integrating biological, psychological, and social components within a biopsychosocial framework for physical activity behavior.

Main Results:

• Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria, with eight using Engel's biopsychosocial tradition and five employing socio-ecological approaches.
• Analyzed models focused on correlates of physical activity behavior or the influence of physical activity on health and aging.
• A minority of studies explicitly examined interactions between biological, psychological, and social factors.

Conclusions:

• Included articles demonstrated heterogeneity in applying a biopsychosocial perspective to physical activity.
• Adopting a biopsychosocial perspective can aid in capturing and understanding the complexity of physical activity behavior.
• This approach may inform future transdisciplinary research endeavors in physical activity science.