PA Participation and Psychosocial Correlates
FC participants scored significantly higher for beliefs and self-efficacy compared to children with no FC participation while children who participated in both FC and
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outside of school PA scored significantly higher for beliefs and self-efficacy compared to the outside of school PA only group. This may suggest higher beliefs scores and higher self-efficacy scores are each associated with higher participation rates in extracurricular physical activities, including FC. However, more research is needed in this area. This information shows that third graders with prior FC experience have higher beliefs and higher levels of self-efficacy in regards to PA compared third graders without prior FC experience. This is important as it supports the goal of helping children develop the necessary skills and confidence to live a healthy lifestyle. However, this information does not suggest cause and effect. It is not known whether children who have high beliefs and high self-efficacy are the ones who chose to participate in FC or if higher belief and self-efficacy scores are a result of FC participation. Future studies should investigate the difference between the psychosocial correlates of PA and intention to be PA before and after participating in the FC program.
Additionally, the statistically significant relationships between beliefs and self-efficacy with PA participation support the SCT and the YPAPM in which the predisposing factors or Outcome Expectations and Self-Efficacy directly influence behavior.
The three most common barriers to being physically active among study participants were feeling tired, watching TV or playing video games, and friends wanting me to do something else. Watching TV or playing video games was barrier perceived by more boys (29%) than girls (11%). Homework was a frequent barrier to youth PA participation in previous studies (Sallis et al., 1999; Eyler et al., 2006; Trost, Saunders et
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al., 2002). In the current study, homework was perceived as a barrier by 12.5% of participants, with no difference between the genders. The difference may be related to the age or grade of study participants. Eyler et al. (2006) used a sample of five through 12 year-old children while Sallis et al. (1999) used a sample of fourth through twelfth grade students. Thus, homework may be a barrier to PA more commonly perceived by children slightly older than third graders.
Previous studies have indicated that weather and television are less of a barrier to PA for girls than it is for boys (Eyler et al., 2006). This is supported by the results of the current study as watching television and playing video games was reported as a perceived barrier by 15% of the boys compared to 4% of the girls. On the contrary, the results from the current study do not support previous findings that weather is less of a barrier to PA for girls. The survey item „I Think I Can Be Physically Active, Even if It Is Hot or Cold Outside‟ was used to assess the perceived barrier of weather. None of the boys indicated weather as a barrier but 11% of the girls did feel weather was a barrier to being active. This difference may be associated with how the perceived barriers of weather were measured or it may be related to the types of physical activities girls participate in during the spring in Indiana.