Adolescent physical self-perceptions, sport/exercise and lifestyle physical activity

Purpose - Domain and sub-domain physical self-perceptions have been associated with adolescent moderate intensity physical activity although the association with different types of adolescent moderate intensity physical activity remains unclear. This study seeks to examine the relationship between personal self-perceptions and adolescent sport/exercise and lifestyle moderate intensity physical activity frequency. Design/methodology/approach - A total of 122, 13-to-14 year-old, English adolescents from Leeds, West Yorkshire (58 boys and 64 girls) had their personal self-perceptions, sport/exercise and lifestyle moderate intensity physical activity assessed. Findings - No significant positive relationships were found between boys' personal self-perceptions and lifestyle moderate intensity physical activity. However, a range of weak (r = 0.34-0.42) but significant relationships (p < 0.01) were found between personal self perceptions and boys' sport/exercise frequency. In contrast, only perceptions of strength competence were significantly related to girls' sport/exercise frequencies (r = 0.28; p < 0.05), while all personal self perceptions scales were significantly related to girls' lifestyle moderate intensity physical activity (r = 0.26-0.32; p < 0.05). Research limitations/implications - The use of correlation analyses by this study placed limitations on the extent to which cause-effect relationships were established. Furthermore, girls' sport/exercise was poorly distributed, which may have led to the non-significant relationship found between this activity type and personal self-perceptions. The presence of a significant relationship between these two variables should therefore not be discounted. Originality/value - This study seems to be the first to investigate and identify variations in the personal self-perceptions - moderate intensity physical activity relationship relative to activity type. Although more research is required, findings have implications for practitioners aiming to tailor physical activity interventions to this group and researchers aiming to match specific correlates to different types of adolescent physical activity.