This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1090198107308376v1 36/2/381    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Rhodes, R. E. Articles by Plotnikoff, R. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rhodes, R. E. Articles by Plotnikoff, R. C. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Healthy Living Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Identifying Belief-Based Targets for the Promotion of Leisure-Time Walking

¹ University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
² Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
³ University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rhodes{at}uvic.ca.

	Abstract

Walking is the most common type of physical activity (PA) and the likely target of efforts to increase PA. No studies, however, have identified the belief-level correlates for walking using the theory of planned behavior. This study elicits salient beliefs about walking and evaluates beliefs that may be most important for walking-promotion campaigns. A random sample of 55 Canadian adults participated in the elicitation study, and the validation study includes 358 participants who completed measures of demographics, beliefs from the elicitation study, and self-reported walking behavior. Belief–behavior relationships show that almost all behavioral expectancies are correlates of intention and behavior, but normative and control expectancies are more select correlates. But when belief–behavior relations are evaluated by participants meeting PA recommendations, only beliefs about feeling good, appearance, stress relief, and time are significant. Public health efforts to promote walking should focus on making time for regular walking and the affective advantages that walking can provide.

First published on December 12, 2007, doi:10.1177/1090198107308376

Health Education & Behavior 2009;36:381.

A more recent version of this article appeared on April 1, 2009


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?