The PAQ-C and PAQ-A show good internal consistency. The PAQ-A has acceptable validity.

This study investigated the relationship between predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors conceptualized within the Youth Physical Activity Promotion Model (YPAP) and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) of adolescent males and females. Specifically, self-efficacy to overcome barriers, enjoyment of physical activity; family support, peer support, perceived school climate, neighborhood safety and access to physical activity were examined. The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A) and the Actigraph 7164 were used to obtain three different measures of MVPA in 205 adolescents (102 males, 103 females). Family support emerged as the most significant and consistent factor associated with the MVPA of both adolescent males and females. This relationship was noted even when different methods of measuring MVPA were employed. These findings should increase the confidence of public health officials that family support has the potential to positively alter the physical activity behavior of adolescents.In response to growing evidence of the health benefits of physical activity for adolescents and the health risks posed by inactivity experts have recommended that adolescents should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) each day (4) and should limit bouts of sedentary activity to less than 2 hours/day (1). Unfortunately, as recently as 2006 the CDC reported only 35.8% of adolescents 14 through 18 years of age met these physical activity guidelines and 37.2% reported watching television ≥ 3 hours per day. Additionally, research has determined that adolescent males are more active than females (17,24) and that the level of physical activity decreases during adolescence (4). This is particularly concerning as patterns of inactivity in adolescence have been found to track into adulthood (2,19).To address this issue, Welk (1999) developed an ecological physical activity model for use by practitioners and researchers. This Youth Physical Activity Promotion (YPAP) model conceptualized unique predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling influences on the behavior of children and adolescents (32). According to the YPAP model, predisposing factors are intrapersonal factors that collectively increase the likelihood of being physically active on a NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript regular basis; reinforcing factors are the interpersonal factors found in the social environment that might promote physical activity behavior; and enabling factors were defined as aspects of the physical environment that allow a youth to be physically active (Figure 1). Others have recognized the utility of this model (25,30) and have reported an association between select predisposing and reinforcing factors and physical activity measured by a pedometer (25). This current study adds to these findings by examining additional predisposing and reinforcing factors, including the examination of enabling factors, and using an accelerometer and selfre...

In a sample of 291 adolescents (mean age 13 yr), seven psychosocial factors, including family support, were examined in relation to accelerometry-derived physical activity (PA) measured after school and during the weekend. Gender-specific stepwise linear regression analyses determined which combinations of factors explained the variance in non-school moderate to vigorous PA and non-school total PA after adjusting for % BF, age, and maturity (p ≤ 0.05). Being praised by a family member and % BF explained 13% of the variance in female non-school MVPA, while being praised and maturity explained 13% of the variance in non-school total PA. Having a family member watch him participate, % BF, and age explained 11.5% of the variance in male non-school MVPA, while having a family member participate with him explained 6.4% of the variance in non-school total PA. Despite adolescents’ growing independence, family support continues to influence PA levels.

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