Beyond TTM and ABC: A Practice Perspective on Physical Activity Promotion for Adolescent Females from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

Abstract

This paper builds on a growing body of literature on the promise of practice theory in understanding and promoting behavior change in society and develops upon Blue (2017) and Spotswood et al.’s (2019) rationale for evolving theories of practice into the domain of contemporary physical activity research. We begin by considering the intersectional nature of the problem. Statistics reveal that physical activity gradients exist based on gender, as well as socio-economic position. Women, girls, and disadvantaged populations report lower levels of activity than more affluent males and females. More problematic still is what StreetGames (2017) call the “double jeopardy”, where these characteristics intersect, intensifying the negative gradient. Our argument then comprises three parts. First, we provide a critical discussion of intervention studies seeking to transform exercise behavior amongst these populations. The issue we identify is that studies typically rely on behavior change models, such as the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) and the ABC framework. However, these models tend to take insufficient account of the practical and social aspects of behavior change in physical activity, and thus their subjects often succumb to value-action gaps (Shove, 2010). Second, in contrast, we propose that practice theory provides a promising alternative theoretical lens for promoting behavior change in disadvantaged and often resistant populations. Third, the paper highlights a range of conceptual considerations for exploring the relationship between young, disadvantaged women and physical activity, as well as the development of tangible solutions to improve participation.

Understanding whole school physical activity transition from a practice theory perspective

“…Rather, the conceptual benefits of the practice theory have seen it fuel a stream of healthoriented research that seeks to move beyond understanding and changing "health behaviour" (Cohn, 2014) and instead to inform "practice-oriented public health policy" (Blue et al, 2016). For example, the practice theory helps conceptualise PA as emergent from the configuration of everyday life (Hopkins et al, 2020;Nettleton and Green, 2014;Spotswood et al, 2019Spotswood et al, , 2021. Thus, the practice theory has inherent strengths for programmes of intervention and policy that seek to shape and strengthen collective conventions around physically activity (Southerton, 2013).…”

Using Critical Social Theory as Professional Learning to Develop Scholar—Practitioners in Physical Education: The Example of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice

“…After all, learning why we need to exercise is inherently reliant on contextualisation and the mitigations and adaptions needed to make exercise happen in our complicated and often unideal everyday lives. This is, of course, why physical activity promotion in a sedentary society is about so much more than merely skill learning or 'thinking' then doing; it is all about mitigating pernicious contextual and individual factors [6]. These considerations lead us to the question of where the knowledge comes from?…”