Evaluating Adolescents’ Reasons to Participate in Physical Activity: Alternative Approaches and Alternative Benefits

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine reasons to participate as precursors to increasing physical activity of adolescents who are low active and/or have an unhealthy weight status. Adolescents (N = 173) from an urban high school were grouped by two composite measures of weight status-perceived fitness, and effort-involvement physical activity. Adolescents completed an adapted eight-question survey based on Kenyon's (1968) multidimensional evaluative model of physical activity. Profile analyses examined group mean differences for reasons to participate and a one-way ANOVA examined group mean differences for physical activity behavior. For the reasons to participate profiles, the weight-status perceived-fitness groups reported significant differences for the tests of levels and flatness. The effort-involvement physical activity groups reported significantly different parallel profiles, levels, and flatness. For physical activity behavior, the weight-status perceived-fitness groups reported significant mean differences. We discussed the practical implications of grouping weight-status with perceived-fitness to reflect lifestyle, and the importance of light effort as part of the effort-involvement physical activity variable. We also examined the practical implications for physical educators and physical activity leaders of the different and common evaluative profiles, and physical activity behavior of adolescents for health benefits, and other participatory reasons.