Factor Structure of the Barriers to Physical Activity Scale for Youth With Visual Impairments

Abstract

Youth with visual impairments (VIs) often experience unique barriers to physical activity compared with their sighted peers. A psychometrically sound scale for assessing barriers to physical activity for youth with VI is needed to facilitate research. The purpose of this study was to confirm the ability of the previously identified three-factor structure of the Physical Activity Barriers Questionnaire for youth with Visual Impairments (PABQ-VI) to produce scores considered to be valid and reliable that perform equally well across age, VI severity, and gender. Our results supported the three-factor structure and that the PABQ-VI produces scores considered valid and reliable. Mean, variance, and correlation differences were found in personal, social, and environmental barriers for age and VI severity, but not gender. Researchers can use the PABQ-VI to test and evaluate ways to reduce barriers for this population.

Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Physical Activity Barrier Scale for people who are blind or visually impaired

“…4,6,12 In addition, it may be difficult for every visually impaired young person and individual to reach these exercises and generalize them to the whole society. 23 For this reason, it is important to eliminate these barriers in the environment by making new environmental arrangements that provide the visually impaired with a chance to perform physical activity. For using other sensory stimuli such as tactile, auditory, and other sensory clues for blind individuals and using contrast-colored materials for individuals with low vision may help to eliminate these barriers and provide the visually impaired with an opportunity to exercise in their adopted environment.…”

Standing Long Jump Performance in Youth with Visual Impairments: A Multidimensional Examination

“…While the default assumption may be that having a VI (in and of itself) would be the primary culprit of such outcomes (i.e., VI = primary structural constraint), such results were not endorsed within the current study. In fact, while a complex interaction of personal, environmental, and social factors influence motor skill performance [58,77], it is likely that socio-environmental constraints are some of the most impactful determinants of motor skill performance [81], physical activity [82], and health [83] in youth with VI. While these data cannot corroborate that socio-environmental factors were the motive force behind the inferior SLJ scores, future research should investigate such hypotheses especially given that, for example, modifiable environmental factors have been found to influence motor skill performance in younger children without VI [84].…”