An Explanatory Model of the Relationships between Physical Activity, Social Support and Screen Time among Adolescents

Abstract

Effective physical activity studies are necessary to understand how factors involved in physical activity mediate behaviour. Therefore, more reliable explanatory models can be generated in order to design effective actions to promote physical activity. The study had two aims: (1) to develop an explanatory model to identify and establish the relationships between physical activity, social support and screen time among adolescents; and (2) to contrast the explanatory structural model by means of a multi-group analysis according to sex. The study design was cross-sectional with descriptive and correlational analysis. The research was carried out with a representative sample of adolescents from the province of Soria (mean age 14.06 ± 1.27 years). The instruments used were: Four by One-Day Physical Activity Questionnaire, Parent Support Scale and Peer Support Scale. The results show that social support had a negative relationship with screen time (r = −0.178; p ≤ 0.001); males had a positive relationship between physical activity and screen time (r = 0.118; p ≤ 0.05); and peer support had more influence on social support than parental support. In conclusion, the proposed model was effective in triangulating the relationships between physical activity, social support and screen time in a novel way, while allowing us to discriminate these results according to participants’ sex.

Moderate–Vigorous Physical Activity, Screen Time and Sleep Time Profiles: A Cluster Analysis in Spanish Adolescents

“…Some benefits of physical activity in children and adolescents are improved cardiometabolic health, bone mass and cognitive functioning, the reduced risk of depression, and it helps to maintain healthy fitness and weight [10][11][12]. For physical activity to be healthy, it should be performed according to international recommendations [13]. The World Health Organization [10] and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [14] advise that children and adolescents should engage in at least 60 min a day 2 of 13 of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, mainly aerobic, as well as bone-strengthening activities, at least three days a week.…”

Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis Consumption on Physical Activity and Physical and Social Self-Concept in Secondary School Students: An Explanatory Model Regarding Gender

“…Very different results were found by Ramírez-Granizo et al [ 52 ], who stated that during adolescence, the female sex becomes detached from the practice of physical activity, preferring to carry out other tasks of a more sedentary nature. In perspective with the results found, Sanz-Martín et al [ 53 ] and Peláez-Barrios and Vernetta-Santana [ 54 ] state that regular physical exercise has academic, emotional, social, family, and physical benefits.…”

Exercise health belief model mediates the relationship between physical activity and peer support among Chinese college students: A cross-sectional survey

“…Peers can influence teenagers' exercise experience and motivate them (Agans et al, 2018), uninfluenced by the origin country of the teenagers, whether China (Luo et al, 2011) or the United States (Ling et al, 2014). With increasing age, peer support has an increasingly significant impact on PA. For example, Rajbhandari-Thapa et al (2022) reported that, with the improvement of a supportive school environment and peer support, students' PA increased (Rajbhandari-Thapa et al, 2022). Through a survey of families and adolescents from 74 countries, scholars found that Western Pacific countries have the highest correlation between parental support and adolescents' PA, while in Southeast Asia, peer support has the highest correlation with adolescents' PA .…”

“…The physical condition of college students from Tsinghua University in China was studied ( Wang, 2019 ), and the results showed that the risk of obesity among college students with insufficient exercise was 1.25 times higher than that of students with regular exercise. There was consensus on the factors affecting the PA of teenagers and college students, such as family support factors ( Treiber et al, 1991 ), social support ( Ling et al, 2014 ), and peer support ( Sanz-Martín et al, 2022 ). Many studies have subdivided the influencing factors into external and internal factors, such as interest, physical exercise confidence and skills, and awareness of the exercise health belief model.…”