Attitude toward Exercise and Behavioral Stage of Change of Taiwan’s Female University Freshmen
Author: Sheu-Jen Huang(Dept. of Health Education, National Taiwan Normal University), Wen-Chi Hung Cardinal Tien College of Nursing), Tsui-Wei Liu(National Ilan Commercial Vocational High School) Chiu-Wei Li
Vol.&No.：Vol. 51, No.2
Date：October 2006
Pages：25-43
DOI：10.3966/2073753X2006105102002
Abstract：
The purpose of this study was to explore, by comparing the health-related psychosocial variables and the process of change across several behavioral stages, the determinant factors of the transtheoretical model with regard to young women’s attitude toward physical exercise in Taiwan. Six hundred and ninety-five female freshmen from three national universities in Taipei City filled out questionnaires in their Nursing Education classes in March and April, 2004. The response rate was 98.7% with 686 questionnaires returned. Analysis of the quantitative data was performed with regard to frequency distribution, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multiple regression. The results revealed that most subjects were in the preparation stage, while 13.4% were in the action stage and 13.4% were in the maintenance stage. The factors that differed across stages were perceived benefits, perceived barriers, degree of self-efficacy, degree of physical activity, and process-of-change variables. The subjects who were in the later stages, i.e. the action and maintenance stages, predictably had higher scores with regard to the pro-exercise variables than their counterparts in the earlier stages. A significant predictor of the amount of exercise behavior of female students across all stages was self-efficacy (will-power, self-motivation). Support from teachers was positively associated with physical activity for the subjects in later stages; counter-conditioning variable had a significant negative effect on physical activity in the earlier stages. The findings of this study will help in the design of tailored interventions intended to increase the physical activity of young Taiwanese females in the future.
Keywords：female students, behavioral change, physical activity, exercise behavior, transtheoretical model
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