Promoting Physical Activity Habits after Completing Secondary School: Does the Age Matter?

Physical inactivity is one of the most important problems in our society, especially during adolescence. During this stage of schooling, students practice physical activity in physical education classes, but after they finish school, many of them stop practicing it. This research aims to determine which variables predict the intention to practice physical activity after finishing secondary school and to discover the effect that age during adolescence has on these predictive variables. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of secondary school students. The results show that physical exercise identity influences the three antecedents of this theory, while the attitude towards the behaviour (ß = 0.13; p < 0.05), perceived behavioural control (ß = 0.46; p < 0.05), and physical self-concept (ß = 0.41; p < 0.05), have a statistically significant influence on the intention to be physically active. Moreover, when the age is lower, is more important to develop a positive perceived behavioural control and physical exercise identity. Moreover, for younger male adolescents instead of the physical exercise itself, identity seems more important in developing a positive attitude towards behaviour. Likewise, in young female adolescents a low level of support from their close environment (subjective norm) leads to dropping out. The research concludes with the importance of including these variables in physical education classes to promote physical activity practice after completion of secondary school. Some practical implications are presented.

Sporting Habits of Urban Runners: Classification According to Their Motivation.

This study analyses the sporting habits of runners participating in short-distance urban running events to identify groups with different motivations towards the practice of endurance running and participation in urban running events. A sample consisting of 937 participants in the Valencia running circuit was interviewed using a questionnaire consisting of a scale of 22 items to analyse their motives for participating in popular races. An exploratory and confirmatory factorial analysis was carried out to check the validity of the instrument, and the analysis identified the following four factors into which the indicators were grouped: psychological and physical motives (3 items), social motives and interest in running events (5 items), occupation of time and social recognition (6 items) and competitive and material motives (3 items). Subsequently, a cluster analysis was performed by combining hierarchical and non-hierarchical methods, and the analysis identified the following three groups of runners with different characteristics: individual hedonists (n = 276), enthusiasts (n = 312) and socializing hedonists (n = 349). Enthusiastic runners consider most motives important when participating in running events, individual hedonists consider individual psychological and physical motives important, and socializing hedonists consider personal and social motives and interest in sport important. Variables related to age, educational level, annual income level, frequency of running, how the individuals went out to run and the level of the runners contributed to differentiating the identified groups. The results confirm the heterogeneous nature of urban runners.

Validação de uma escala para a análise das percepções dos moradores sobre o impacto social de um centro esportivo / Validación de una escala para el análisis de las percepciones de los residentes sobre el impacto social de un centro deportivo / Validation of a scale to analyse resident's perceptions of the social impact of a sports centre

O objetivo deste estudo foi validar uma escala para a análise das percepções dos moradores sobre o impacto social de um centro esportivo. Se recolheu uma amostra de 406 moradores do município de Moncada (Valência) com erro de amostragem de ± 4,82. Os moradores responderam a um questionário de 31 itens que incluíram possíveis impactos sociais derivados da presença do complexo esportivo na localidade. A aplicação da análise fatorial exploratória e confirmatória reduziu a escala para 28 indicadores distribuídos em sete dimensões de impacto: impacto sociocultural, impacto socioeconômico, impacto na imagem e promoção do município, impacto no desenvolvimento e infraestruturas urbanas, impacto na coesão social, igualdade e equidade, impacto na saúde e impacto nos hábitos e níveis de atividade física. Os resultados permitiram verificar a validade e confiabilidade da escala proposta para o objeto de estudo

La finalidad de este estudio es validar una escala para el análisis de las percepciones de los residentes sobre el impacto social de un centro deportivo. Se recogió una muestra de 406 residentes del municipio de Moncada (Valencia), con un error de muestreo de ±4,82, que contestaron a una encuesta de 31 ítems que recogían posibles impactos sociales derivados de la presencia del centro deportivo en la localidad. La aplicación de análisis factorial exploratorio y confirmatorio redujo la escala a 28 indicadores distribuidos en siete dimensiones de impacto: impacto sociocultural, impacto socioeconómico, impacto en la imagen y la promoción del municipio, impacto en el desarrollo urbano y las infraestructuras, impacto en la cohesión social, igualdad y equidad, impacto sobre la salud e impacto sobre los hábitos y niveles de actividad física. Los resultados permitieron comprobar la validez y fiabilidad de la escala propuesta para el objeto de estudio

The purpose of this study is to validate a scale to analyse residents' perceptions of the social impact of a sports centre. A sample of 406 residents of Moncada, Valencia, was collected with sampling error of ±4.82. They responded to a 31-item survey on potential social impacts of the presence of the sports centre in that town. Exploratory and confirmatory factorial analysis reduced the scale to 28 indicators distributed in seven impact dimensions: sociocultural; socioeconomic; image and promotion of the town; urban development and infrastructures; social cohesion; equality and equity; health; and physical activity habits and levels. The results made it possible to check the validity and reliability of the scale proposed for the object of study