Journal of Child and Adolescent Behavior
Open Access

Research Article

Relationship of Physical Activity Self-Efficacy and Psycho behavioral Characteristics of Overweight and Obese African American Children

¹Dr. Robert C and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3104, USA

²Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3104, USA

³Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada

*Corresponding Author:

Sushma Sharma
Atkins Center for Weight and Health
428 Morgan Hall, University of California Berkeley
CA 94720-3104, USA
Tel: (+1)408-376-1353
E-mail: sushma@berkeley.edu

Received Date: January 07, 2013; Accepted Date: March 04, 2013; Published Date: March 08, 2013

Citation: Sharma S, Hay JA, Fleming SE (2013) Relationship of Physical Activity Self-Efficacy and Psychobehavioral Characteristics of Overweight and Obese African American Children. J Child Adolesc Behav 1:104. doi:10.4172/2375-4494.1000104

Copyright: © 2013 Sharma S, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Objectives: The relationship of Physical Activity Self-Efficacy (PASE) to psychobehavioral characteristics of overweight and obese African American children from an inner city area has been understudied, making it difficult to know whether effective interventions should include a broad or more focused approach. Therefore, we hypothesized that children’s self-reported self-efficacy toward physical activity would be related to more favorable scores on childreport and parent-report Behavioral Assessment for Children, 2nd edition (BASC-2).

Methods: A secondary analysis was performed in a sample of 125 children ages 9-11 yr participating in a community-based, type 2 diabetes prevention program. Self-efficacy toward physical activity was assessed using the Children’s Self-perceptions of Adequacy in and Predilection for Physical Activity (CSAPPA) questionnaire. Behavioral measures were obtained from children and caregivers using the BASC-2.

Results: Hierarchical multiple linear regression models showed that for the child-report BASC variables, all 20 associations examined were statistically significant at p<0.05. Whereas, for the parent-report BASC variables, results show that none of the 44 associations examined was significant.

Conclusion: Based on the strong association between physical activity self-efficacy and child-reported psychobehavioral characteristics, we conclude that positive change in the child’s perception of his/her basic behavioral and social characteristics may increase self-efficacy and, thus, effectiveness of physical activity interventions.

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