Direct Measures Affecting Physical Activity Participation of Children With Disability

Background/Purpose: The Theory of Planned Behavior (TpB) measures individuals’ intentions to perform a specific behavior. Ajzen (1985) who developed the TpB suggested that if the purpose of the study is to predict intentions and behavior, direct measures of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control are sufficient. The purpose of this study was to determine if direct measures of the TpB predict parental support for physical activity participation (PAP) of their children with disabilities (CWD) and to examine the factors related to PAP of CWD. 

Method: The questionnaire was constructed following Ajzen’s guidelines (2004). A total of 240 parents of CWD in South Korea completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of instruction, the TpB questions, and other background questions. 

Analysis/Results: Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on the items of attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. The first factor (λ = 2.80) referring to attitude accounted for 31.15%, the second factor (λ = 1.83) referring to perceived behavioral control accounted for 20.41%, and the third factor (λ = 1.77) referring to subjective norms accounted for 19.69% of the total variance. Reliability of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control was .92, .64, and .67, respectively. Reliability of entire items was .73 using Cronbach’s alpha. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the direct measures of the TpB, with the exception of subjective norm, significantly predicted parents’ intentions, F (2, 224) = 58.28, p < .01. The proportion of variance in intentions (R²) explained by perceived behavioral control and subjective norm was 34%. Intentions, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm, with the exception of attitude, were significant predictors of parents’ behavior in supporting PAP of CWD. The proportion of variance in behavior (R²) explained by intentions, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm was 61%. Pearson correlation was employed to test what factors are related to PAP of CWD and to examine correlations among the amount of time spent participating in physical activity (TiPA), Body Mass Index, the amount of time spent watching TV, and parental support. The correlation results indicated that there is a statistically significant relationship between TiPA and parental support (r = .15, p < .05). No other factors were related to TiPA.

Conclusions:  The results of this study support the use of direct measures of the TpB to examine parents’ support for PAP of CWD. In addition, the results showed that parental support plays an important role in PAP of their CWD.