Temporal relationships of self-efficacy and social support as predictors of adherence in a 6-month strength-training program for older women.
The present study investigated how self-efficacy and social support predicted adherence to a strength training program for elderly women over two time periods in the initial 6 mo. of the program. Participants were 30 elderly women volunteers aged 75 to 80 who completed measures of barrier self-efficacy and general social support at baseline and 3 mo. later. Social support from the program was also measured at 3 mo. Adherence to the program was measured by attendance. Hierarchical regression equations were utilized to identify the contributions of self-efficacy and social support for adherence at 0 to 3 mo. and 4 to 6 mo. For prediction of the first 3 mo. of adherence, both self-efficacy and social support contributed significant unique variance towards the total explained variance of 36%. For the 4- to 6-mo. period, self-efficacy explained significant (12%) variance in adherence even when controlling for the previous 3-mo. adherence. Inclusion of general social support and social support from the program, however, did not account for significant variance. Researchers must continue to examine self-efficacy and social support in exercise adherence within various time periods among older adults to develop effective intervention strategies.
Rhodes
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School of Physical Education, University of Victoria, BC, Canada. rhodes@uvic.ca
Martin
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Taunton
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D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012944:Social Support; D014891:Weight Lifting / Q000523:psychology*