Brief Report
Self-efficacy and physical activity among adults with visual impairments

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2017.10.012Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

According to empirical evidence, adults with visual impairments are generally less physically active than their sighted peers, however less is known about what specific motivational factors influence physical activity participation among this population. While research has identified self-efficacy as one important motivational factor for physical activity, no previous research has examined this association among individuals with visual impairments.

Objective

The primary purpose of the current study was to examine the association between self-efficacy and physical activity for adults with visual impairments.

Methods

A total of 147 participants (Mage = 44.5, 65.2% female) completed three online surveys (i.e., demographic questionnaire, International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form [IPAQ-SF], and Self-Efficacy for Exercise Beliefs [SEEB] scale) and were included in the analysis. MET-min/wk and SE beliefs were analyzed descriptively and inferentially using correlation and multiple regression analyses.

Results

Participants reported an average of 2799.98 MET-min/wk. Body mass measures showed a mean BMI of 27.59, which was within the overweight range. A positive association (r = 0.29, p < 0.01) was found between self-efficacy and MET-min/wk. A significant amount of variance (10.2%) in MET-min/wk was explained by the overall model.

Conclusions

A positive relationship was found between physical activity participation and self-efficacy beliefs, which is aligned with earlier research conducted among individuals without disabilities. This finding underscores the need for further exploration of motivational constructs associated with physical activity engagement among individuals with visual impairments in order to better understand what specific factors impact and can be leveraged to promote physical activity engagement of this population.

Section snippets

Participants

In total, 207 individuals accessed the distributed Survey Gizmo link. Of those, 147 individuals (96 female, 51 male) successfully completed usable surveys (71%) and were included in the analyses. The mean age of participants was 44.3 (SD = 15.3) years old and participants reported being African American (n = 11; 7.5%), Asian/Asian American (n = 8; 5.4%), Caucasian (n = 117, 79.6%), Hispanic/Latino (n = 5, 3.4%), and more than one racial/ethnic group (n = 6; 4.1%). Almost half of the

Results

The SEEB scale demonstrated good internal consistency for the sample of adults with visual impairments (α = 0.85) and good split half reliability (Guttman's λ = 0.84), indicating that the scale was reliable for this population. Participants reported an average of 2799.98 (SD = 2429.73) MET-min/week and mean self-efficacy 3.17 (SD = 0.89) on a seven-point scale. Mean MET-min/week and SEEB scores organized by demographic variables are displayed in Table 1. The data satisfied the assumption of

Discussion

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the association between self-efficacy and physical activity for adults with visual impairments. While most research concerning individuals with visual impairments in a physical activity context has been conducted atheoretically, utilizing psychological theories closely associated with health promotion can provide a deeper understanding of health behaviors. Self-efficacy has become a popular construct in health behavior research, both on its own

Funding

The research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Conflicts of interest

The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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