Date of Graduation

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Julie Patrick

Committee Co-Chair

Elizabeth Kyonka

Committee Member

Constance Toffle

Abstract

The physical and psychological health benefits resulting from physical activity engagement have been documented in previous literature, including the connection between physical activity and subjective wellbeing (SWB). Associations have also been found between task-related self-efficacy and physical activity, connecting these concepts to Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory (SCT; Bandura, 1982, 1997), such that retaining a higher belief in one's physical activity abilities has been associated with successful physical activity engagement. Previous literature has documented these separate associations, but not as much focus has been placed on examining task self-efficacy, physical activity, and SWB in one model, especially during the time of physical activity adoption. Utilizing data from 58 adults, we conducted a path analysis to examine autoregressive and cross-lagged paths that encompassed 4 waves of data and 3 weeks of time. Significant autoregressive trends were observed for task self-efficacy, physical activity, and SWB, such that these variables increased over time, but the included cross-lagged paths were not found to be significant, indicating a lack of a relationship between task self-efficacy and physical activity, between physical activity and SWB, and between task self-efficacy and SWB. Significant age effects did not emerge, indicating similar scores in task self-efficacy, physical activity, and SWB across younger, middle-aged, and older adults. Similarities and differences between our study and the previous literature are discussed, along with proposing crucial aspects to consider in future studies and interventions on this topic.

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