Abstract
Inactivity is a known cause of premature deaths worldwide (World Health Organization, 2009; Dwyer et al., 2008). Research has shown that physical activity can prevent diseases, namely cardiovascular disease (PHAC, 2009; Statistics Canada, 2011), diabetes (Warburton et al., 2006; Gregg, Gerzoff, & Caspersen, 2003), and cancer (Canadian Cancer Statistics, 2012). In this study, the association between physical activity participation and self-efficacy for physical activity was measured in adolescent males. The impact of school sport participation on the perception of physical activity was explored, namely the possibility that self-efficacy levels differed between school sport participators and non-school sport participators. Through the use of the Physical Activity Questionnaire-Adolescent (PAQ-A) and the Self-Efficacy for Physical Activity Questionnaire (SEPAQ), a multiple regression was run to determine whether physical activity participation predicted self-efficacy for physical activity, and if either categorical group affected that predictability. PAQ-A scores showed a moderate positive pairwise correlation with SEPAQ score. The results of the Spearman’s p test showed a moderate positive, and significant correlation between PAQ-A and SEPAQ scores, r(113) = .571, p < .01. The regression analysis showed that PAQ-A score significantly predicted SEPAQ scores, b = 10.95, t(113) = 6.63, p < .001. However, school sport participation did not significantly predict SEPAQ scores, b = 0.99, t(113) = 0.97, p > .05. Also, PAQ-A score and school sport participation explained a significant proportion of variance in SEPAQ scores, R^2= 0.33, F (2, 112) = 27.11, p < .001. Implications for male participation in physical activity will be discussed.
