Neighborhood environment,physical activity,and quality of life in adults:Intermediary effects of personal and psychosocial factors

Background: Studies have indicated that there is a positive and indirect relationship between physical activity(PA) and quality of life(QoL). The current study examined this relationship through a social cognitive model with consideration to the intermediary effects of exercise self-efficacy,and physical(PCS, physical component summary) and psychological(MCS, mental component summary) health. Additionally, this model was widened to include concepts from the ecological theory, and any causal associations among neighborhood environment, PA, and QoL.Methods: Six hundred and eighty-four physically active adults(39.16 ± 13.52 years, mean ± SD), living in Athens, Greece, completed a series of questionnaires measuring PA, QoL, exercise self-efficacy, PCS, MCS, neighborhood environment, and family and friend support for PA. The examined models were analyzed using structural equation modeling.Results: The social cognitive and ecological models proved to be of appropriate fit. Within the social cognitive model, PA positively affected QoL through the mediating effects of exercise self-efficacy, PCS, and MCS. With regards to the ecological model, neighborhood environment positively influenced QoL through the intermediary effects of family support for PA, exercise self-efficacy, PA, PCS, and MCS.Conclusion: Results indicated that the most important mediators in the examined models were exercise self-efficacy and health. Further, findings demonstrated the role of neighborhood environment in enhancing PA and QoL. Future studies should be carried out applying longitudinal data for a better understanding of these associations over time.

Validity, Reliability, and Invariance of the Greek Version the Physical Activity Perceived Barriers Scale

The study aimed to examine the validity, reliability, and factorial invariance across gender of the PAPBS （Physical Activity Perceived Barriers Scale） in Greek children. 613 students （322 boys and 291 girls） from a city of Greece completed the above scale in 3 periods during a school year. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied. Strong evidence was found for the hypothesized second-order factor structure of the physical activity perceived barriers scale in the 3 measurements （comparative fit index = 0.951, 0.933, 0.922, and root mean square error of approximation = 0.061, 0.069, 0.074）. The scale＇s internal consistency was supported satisfactorily, whereas correlations coefficients between scale and several physical activity scores were significant moderate to high. Finally, results provided support of the invariance of the first- and second-order factor loadings and invariance structural residuals, but weak support of the invariance of the residual variance of observed variables of the examined scale across gender. The findings suggest that physical activity perceived barriers scale is appropriate for use with Greek children and it is considered as a useful tool for researches interested in studying the children＇s participation in physical activity.