University students’ knowledge, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and barriers related to reducing sedentary behavior: a qualitative study

Abstract

Objective

To explore university students’ knowledge, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers and ideas related to reducing sedentary behavior using a qualitative approach. Participants: Nineteen students from a Canadian university participated. Methods: Four focus groups were conducted. Discussions were recorded, transcribed, and coded to identify categories and themes. Results: Some students lacked knowledge of the concept, but most were generally aware of health risks associated with sedentary behavior. Most students were confident they could reduce sedentary behavior, but felt it would be unlikely they would actually do so because: (a) it is not a priority, (b) the health consequences are distal, (c) increasing standing and light-intensity activity would not provide meaningful health benefits, and (d) class schedules/norms/infrastructure encourage sitting and are not under their control to change. Conclusion: Findings from this study may help inform intervention strategies aimed at decreasing excessive sedentary behavior among university students.

Keywords:

• Barriers
• outcome expectations
• sedentary behavior
• self-efficacy
• university students

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of Canada and received approval from the University of Manitoba's Education/Nursing Research Ethics Board.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.