Competencies for a Healthy Physically Active Lifestyle—Validation of an Integrative Model

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The model of physical activity-related health competence (PAHCO) provides an integrative and interdisciplinary view on competencies that are necessary when people want to lead a healthy, physically active lifestyle. Given the need to accumulate potential further evidence on the validity of this model through the development of an assessment tool, the goal of the present study was to extend first measurement models on PAHCO. Method: In Study 1, a measurement model with five predictors on PAHCO was tested with 341 COPD patients undergoing inpatient rehabilitation. In Study 2, data from 745 apprentices were used to create an extended eight-factor measurement model. We undertook reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) to assess the validity of the models. Results: The analyses showed good results for the reliability and discriminant validity of the factors. Accordingly, the CFA demonstrated satisfactory overall fits for the five-factor as well as for the extended eight-factor measurement model. The associations with physical activity and physical health parameters indicated criterion validity for seven of the eight PAHCO factors. The explained variance of the multivariate models lay between 9.8% and 10.4% in Study 1 and between 9.5% and 21.3% in Study 2. Conclusion: In the present study, it was possible to extract a well-fitting, eight-factor measurement model and accumulate further evidence on the validity of the PAHCO model. Future research should strive for a cross-validation of the measurement model and more deeply investigate the internal structure of the eight factors.

KEYWORDS:

• Health literacy
• model validation
• physical activity-related health competence
• physical literacy

Acknowledgments

We want to thank the team in the Clinic Bad Reichenhall, Germany, for recruiting and assisting the participants in Study 1, especially the sports scientist Nicola Lehbert for delivering the intervention, Dr. Michael Wittmann for medical examination and recruiting of the participants, and the study nurses Stephanie Häusl and Andrea Klotz for their huge contribution of the organization of the study. Furthermore, we want to thank Dr. Jana Semrau who initiated the survey within the second study. We also acknowledge support from the directors of the seven apprenticeship facilities providing us with the opportunity to execute the assessments in their institutions.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Notes

¹ In the German literature, the term “sport“ not only refers to competitive forms of activity but also includes all forms of physical exercise.

Additional information

Funding

Research has been funded by the German Pension Insurance - Section Bavaria South (Study 1, funding number 5.011-6.031.115) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) of Germany (Study 2, funding number 01EL1421A).