Understanding physical activity behavior of Chinese female college students with/without vulnerable conditions: a theory of planned behavior perspective

ABSTRACT

Guided by the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study examined the relationships between three constructs of TPB (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control [PBC]) and physical activity intention and behavior among Chinese female college students, and evaluated whether the relationships differed between healthy and vulnerable individuals within this population. Participants included 436 female college students (301 healthy and 135 vulnerable; Mean age = 19.24 years; SD = 0.97 years) recruited from five universities in China, and the data collection was completed in Fall 2015. Path analysis supported the direct and indirect relations of TPB constructs to physical activity intention and behavior among female college students, and the path model was invariant across the two groups. The vulnerable group reported significantly lower attitude, subjective norm, intention, and physical activity behavior than the healthy group but not for PBC. These findings suggest fostering positive attitudes and intention toward physical activity are important among Chinese female college students, regardless of their health status.

KEYWORDS:

• Theory of planned behavior
• physical activity
• female college students
• health status

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by the Shanghai Higher Education Early Career Teacher Foundation for Research in Social Science, Grant [ZZTH15035], China.