Sources of Social Support in Physical Activity Participation: The Moderating Effect of Gender

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sources of social support and motivation and the moderating effect of gender on this relationship for physical activity participation in adolescents. The research data were obtained from a total of 670 adolescents who were selected by convenience sampling method among secondary and high school students studying in Ankara, Bursa and Istanbul. As a data collection tool, the Physical Activity Participation Motivation Scale (PAPMS) developed by Tekkurşun Demir and Cicioğlu (2018) and consisted of 16 items and 3 sub-dimensions, was used. In order to determine the social support perceptions in physical activities of the students in the research, Social Support Scale for Physical Activity in Adolescents (SSSPA) which was developed by Farias Junior (2014) and adapted to Turkish language by Küçükibiş (2019) and consisted of 10 items and 2 sub-dimensions, was used. In this study, relational screening model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The research was carried out in accordance with the cross-sectional survey design. The data obtained were evaluated by SPSS 21.0. Correlation analysis showed that there was a positive relationship between physical activity participation and participants' motivation to participate in physical activity and their perceptions of parent and peer social support. Also, even though there was no statistically significant effect on physical activity participation motivation of gender interaction with perception of parental social support (t=1.36, p>.05), it was identified that peer social support perception and gender interaction had statistically significant effect on physical activity motivation (t=1.99, p<.05). The results showed that as the perception of parent and peer social support increases, female students' motivation to participate in physical activities increases more than male students. In other words, female students were more positively affected by parental and peer social support than male students. As a result, it was found that adolescents' social support for physical activities had positive effects on their participation and motivation before physical activity in general.