Regular physical activity engagement is associated with decreased risk of obesity; however, interventions to increase physical activity targeting African Americans have not been effective in achieving increased physical activity participation. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to describe self-reported physical activity in parents of young (ages 6-12 years) African American children, personal and environmental factors related to these parents’ physical activity, and parents’ perceptions of the outcomes of their own physical activity behaviors. The Social Cognitive Theory provided the theoretical framework for this study. A convenience sample of 130 African American parents of young children were recruited from community sites and a local organization. Of those, 127 (87 females, 40 males) completed the online study survey. Following data cleaning according to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) scoring protocol, 96 subjects were included in the analyses for this study. Subjects completed an IPAQ-short form (IPAQ-S), Knowledge of Physical Activity Guidelines Questionnaire, Multidimensional Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale (MSES), Multidimensional Outcome Expectations for Exercise Scale (MOEES), the MacArthur Subjective Social Status (SSS) Scale, Physical Activity Neighborhood Environmental Scale (PANES), and African American Acculturation Scale-Revised (AAAS-R)-Preference for African American Things subscale. The majority of parents/caregivers were female (59%) under the age of 45 (91%) residing in South Side, Chicago. Over 20% had more than one child ages 6-12 years in their household with reported incomes more than $75,000 annually (60%). The correlations using Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient between the variables of knowledge, physical environment, and physical activity were moderate to weak. There was a moderate negative agreement found between knowledge and physical activity. Knowledge was significantly related to parents/caregivers’ levels of activity (METs/week), rς =-.30, p<.05. There was a weak positive association found between physical environment and physical activity. Physical environment was significantly related to parents/caregivers’ level of activity (METs/week), rς =.25, p<.05. Predictors of physical activity participation in this population were perceived self-efficacy and physical environment. Almost 33% of variance in physical activity levels were explained by perceived self-efficacy b=0.12, SE b=0.05, β=.21, t(84)=2.20, p=.030; physical environment b=0.73, SE b=0.21, β=.33, t(84)=3.56, p=.001; and a significant inverse relation with knowledge b=-2.26, SE b=0.94, β=-.25, t(84)=-2.42, p=.018. Findings indicate the strength of self-confidence and physical environment in influencing physical activity behavior. Findings support the need for more research in identifying predictors of physical activity participation among African American parents of young children.

This dissertation introduces a social cognitive model of bystander behavior and examines the mediating role of self-efficacy on the relationship between bullying victimization and negative outcomes. Based on Bandura’s (1986; 2001) social cognitive theory, this model utilizes two frameworks for understanding bystander behavior in bullying: group process framework (Salmivalli, 2010) and the bystander motivation framework (Thornberg et al., 2012). A research agenda is presented based on the key elements of the proposed model, including bystander agency, bystander self-efficacy, bystander moral disengagement, and bystander collective efficacy. The research study investigated self-efficacy for coping with bullying victimization and its mediating role on the relationship between bullying victimization and the outcomes of depression, anxiety, and perceptions of school safety. The Bullying Victimization Self-Efficacy Scale (BVSES; Kim et al., 2010), the Student Survey of Bullying Behaviors – Revised 2 (SSBB-R2; Varjas et al., 2008) and the Behavior Assessment System for Children, 2nd Edition (BASC-2; Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2004) were administered to 551 elementary and middle school students in a southeastern urban school district. Using structural equation modeling, a measurement model was used to confirm the factor structure of the latent variables used in the study (i.e., victimization, the BVSES scales, depression, anxiety, and school safety). Then, the hypothesized structure model was used to determine the mediating role of self-efficacy on the relationships of bullying victimization with depression, anxiety, and school safety. An alternative model was tested where depression, anxiety, and school safety were mediators of the relationship between victimization and the BVSES scales as a comparison for the hypothesized model. The measurement model yielded a good model fit, deeming it acceptable for the structure model analysis. The hypothesized and alternative models yielded a good model fit, and significant mediation effects were found in both models. However, the low magnitude suggests that self-efficacy had a relatively weak mediation effect, which may be due to the strength of the relationship between victimization and the outcome variables. This strong direct effect suggests that self-efficacy may not be a substantial mediator influencing the relationship between victimization and the outcome variables. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The prevention of chronic disease requires understanding and intervention related to both individual and environmental level determinants. However, traditional approaches to chronic disease prevention and management have primarily been focused at the individual level, with limited attention toward environmental level influences on health behaviour. This lack of comprehensiveness is partially due to a paucity of complex theoretical frameworks for clarifying the influences of personal cognitive, and broader environmental, variables on a range of health behaviours. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to expand and test a popular health behaviour theory, Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), to include influences of the perceived food environment on healthy eating behaviour. This study involved two phases. Phase 1 expanded SCT to include a perceived food environment construct through review of the food environment literature. Phase 2 conducted a cross-sectional study of 201 adults (age 35 to 69 years) using an online survey to test the expanded SCT informed by phase 1. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM) to compare the traditional and expanded SCT model. Results demonstrated no significant model fit, with no improvement in oveall fit with the inclusion of the perceived food environment. However, the expansion of SCT to include perceived food environment attributes altered the pathways of influence within the social cognitive model, suggesting that the presence of perceived environment measures is important for understanding how perceived environments might mediate the effect of personal cognitive influences on eating behaviour. These findings have implications for food environment research, the development of ecological theories, the field of health promotion and the prevention of chronic disease.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2010. / Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 177-189).

This thesis examined relations between preschoolers's oppositional strategies and their social cognitive skills and behavioral competence. There is a gap between theoretical formulation and empirical investigation regarding children's oppositional behaviors in the literature. Although positive functions of oppositional behavior have been proposed by theorists, research has focused primarily on its negative nature. The present study intended to show that opposition was not a homogeneous construct and that certain noncompliant strategies were not destructive but rather healthy and desirable. Forty-nine mothers and their preschool children (age 3 to 5) participated. Mother-child interaction data were collected using naturalistic observation in a structured setting. Children's oppositional strategies were classified into four categories: aversive opposition (e.g., temper tantrums), passive noncompliance (e.g., ignoring), simple refusal, and negotiation. While social cognitive skills (perspective-taking and social problem-solving) were measured through experiments, behavioral competence was indexed using a questionnaire filled by day-care teachers. The data were analyzed using correlation and regression procedures. Results showed that aversive opposition was more likely to be seen in the children who were less able to see other's feelings and to generate problem-solving solutions, and who were less competent in a day-care setting. Passive noncompliance was more likely employed by the children who did poorly at a day-care setting, however, they were not necessarily deficient in social cognitive skills. Negotiators were more likely to be the children who were better at affective role-taking and social problem-solving and were more competent in a day-care setting. Finally, simple refusal had a weak and ambiguous relation to social cognition and competence. These results and their implications were discussed in the light of the existing literature on children's opposition. / Graduate

Though the benefits of physical activity are well-studied and accepted, researchers have struggled to identify models of health behavior that accurately predict exercise. This dissertation utilized two components of Bandura's Social-Cognitive Model (self-efficacy and outcome expectancies) and added the construct of fear of failure in order to evaluate what factors influence an individual's decision to exercise or avoid physical activity. Self-report data assessing fear or failure, self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and physical activity were collected from 248 university students and were analyzed using structural equation modeling techniques in order to evaluate the proposed structural model, which hypothesized that fear of failure would negatively relate to the two Social-Cognitive variables, which were expected to positively predict physical activity engagement. Results revealed that although fear of failure did not add significantly to the Social-Cognitive model, a large portion of the variance in physical activity (i.e., 49%) could be accounted for by the model. Additionally, results indicated that outcome expectancies were a much stronger predictor of physical activity than self-efficacy beliefs. This finding is discussed in relation to how individual differences and genetics may influence how rewarding or aversive individuals find exercising. Implications for intervention and directions for future study, including alternate ways of adding affect to the model are discussed.

This study investigated the academic self-efficacy and persistence goals of 72 diverse female Engineering majors. Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) coupled with Practice Theory (Bourdieu, 1998) and Social Capital Theory (Lin, 1999) served as the theoretical framework. The relationships between social cognitive variables (engineering self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests) as well as the influence of contextual and cultural variables (perceived campus climate, distance from privilege, and access to resources) on female students' intent to persist in Engineering were examined. Hierarchical linear regression revealed that only outcome expectations significantly contributed to the prediction of female students' intent to persist in Engineering. Exploratory analysis revealed that outcome expectations were most influential in predicting Engineering self-efficacy. Including privilege and perception of campus climate into the model significantly predicted self-efficacy above and beyond the original SCCT variables. This study supports the addition of cultural contextual variables in the SCCT choice model and warrants future research with minority female populations. Key words: women in STEM, social cognitive career theory, privilege, persistence, underrepresented students

This study is an investigation of how experiences of discrimination, self-efficacy, and the associated outcome expectations influence health care utilization of young college students. The relationships tested were informed by Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use (Andersen, 2008), the most widely used model to understand and predict health care utilization. Andersen proposed that health care utilization is influenced by predisposing (i.e., personal characteristics), enabling (i.e., income, insurance), and need (i.e., perception of illness) factors. However, his model has been criticized for not taking in consideration social factors and oversimplifying the role of ethnicity as a predictor (Bradley et al., 2002). The purpose of this study is to expand the explanatory power of Andersen’s model, by including psychosocial variables (e.g., discrimination, self-efficacy). One hundred and eighty-five students completed a 20 minute online survey, which included measures of experiences of discrimination, outcome expectations, self-efficacy, attitudes, and demographic variables. Results indicated that self-efficacy to communicate with physicians was a significant predictor of health care utilization, although experiences of discrimination were not. The effects of discrimination on health care utilization were further found to be mediated by self-efficacy to communicate with physicians. The present study's finding provided support for the inclusion of psychosocial variables (i.e., self-efficacy) in Andersen's model to increase its explanatory power.

abstract: As the number of travelers around the world grows, the importance of managing tourism destinations in a sustainable manner becomes increasingly important. Sustainable tourism has long been discussed as necessary for managing tourism responsibly, yet adoption of sustainable strategies and operationalization has been slow. Initiatives and programs often focus on environmental components of sustainability and the role of large companies. Certification programs are one way in which destinations are operationalizing community-wide sustainable tourism and small businesses are engaging in sustainability initiatives and recognition. Using social cognitive theory as the research framework, this study examined internal and external motives and their influence on small business participation in sustainable tourism certification and sustainability practices. Incentives for behavior, modeling of other businesses, company values, and self-efficacy were examined as motives and barriers. Regression analysis and independent samples t-tests were used to examine statistical relationships. This study partnered with the Alaska Travel Industry Association (ATIA) to study businesses that hold Adventure Green Alaska sustainable tourism certification or are viewed as prospects for certification. From a list of 77, 44 Alaska tourism businesses responded to an online questionnaire to participate in this study. Businesses were categorized into those with certification (n = 31) and those without (n=13). Results indicated participation in sustainability practices to be higher among certified businesses than non-certified. Internal motives indicated to be more significant than external motives for participation in sustainable practices and certification. Company values were of high importance to both certified and non-certified businesses in implementing sustainable practices and certification. Consumer interest and marketing benefits were important incentives for participation in sustainability strategies. These findings have implications for tourism industry associations and organizations interested in the operationalization and development of sustainable tourism. This study is expected to aid in marketing and retention efforts for sustainable tourism certification programs, as well as future direction for development of sustainable tourism certification. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Community Resources and Development 2017

abstract: The purpose of this pilot randomized control trial was to test the initial efficacy of a 10 week social cognitive theory (SCT)-based intervention to reduce workplace sitting time (ST). Participants were currently employed adults with predominantly sedentary occupations (n=24) working in the Greater Phoenix area in 2012-2013. Participants wore an activPAL (AP) inclinometer to assess postural allocation (i.e., sitting vs. standing) and Actigraph accelerometer (AG) to assess sedentary time for one week prior to beginning and immediately following the completion of the 10 week intervention. Self-reported measures of sedentary time were obtained via two validated questionnaires for overall (International Physical Activity Questionnaire [IPAQ]) and domain specific sedentary behaviors (Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire [SBQ]). SCT constructs were also measured pre and post via adapted physical activity questionnaires. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either (a) 10 weekly social cognitive-based e-newsletters focused on reducing workplace ST; or (b) similarly formatted 10 weekly e-newsletters focusing on health education. Baseline adjusted Analysis of Covariance statistical analyses were used to examine differences between groups in time spent sitting (AP) and sedentary (AG) during self-reported work hours from pre- to post- intervention. Both groups decreased ST and AG sedentary time; however, no significant differences were observed. SCT constructs also did not change significantly between pretest and post test in either group. These results indicate that individualized educational approaches to decreasing workplace sitting time may not be sufficient for observing long term change in behaviors. Future research should utilize a larger sample, measure main outcomes more frequently, and incorporate more environmental factors throughout the intervention. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Exercise and Wellness 2013