This research study was divided into three phases. Phase I included 157 university undergraduate students. It was designed to assess the content (face) validity of the Leisure Exercise Efficacy Scale (LEES). Phase II consisted of 240 university undergraduates. This phase investigated the internal consistency, factorial structure, and construct validity of the LEES. Phase III was the main study, a total of 331 university undergraduate students were involved. It has three objectives: 1) to examine the theoretical relationships among the variables of "leisure exercise efficacy", "leisure exercise motives", "leisure exercise barriers", and "leisure exercise behaviours" of university students using Social Cognitive Theory as the framework; 2) to assess the effect of a required physical education program, with interventions based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory, on the leisure exercise behaviours of university students; and 3) to examine the role that the Hong Kong environment plays and identify possible ways to increase university students' participation in leisure exercise. Path analysis results showed that leisure exercise efficacy was a significant and direct predictor of leisure exercise behaviours 3 months after the commencement of the semester. The re-specified Model of University Students' Leisure Exercise Behaviours was found to be tenable. However, repeated measures analysis of variance results showed that there were no significant 3-way interaction effects (Group x Gender x Assessment Time) or 2-way interaction effects (Gender x Assessment Time) (Group x Assessment Time) for all variables. Qualitative results showed three perceived leisure exercise barriers: 1) time; 2) attitudes towards exercise; and 3) structural. Three general dimensions emerged from the qualitative data to increase university students' participation in leisure exercise: 1) reinforcement of leisure exercise efficacy; 2) enhancement of leisure exercise motives; and 3) encouragement of a university sports culture. Practical implications of the research findings and recommendations for future research are given in this study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/265368 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Ng, Judy K. |
| Publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Judy K. Ng |
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