Effects of Social Support and Physical Self-efficacy on Physical Activity of Adolescents

Background: Today, there are many concerns about the level of physical activity of students and due to its importance in students' health; many studies have attempted to investigate the factors affecting the levels of physical activity among the students. This study also seeks to investigate the role of peer's social support in the students' physical activity behavior with the mediating role of physical self-efficacy. Methods: The present study enjoys a cross-sectional descriptive-correlational design. The statistical sample included 384 high school students in Azadshahr city (Golestan province, Iran) in 2019. Three standard questionnaires including peer social support, physical self-efficacy and physical activity behavior were used to measure the research variables. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Results: Descriptive data showed that 191 students had at least three sessions of physical activities per week. Furthermore, the mean scores of the peers' social support, physical self-efficacy and physical activity behavior were 3.60, 3.60 and 3.28, respectively, which were above the average. The findings demonstrated a significant relationship between the peer's social support and students' physical self-efficacy (T=55.711). The results also revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between peer social support and the students' physical activity behavior (T=3.285). Moreover, physical self-efficacy has a positive and significant relationship with the students' physical activity behavior (T=4.295). Finally, the mediating role of physical self-efficacy was confirmed (T=3.302). Conclusion: The results of this study show the importance of peer's social support in increasing physical self-efficacy and physical activity behavior of students in the school environment.