Autoeficácia para atividade física associada aos domínios de atividade física em uma amostra de adultos e idosos adventistas

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) and physical exercise in various ways have demonstrated broad health benefits. Seventh-day Adventists use this practice and other habits as a natural remedy, presenting positive results when evaluated under other populations. Self-efficacy is an essential psychosocial construct for understanding this behavior. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the relationship between self-efficacy and the practice of PA in different domains in Adventist adults and the elderly. This research is applied, with a quantitative approach, exploratory objectives, and cross-sectional data collection. To measure the PA domains, the long version of the IPAQ was used, and to measure self-efficacy, the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Regular Physical Exercise Habits was used. Multiple linear regression models were used to verify the relationship between self-efficacy and each PA domain. The results are presented in coefficients (coef.) and their respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). The significance level was set at 5%. In all, 80 participants (58.8% female; age: 39.0±15.7 years) provided all the complete information. In general, self-efficacy was associated only with PA in the leisure domain (coef. = 3.44; 95%CI = 0.80; 6.08; p-value = 0.042) with a null association with the other PA domains. Despite the cross-sectional nature of this study and barriers related to health conditions and convergence to other domains of physical activity, the present study contributes information on modifiable individual factors that may form the basis of future interventions to encourage the practice of PA in the elderly and adults. It is suggested that future research on physically active behavior include multifactorial factors in their investigations.