Relationship between Body Image Satisfaction and Physical Activity Adherence among College Students

Yew, Wei Jii (2019) Relationship between Body Image Satisfaction and Physical Activity Adherence among College Students. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

There are plethora of studies associating body image satisfaction to exercise participation. However, there seems to be a lack of research studies relating body image satisfaction to physical activity adherence. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between body image satisfaction and physical activity adherence among college students. This study employed a quantitative research method and adapted the online survey method for data collection. 280 college students (Male: 162, Females: 118, mean age = 22.6) from seven different faculties in Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, Kuala Lumpur Main Campus participated in this study. Only respondents whom have adhered to certain selection criteria were chosen to participate in this study. Respondents were required to complete two questionnaires which were the Body Shape Questionnaire Scale (Cooper et.al.., 1987), which consisted of 8 items with a reported reliability of (r = 0.891) and Physical Activity Adherence Questionnaire (Corbin et.al.., 2000), consisted of 12 items with a reported reliability of (r = 0.885). Additional demographic data collected, were composed of Gender, Age, Faculty, Type of Sports Involved and Years of Experience in Sports. Statistical analyses were done on the descriptive statistics of respondents’ demographic data. Inferential statistics (Pearson product-moment correlation, Independent T-test and One-way ANOVA) were used to analyse the research data. Results reported that Body Image Satisfaction (BIS) has a significant negative low correlation with Physical Activity Adherence; for BIS and Predisposing Factor, r = -0.211, BIS and Enabling Factor, r = -0.153, BIS and Reinforcing Factor, r = -0.159, BIS and Total Physical Activity Adherence Score, r = -0.206. There was a significant difference in Body Image Satisfaction towards Gender with p < 0.05. There was also a significant difference in Physical Activity Adherence towards Gender, Faculty and Years of Experience in Sports with p < 0.05. For Physical Activity Adherence towards Type of Sports Involved, only Predisposing Factor and Total Physical Activity Adherence Score showed significant difference with p < 0.05. In conclusion, this study has shown that body image satisfaction does play a role in physical activity adherence. Keywords: Body Image Satisfaction, Physical Activity Adherence