Stages of Change and Perceived Barriers to Exercise among High-school Students

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify if and how barriers to exercise perceived by adolescents differ across stages of change and if gender is intervening variable — the problem that has not been extensively studied yet. 1251 high-school students aged 16 to 19 (M 17.33, SD .87) were surveyed. 7.59% of the sample were diagnosed in precontemplation stage (PC), 11.35% in contemplation (C), 43.25% in preparation (P), 13.11% in action (A), and 24.70% in maintenance (M). Mean scores of perceived barriers differed across stages of change. For students on PC three barriers appeared to be equally important in preventing them from exercising: “lack of interest”, “lack of time” and “lack of motivation”. In the remaining stages “lack of time” was the principal barrier. Females declared higher level of perceived barriers comparing to males, especially on P stage. The information obtained in the study may influence physical activity interventions for adolescents to prepare them better to participation in leisure time exercise.