Date of Award

4-13-2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Health, Physical Education and Recreation

First Advisor

Dr. John Noble

Second Advisor

Dr. Kris Berg

Third Advisor

Dr. James Thomas

Fourth Advisor

Dr. William Torrence

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine correlations between youth and adult physical activity (PA), and to examine the amount of variance in adult PA that can be explained by youth PA variables. Subjects were 232 male (n = 91) and female (n = 141) full- and part-time employees of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, ranging from 23 to 76 years of age. Employees were faculty and staff volunteers from a variety of departments throughout the university campus. A non-experimental recall technique was used for this study. Subjects were sampled regarding their youth and adult PA using two instruments, the Baecke Questionnaire of Habitual Activity and the Childhood and Adolescent Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results of this study indicate there was a statistically significant positive correlation between the total scores of youth PA and adult PA (r = .239, SEE 0.710, p < .001). Backward regression analysis identified seven youth PA variables in the regression model that explained 8.1 percent of the variance in adult PA: pre-teen encouragement for PA, pre-teen athletic ability, pre-teen school sports, teen informal activities, teen encouragement for PA, teen PA classes/lessons, and teen athletic ability. It was the conclusion of this research that although there was a positive correlation between the total scores of youth and adult PA, the relationship was weak. Furthermore, the variables used in the regression model failed to explain a large portion of the variance between the adult and youth PA scores. Therefore, additional research is recommended to identify other variables that may further explain that variance.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science University of Nebraska at Omaha. Copyright 2007 Kane M. Miller.

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