Stages of change in adolescents: an examination of self-efficacy, decisional balance, and reasons for relapse.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test selected constructs of the transtheoretical model (TTM) of behavior change in relation to exercise behavior with an adolescent sample. A further purpose was to examine reasons why adolescents stop physical activity and to relate these to stages of exercise change.
METHODS: Participants were 15 to 17 year old students at a private high school (N = 327). Participants completed a questionnaire consisting of an exercise measure, measures of the TTM variables, and an open-ended question that asked if they used to exercise in the past but currently did not, why they had stopped. The TTM data were analyzed using ANOVA F-tests with post-hoc Scheffe tests. To evaluate the ability of the TTM variables to discriminate between stages of exercise behavior, standard discriminant function analyses were performed. Open-ended answers to the relapse question were themed according to a model which categorizes barriers preventing youth's participation in recreational activities as infrastructural, superstructural, and procedural. The relationship of perceived barriers to stage of behavior change was assessed using cross-tabulation and chi-square analyses.
RESULTS: Moderate support for the TTM constructs were found, with the strongest discriminator between stages being strenuous exercise, and self-efficacy being the most supported construct. Infrastructural, superstructural, and procedural barriers were all evident.
CONCLUSION: Over 30% of previously active adolescents in this study reported barriers precluding extracurricular physical activity. Interventions should target the most often cited reasons for relapse: time and limits relating to the nature of the adolescent self.