Examination of physical activity level of secondary school students in terms of various psychosocial (social and individual) factors

ABSTRACT EXAMINATION OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN TERMS OF VARIOUS PSYCHOSOCIAL (SOCIAL AND INDIVIDUAL) FACTORS Mehmet Sıraç AKPINAR Department of Physical Education and Sports Eskişehir Technical University, Institute of Graduate Programs, September 2022 Supervisor: Doç. Dr. Günay YILDIZER The aim of this thesis study; To examine students' physical activity levels in terms of various psychosocial variables with a relational model. In this context, the variables included in the study are social and individual (parental support, peer support, individual's attitude towards physical activity) variables. Among these variables, the total activity levels of the students are considered as the dependent variable, while the two sub-observed variables that make up this variable are the students' self-reported in-school activity levels and out-of-school activity levels. The research was carried out with a total of 692 people, including 346 students and their parents, 346 parents. With these variables, a structural equation model was created that examines the predictive status of students' physical activity levels, attitudes, family support, and the support that students believe they receive from their peers and parents. For the execution of the structural equation model, the normality of the data set was tested first. In this context, it is seen that the coefficients of variation for all the variables included in the study vary between 17.29 and 33.80. When the resulting findings were compared with the reference values, it was concluded that the social support perceived by the students had a positive and significant effect on the reported physical activity level (β= 0.149, p<0.001). On the other hand, it was found that the support provided by the parents (β= 0.021, p= 0.295) and attitude (β= 0.20, p=0.0445) did not have any effect on the total physical activity level. Keywords: Physical Activity, Peer Support, Parental Support, Attitude