Temporal Relationships of Self-Efficacy and Social Support as Predictors of Adherence in a 6-Month Strength-Training Program for Older Women

• Published in: Perceptual and motor skills Vol. 93; no. 3; pp. 693 - 703
• Main Authors: Rhodes, Ryan E., Martin, Alan D., Taunton, Jack E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.2001; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging - psychology; Exercise; Exercise - psychology; Humans; Internal-External Control; Male; Motivation; Older people; Psychology; Self Efficacy; Social Support; Weight Lifting - psychology; Women
• ISSN: 0031-5125; 1558-688X
• DOI: 10.2466/pms.2001.93.3.693

The present study investigated how self-efficacy and social support predicted adherence to a strength-training program for elderly women over two time periods in the initial 6 mo. of the program. Participants were 30 elderly women volunteers aged 75 to 80 who completed measures of barrier self-efficacy and general social support at baseline and 3 mo. later. Social support from the program was also measured at 3 mo. Adherence to the program was measured by attendance. Hierarchical regression equations were utilized to identify the contributions of self-efficacy and social support for adherence at 0 to 3 mo. and 4 to 6 mo. For prediction of the first 3 mo. of adherence, both self-efficacy and social support contributed significant unique variance towards the total explained variance of 36%. For the 4- to 6-mo. period, self-efficacy explained significant (12%) variance in adherence even when controlling for the previous 3-mo. adherence. Inclusion of general social support and social support from the program, however, did not account for significant variance. Researchers must continue to examine self-efficacy and social support in exercise adherence within various time periods among older adults to develop effective intervention strategies.