Social influences on physical activity in Anglo- and Vietnamese-Australian adolescent males in a single sex school

SummaryUnderstanding factors that influence physical activity levels of adolescents can assist the design of more effective interventions. Social support is a consistent correlate of youth physical activity but few studies have examined this in different cultural settings. Male adolescents (n = 180, age = 13.58 ± 0.97 years) from a metropolitan single sex private school participated in this study. Habitual physical activity was estimated using the 3-day physical activity recall (3dPAR), and aspects of social support to be physically active using a specifically designed questionnaire. Comparisons were made between Anglo-Australians (n = 118), whose parents were both born in Australia, and Vietnamese-Australians (n = 62), whose parents were both born in Vietnam. There was a trend towards higher physical activity among Anglo-Australians, particularly on weekends. Anglo-Australians reported significantly more parental and peer support across most items pertaining to these constructs. Among the whole sample, social support variables explained 5–12% of the total explained variance in physical activity, with items pertaining to father and best friend support emerging as the strongest and most consistent predictors in multiple regression models. Among Anglo-Australians, the prediction models were relatively weak, explaining 0–9% of the total explained variance in physical activity. Prediction models for physical activity among Vietnamese-Australians were much stronger, explaining 11–32% of the total explained variance, with father's support variables contributing consistently to these models. The strong paternal influence on physical activity among Vietnamese-Australians needs to be confirmed in more diverse population groups, but results from this study suggest that interventions promoting physical activity among adolescent boys need to take into account cultural background as a moderator of widely reported social influences.