Background. Consistent with hedonic theories of behavior, the affective response to physical activity has been posited as an important determinant of f

Objective: To provide a broad overview of the state of physical activity (PA) research in the form of (1) definitions of PA, (2) health benefits, (3) prevalence, (4) correlates and (5) interventions. Design: A high-level overview of published reviews of the literature. Results: Regular PA is an effective primary and secondary preventative strategy against at least 25 chronic medical conditions with risk reduction typically in the 20–30% range. While approximately 75% of adults meet recommended PA guidelines, the prevalence is slightly lower for women compared to men, and considerably lower for youth, older adults and those in higher income countries. Motivation, self-efficacy and self-regulation remain consistent correlates of PA. Interventions show PA changes in the small effect size range for adults and youth but the heterogeneity is considerable across studies. Only a few (aggregate of behavioural regulation strategies, supervision, high frequency of contact) reliable moderators of intervention success were identified across study quality, sample characteristics, theory/behaviour change techniques and delivery modes/settings. Conclusion: PA research should continue to examine the mechanisms causing health outcomes, the dose that can lead to clinically relevant changes in health status, the scope and validity of PA surveillance and innovative behaviour change techniques, while improving the reach and duration of PA interventions.

This review aimed to combine the literature on major personality traits and physical activity alongside providing some meta-analytic summaries of the findings. Overall, 33 studies containing 35 independent samples, ranging from 1969 to 2006, met the inclusion criteria. Extraversion (r = 0.23), neuroticism (r = −0.11) and conscientiousness (r = 0.20) were identified as correlates of physical activity using random effects meta-analytic procedures correcting for sampling bias and attenuation of measurement error. The five-factor model traits of openness to experience/intellect and agreeableness, as well as Eysenck’s psychoticism trait, were not associated with physical activity. Potential moderators of personality and physical activity relationships such as sex, age, culture/country, design and instrumentation were inconclusive given the small number of studies. Still, the existing evidence was suggestive that personality and physical activity relationships are relatively invariant to these factors. Studies examining personality and different physical activity modes suggested differences by traits such as extraversion, but more research is needed to make any conclusions. Future research using multivariate analyses, personality-channelled physical activity interventions, longitudinal designs and objective physical activity measurement is recommended.

Physical activity (PA) has a profound impact on health and development in children. Parental behaviors (i.e., modeling and support) represent an obvious important factor in child PA. The purpose of this paper was to provide a comprehensive meta-analysis that overcomes the limitations of prior narrative reviews and quantitative reviews with small samples. Ten major databases were used in the literature search. One-hundred and fifteen studies passed the eligibility criteria. Both fixed and random effects models with correction for sampling and measurement error were examined in the analysis. Moderator analyses investigating the effects of child’s developmental age, study design, parental gender, measurement of child PA, and quality rating were performed. Based on the random effects model, the results showed that parental modeling was weakly associated with child PA (summary r = .16, 95% CI .09-.24) and none of the proposed moderators were significant. Separate analyses examining the moderating effects of parental gender and boys’ PA found that that father-son PA modeling (r = .29, 95% CI .21-.36) was significantly higher compared to mother-son PA (r = .19, 95% CI .14-.23; p < .05). However, parental gender did not moderate the relationship between parental modeling and girls’ PA (p > .05). The random effects model indicated an overall moderate effect size for the parental support and child PA relationship (summary r = .38, 95% CI .30-.46). Here, the only significant moderating variable was the measurement of child PA (objective: r = .20, 95% CI .13-.26; reported: r = .46, 95% CI .37-.55; p < .01). Parental support and modeling relate to child PA, yet our results revealed a significant degree of heterogeneity among the studies that could not be explained well by our proposed moderators.