Socio-demographic, social-cognitive, health-related and physical environmental variables associated with context-specific sitting time In Belgian adolescents: A one-year follow-up study

Abstract

Introduction: More knowledge is warranted about multilevel ecological variables associated with contextspecific sitting time among adolescents. The present study explored cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of ecological domains of sedentary behaviour, including sociodemographic, social-cognitive, health-related and physical-environmental variables with sitting during TV viewing, computer use, electronic gaming and motorized transport among adolescents. Methods: For this longitudinal study, a sample of Belgian adolescents completed questionnaires at school on context-specific sitting time and associated ecological variables. At baseline, complete data were gathered from 513 adolescents (15.0-1.7 years). At one-year follow-up, complete data of 340 participants were available (retention rate: 66.3%). Multilevel linear regression analyses were conducted to explore cross-sectional correlates (baseline variables) and longitudinal predictors (change scores variables) of context-specific sitting time. Results: Social-cognitive correlates/predictors were most frequently associated with context-specific sitting time. Longitudinal analyses revealed that increases over time in considering it pleasant to watch TV (p