Psychosocial and Perceived Environmental Correlates of Physical Activity in Rural and Older African American and White Women

Abstract

African American and rural older women are among the least active segments of the population. This study, guided by social cognitive theory, examined the correlates of physical activity (PA) in 102 rural older women (41% African American; 70.6 ± 9.2 years). In bivariate associations, education, marital status, self-efficacy, greater pros than cons, perceived stress, social support, and perceived neighborhood safety were positively associated with PA; age, depressive symptoms, perceived sidewalks, health care provider discussion of PA, and perceived traffic were negatively associated with PA. In a hierarchical regression analysis, the sociodemographic (R2 = 23%), psychological (IR2 = 9%), social (IR2 = 6%), and perceived physical environmental (IR2 = 9%) sets of variables were significant (p