Renner Britta, Spivak Youlia, Kwon Sunkyo, Schwarzer Ralf
Jacobs Center for Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development, Jacobs University Bremen, Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany.
Psychol Aging. 2007 Sep;22(3):482-93. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.22.3.482.
Social cognition models of health behavior are commonly understood as being universal, which implies that they are applicable to groups varying in age or cultural background, for example. Cultural uniqueness and characteristics of life-span development, however, necessitate the study of differential effects. Accordingly, the health action process approach (HAPA) was examined in younger and middle-aged/older adults from South Korea (N = 697) who participated in a longitudinal health screening study with a 6-month time lag. The HAPA model had a good fit within the middle-aged/older adult sample. Physical activity was predicted by planning, coping self-efficacy, and intention, which were, in turn, predicted by action self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and risk perceptions. Conversely, the results indicated a poor model fit in the younger adult sample. The results suggest a different motivation for the involvement in physical activity as a function of age.
