Effects of Health Belief Model with Exercising Program on Physical Exercise Behaviors Among the Adolescent

Abstract

This study examines the effects of an exercise program based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) on the physical exercise behavior of Chinese adolescents. The study has four main objectives: (1) To study the relationship and influence of health beliefs on the exercise behaviors of Chinese adolescents. (2) To develop a health care handbook for Chinese adolescents based on the Health Belief Mode. (3)To compare before and after of the control group and the experimental group of effects of health belief model with exercising program on physical exercise behaviors of the adolescence, and (4)To compare the effects of the health belief model with exercising program between the control and experimental groups on the exercise behavior of adolescents.

The population and sample consisted of Chinese adolescents aged 10–19 years. The research was conducted in three phases. In Phase 1, 3,000 Chinese adolescents were selected from eight cities in Guangdong Province using convenience sampling. In Phase 2, purposive sampling was used to select 326 Chinese adolescents from Zhanjiang City, which was part of the Phase 1 sample. In Phase 3, 160 Chinese adolescents were selected from the Phase 2 sample and were divided into two groups: the experimental group of 80 participants, who received an exercise program combining an Action Plan with the use of a Health Care Handbook, and the control group of 80 participants, who received an exercise program using only the Action Plan. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, and assessments, and analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, correlation analysis, and effect analysis between health beliefs and exercise behavior through Pearson correlation and regression coefficients. Paired t-tests were used to analyze within-group changes, and independent t-tests were conducted to compare differences between the experimental and control groups.

The results indicated that Chinese adolescents’ perceived risk had an overall mean at a moderate level (X̅ = 2.95, S.D. = 0.64), and their perceived health behavior had an overall mean at a moderate level (X̅ = 2.93, S.D. = 0.58). Health belief factors are significantly correlated with and influence exercise behavior, with a correlation coefficient of 0.458 (r = 0.458) and a significance level of 0.000 (p ≤ .001). Health belief factors have a significant influence on exercise behavior at the .000 level (p-value = 0.000), with a multiple regression coefficient of .805 (R = 0.805). These factors can predict 64.09% of the exercise behavior of Chinese adolescents. The effects of the HBM-based exercise program were as follows: (1) The program significantly promoted higher exercise behavior in the experimental group (t = 11.83, p < 0.05), while no significant changes were observed in the control group. (2) A comparison of exercise behavior before and after the intervention revealed that the experimental group showed significantly greater improvement than the control group. (3) The experimental group demonstrated significantly better post-intervention exercise behavior than the control group (t = 5.66, p < 0.05). and (4) A health care handbook based on the HBM was developed to guide and promote physical exercise among Chinese adolescents, providing practical strategies for implementation. These findings suggest that the HBM-based exercise program is highly effective in promoting exercise behavior in Chinese adolescents, and the developed handbook can serve as a valuable tool to support physical activity.

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