Research

Moderators of the intention-behaviour and perceived behavioural control-behaviour relationships for leisure-time physical activity

Steve Amireault^1,2 , Gaston Godin^2,5 , Marie-Claude Vohl^3,4 and Louis Pérusse^1,4

¹  Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Division of Kinesiology, Laval University, Québec (Québec), Canada

²  Research Group on Behaviour in the Field of Health, Laval University, Québec (Québec), Canada

³  Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Laval University, Québec (Québec), Canada

⁴  Lipid Research Centre, CHUL Research Centre, Québec (Québec), Canada

⁵  Canada Research Chair on Behaviour and Health, Faculty of Nursing, Laval University, Pavillon Paul-Comtois, Local 4106, Québec (Québec), G1K 7P4, Canada

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International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2008, 5:7doi:10.1186/1479-5868-5-7

Published:	1 February 2008

Abstract

Background

Intention is a key determinant of action. However, there is a gap between intention and behavioural performance that remains to be explained. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify moderators of the intention-behaviour and perceived behavioural control (PBC)- behaviour relationships for leisure-time physical activity.

Method

This was tested in reference to Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour. A sample of 300 volunteers, 192 women and 108 men, aged 18 to 55, participated in the study. At baseline, the participants completed a self-administrated psychosocial questionnaire assessing Ajzen's theory variables (i.e., intention and perceived behavioural control). The behavioural measure was obtained by mail three months later.

Results

Multiple hierarchical regression analyses indicated that age and annual income moderated the intention-behaviour and PBC-behaviour relationships. However, in the final model predicting behaviour (R² = .46), only the interaction term of PBC by annual income (β = .24, p = 0.0003) significantly contributed to the prediction of behaviour along with intention (β = .49, p = 0.0009) and past behaviour (β = .44, p < 0.0001).

Conclusion

Physical activity promotion programs would benefit not only from focusing on increasing the intention of low intenders, but also from targeting factors that moderate the perceived behavioural control-behaviour relationships.