Adolescents’ Perspectives on the Barriers and Facilitators of Physical Activity: An Updated Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

João Martins, João Costa, Hugo Sarmento, Adilson Marques, Cláudio Farias, Marcos Onofre and Miguel González Valeiro
Additional contact information
João Martins: Centro de Estudos de Educação, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana e UIDEF, Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal
João Costa: Sports Studies and Physical Education Programme, School of Education, University College Cork, T12 YN60 Cork, Ireland
Hugo Sarmento: Research Unit for Sport and Physical Activity (CIDAF), Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Estádio Universitário de Coimbra, University of Coimbra, 3040-256 Coimbra, Portugal
Adilson Marques: ISAMB, University of Lisbon, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal
Cláudio Farias: Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Rua Doutor Plácido Costa, 91, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
Marcos Onofre: Centro de Estudos de Educação, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana e UIDEF, Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal
Miguel González Valeiro: Facultad de Ciencias del Deporte y la Educación Física, Universidad de A Coruña, 15001 A Coruña, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-25

Abstract: Listening to adolescents’ voices has been important to promote meaningful physical activity (PA) opportunities. Therefore, an updated systematic review of the available qualitative literature on adolescents’ perspectives on the barriers and facilitators of PA was conducted, according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Studies published between 2014 (date of the last systematic review) and 2020 were searched in the Web of Science, EBSCO, and SCOPUS databases. Based on the inclusion criteria applied, 30 out of 8069 studies were included in the review. A thematic analysis was used to inductively and deductively analyze the perspectives of ~1250 adolescents (13–18 years). The studies took place in 13 countries from different continents. The main PA barriers and facilitators of PA were presented and discussed around five higher-order themes: (1) Individual factors (e.g., psychological—motivation, self—efficacy; cognitive—knowledge, understanding; physical—motor skills); (2) social and relational factors (family, friends, significant others); (3) PA nature factors (fun, school-based PA and physical education); (4) life factors (time and competing activities; life-course); and (5) sociocultural and environmental factors (e.g., availability/access to PA facilities, programs; urban/rural zones). By transnationally framing adolescents’ voices, this study provides updated evidence and discusses innovative implications for developing tailored interventions and pedagogical strategies aimed at promoting active and healthy lifestyles.

Keywords: exercise; sport; physical education; youth; correlates; young people’s voices; qualitative synthesis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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