The effects of social support and cohesion on compliance behaviour in a health-related exercise setting
Date
1998
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
Although social support and group cohesion have been linked to adherence
in the volitional exercise setting, this relationship has not been examined in the nonvolitional
or exercise compliance setting. The main purpose of the present study was
to examine the roles of social support and group cohesion in the compliance
behavior of individuals required to exercise for health-related reasons. Compliance
behavior was assessed in two ways - attendance (i.e., high- attended more than 88%
of the classes versus low- attended less than 61% of the classes) and drop-out
behavior (graduate versus program drop-out). Participants (N = 70) drawn from a
clinical exercise group completed modified versions of the Group Environment
Questionnaire (Carron, Widmeyer and Brawley, 1985) to assess cohesion and the
Social Provisions Scale (Cutrona and Russell, 1987) to assess social support. The
results revealed that discriminant function analysis was able to discriminate between
high and low attenders (Wilks' lambda= .636, X2(3) = 7.93, p = .05) as well as
between drop-outs and graduates (Wilks' lambda= .826, X2(3) = 12.68, p = .005).
Specifically, those participants reporting high scores on the social support provision
of reassurance of worth and the cohesion factor of ATG-Task, along with low scores
on the social support provision of guidance were more likely to attend a higher
proportion of classes. In terms of drop-outs, the results revealed that those
participants with higher scores on the social support provisions of reliable alliance
and opportunity for nurturance combined with low scores on the social support
provision of guidance were more likely to be graduates of the exercise program than
drop-outs. These results partially supported the hypothesized positive relationship between the two group constructs and compliance behavior. As a secondary
objective, the relative contributions of social support and group cohesion to
compliance behavior also were examined. The results indicated that for drop-out
behavior only the social support factors of opportunity for nurturance, reliable
alliance, and guidance were relevant, while for high and low attendance behavior,
the cohesion factor of ATG-Task and the social support variables of reassurance of
worth and guidance were all necessary for any successful prediction. Practical
implications and future directions also were discussed.
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Citation
Degree
Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Department
College of Kinesiology
Program
College of Kinesiology