Stages of change for exercise behavior: The effects of social support and self-efficacy

Research on exercise adherence is shifting from reliance on predictive to process models of exercise. The Transtheoretical Model has been recently validated and applied to the study of exercise, with promising results. The current study focused on the unique roles of global social support, exercise specific social support, and self-efficacy for exercise, within the Transtheoretical model. Subjects were 279 bank employees in Chicago and Detroit, who completed demographic, exercise, social support, self-efficacy, and stages of change questionnaires. Results revealed an increasing linear trend across advancing stages of exercise for moderate and vigorous exercise, exercise specific social support from both friends and family, and self-efficacy for exercise. Indices of satisfaction with global social support, and network size, did not differ significantly across stages of exercise. These findings suggest that exercise specific social support was more critical to exercise behavior than global social support, and that self-efficacy for exercise exerted a powerful influence on exercise efforts. Additionally, gender differences were observed on assignment to stage of exercise, with men involved in more consistent, regular exercise than women. Implications for future research include continued use of the Transtheoretical model for exercise, exploration of gender differences by stage of exercise, and examination of the role of different aspects of social support on the process of exercise initiation and maintenance. Understanding the impact of social support and self-efficacy on exercise efforts, might lead to higher rates of exercise adherence in both clinical and community settings.