Survey of predictors of exercise promotion in children's residential treatment

Hannah Ruth Merley

I tested whether positive correlates of physical activity promotion in studies of healthcare providers for adults were applicable to youth residential treatment counselors. Five multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses: 1. How are counselor characteristics and experiences (i.e., individual variables) related to their physical activity advice and counseling for children in residential treatment; 2. How are counselor perceptions of the research, patient preference, and clinical evidence (i.e., types of evidence) that supports physical activity advice and counseling for the treatment of children's mental health related to their actual physical activity advice and counseling; 3.How are counselor perceptions of the organizational context where they work related to the frequency of their physical activity advice and counseling for children in residential treatment; 4. Is the association between the counselor's personal practice of exercise and their likelihood of providing physical activity advice and counseling moderated by context; and 5. Is the association between the counselor's individual practice of exercise and their provision of physical activity advice and counseling mediated by their confidence to provide physical activity advice and counseling? Forty-eight residential treatment counselors for youth responded to an email survey that consisted of the Counselor Attitudes and Behaviors toward Physical Activity instrument (Burton et al., 2010) and the evidence and context sections of the Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment (Helfrich et al., 2009). The residential counselor's confidence to provide physical activity advice and counseling, and the number of times that they completed chores or heavy work were associated with increased and decreased physical activity advice and counseling, respectively. Client acceptance of physical activity was the only evidence construct associated with increased physical activity advice and counseling. None of the context constructs significantly predicted physical activity advice and counseling. Regular physical activity was not predictive of physical activity advice and counseling, and organizational context failed to moderate this potential relationship. The test for mediation of the relationship between regular physical activity and physical activity advice and counseling was inconclusive due to limited statistical power, albeit suggestive of mediation.

Survey of predictors of exercise promotion in children's residential treatment

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