Wheels in Motion: Mobility's Relationship with Self-Efficacy and LeisureTime Physical Activity in People with Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

<p>Using a cross-sectional design, Bandura's (1986) Social Cognitive Theory and Self-Efficacy Theory (1977) were used as a framework to determine whether wheelchairuse self-efficacy and exercise barrier self-efficacy mediate the relationship between wheelchair mobility and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Fourty-six manual wheelchair users (76.1 % male), with varying levels of SCI (80.4% paraplegic, 47.8% complete injuries) participated in this study. Participants completed The Wheelchair Skills Test version 4.1 (Wheelchair Skills Test Version 4.1 [WST 4.1],2008) which measured wheelchair mobility, a modified barrier self-efficacy questionnaire (McAuley & Mihalko, 1998) which measured exercise barrier self-efficacy, the Wheelchair Mobility Confidence Scale (WMCS; Rushton & Miller, 2009) which measured wheelchair-use self-efficacy, and the Physical Activity Recall Assessment for people with SCI (PARA-SCI; Martin Ginis, Latimer, Hicks & Craven, 2005) which measured LTPA. It was hypothesized that (1) there would be a positive relationship between wheelchair mobility and LTPA, and (2) wheelchair-use self-efficacy and exercise barrier self-efficacy would mediate this relationship. Using linear regression models, a positive association between wheelchair mobility and LTPA was established (β = .29, p < .05). Exercise barrier self-efficacy was a significant partial mediator, explaining 47.7% ofthe variance in the mobility-LTPA relationship. Wheelchair-use selfefficacy was a non-significant mediator. This thesis has practical and theoretical implications for understanding and improving LTPA participation and represents the first study to determine the relationship between wheelchair mobility, self-efficacy, and LTPA in people living with SCI.</p>