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Purpose. The goal of this study was to describe the salient perceived barriers to exercise in three different groups and to examine the perceived barriers characterizing individuals with a high or a low intention to exercise in the context of the theory of planned behavior. Design. Cross-sectional studies relating perceived barriers and intention to exercise were utilized. Subjects. Three independent samples were used: general population (n=349), individuals who have suffered from coronary heart disease (n=162), and pregnant women (n=139). Measures. Firstly, standard elicitation procedures were applied to identify the particular perceived barriers characterizing each population. Then, three self-administered questionnaires, one per sample, were used to measure perceived barriers and intention to exercise. Results. MANOVA analyses contrasting high and low intenders indicated a significant difference in perceived barriers to exercise in two of the three samples: general population (F 5,343 =6.37, p<.001) and individuals suffering from coronary heart disease (F 9,152 =2.28, p<.05). Conclusion. The results indicate not only that each population has specific salient perceived barriers to exercise, but also that within each group high and low intenders differ on a number of these perceived barriers. Therefore, it is recommended that the study of perceived barriers to exercise in any population should be based upon a standardized method of measuring these barriers such as the method adopted in the present study.
Godin et al. (Tue,) studied this question.