The Youth Physical Activity Promotion Model in Spain and Chile: Comparison of Psychological and Social Variables

The Youth Physical Activity Promotion Model (Welk, 1999) has provided a specific framework to understand children’s and adolescents’ physical activity behavior. The objectives were (1) to analyze whether the data collected in Chilean and Spanish adolescents fit the proposed model and (2) to analyze the countries’ differences (Spain vs. Chile) in enabling, predisposing, and reinforcing as well as the demographic factors that influence physical activity. The sample comprised 2318 adolescents from Spain ( M age = 14.5, SD = 1.36; 51.9% females) and 734 from Chile ( M age = 14.7, SD = 1.47; 54.2% females). The variables measured were reinforcing factors: fathers’, mothers’, friends’, and Physical Education teachers’ social support; predisposing factors: perceived competence and enjoyment; enabling factor: body mass index; and demographic factor: country of origin. Results showed that the youth physical activity promotion model was supported by the data collected from Spanish and Chilean adolescents. Nevertheless, differences in the model were observed when comparing the Spanish and Chilean populations. Perceived competence and the father’s social support predict Chilean adolescents’ physical activity. In Spain, perceived competence and the mother’s social support predict adolescents’ physical activity. Therefore, the country of origin is a key factor in understanding physical activity because education and family culture may influence physical activity in different ways.