Decomposing the contribution of family, school and neighbourhood environments in explaining inequalities in physical
activity trajectories in Irish adolescents.
Presenter: Olivia McEvoy, Department of Sociology, Trinity College Dublin (TCD)
Other Author: Professor Richard Layte, Department of Sociology, Trinity College Dublin
Funder: The 1252 TCD Postgraduate Research Studentship
Introduction
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the largest cause of mortality globally, and the social gradient in NCDs
is particularly pronounced. The social patterning of physical activity (PA) has become an increasingly important
explanatory factor for the inverse gradient in NCDs. Adolescence is a critical period for this health behaviour because
of the sharp global decline in activity rates (with low socioeconomic position (SEP) adolescents experiencing the
steepest declines) and patterns established in adolescence likely continuing into adulthood.
Research on factors explaining social and economic differentials in PA is still relatively rare and often underpinned
by the individualist behavioural model. This paper demonstrates the contribution of adolescent’s family, school and
neighbourhood environment in explaining why behaviours vary systematically between SEP groups.
Method
Multi-level linear spline models, with appropriate study weights, were used to estimate PA trajectory differentials by
SEP between ages 9 and 17/8 in a nationally representative longitudinal cohort study from the Republic of Ireland.
Analysis were carried out separately for males and females.
Results
The role of each environment in accounting for the social differential in PA was quantified by observing the change in
coefficients from the baseline with the addition of family-level, school-level and neighbourhood-level variables.
Discussion
The fully adjusted model explained approximately half of socially patterning of PA for males and females.
Contact email: olmcevoy@tcd.ie
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